
Alan Bates
Biography
Sir Alan Arthur Bates CBE (17 February 1934 – 27 December 2003) was an English actor, who came to prominence in the 1960s, a time of high creativity in British cinema, when he demonstrated his versatility in films ranging from the popular children’s story Whistle Down the Wind to the "kitchen sink" drama A Kind of Loving. He is also known for his tour-de-force with Anthony Quinn, Zorba the Greek, as well as his roles in King of Hearts, Georgy Girl, Far From the Madding Crowd, and The Fixer, which gave him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. In 1969, he starred in the Ken Russell film Women in Love with Oliver Reed and Glenda Jackson. Bates went on to star in The Go-Between, An Unmarried Woman, Nijinsky, and The Rose with Bette Midler, as well as playing varied roles in television drama, including The Mayor of Casterbridge, Harold Pinter's The Collection, A Voyage Round My Father, An Englishman Abroad (as Guy Burgess), and Pack of Lies. He also continued to appear on the stage, notably in the plays of Simon Gray, such as Butley and Otherwise Engaged.
Acting (78 movies)

Hamlet
1990

Zorba the Greek
1964

Far from the Madding Crowd
1967

The Mothman Prophecies
2002

Gosford Park
2001

Nothing Like a Dame
2018

Shuttlecock: Sins of a Father
2020

Spartacus
2004

Britannia Hospital
1982

A Kind of Loving
1962

Whistle Down the Wind
1961

A Prayer for the Dying
1987

Mister Frost
1990

The Statement
2003

Dr. M
1990

The Go-Between
1971

Georgy Girl
1966

The Prince and the Pauper
2000

Losing Track
1992

The Rose
1979

An Unmarried Woman
1978

Bertie and Elizabeth
2002

Women in Love
1969

A Voyage Round My Father
1984

Quartet
1981

King of Hearts
1966

The Grotesque
1995

The Entertainer
1960

Duet for One
1986

Royal Flash
1975

Hollywood North
2004

The Fixer
1968

The Caretaker
1964

A Day in the Death of Joe Egg
1972

Secret Friends
1991

We Think the World of You
1988

An Englishman Abroad
1983

The Wicked Lady
1983

Nothing But the Best
1964

Separate Tables
1983

The Running Man
1963

Silent Tongue
1993

Butley
1974

In Celebration
1975

Nijinsky
1980

The Collection
1976

One for the Road
1985

Uncontrollable Circumstances
1989

Impossible Object
1973

102 Boulevard Haussmann
1990

The Return of the Soldier
1983

Discovering Hamlet
2011

Nicholas’ Gift
1998

Unnatural Pursuits
1992

Hands Up!
1985

Pack of Lies
1987

Very Like a Whale
1981

Three Sisters
1970

Hard Times
1994

The Trespasser
1981

Evelyn
2002

Salem Witch Trials
2002

The Dog It Was That Died
1989

St. Patrick: The Irish Legend
2000

The Story of Jacob and Joseph
1974

The Sum of All Fears
2002

Once Upon a Tractor
1965

Anthony Quinn: The Final Words
2001

Second Best
1972

Meanwhile
2003

The Cherry Orchard
1999

Shuttlecock
1993

The Shout
1978

Dr. Fischer of Geneva
1984

The Making of Gosford Park
2002

The Ray Bradbury Theater: And So Died Riabouchinska
1988

Lionpower from MGM
1967

Love Left the Masquerade: Peter Medak's Cinema of Pretenders
2025
| Title | Year | Job |
|---|---|---|
| Second Best | 1972 | Producer |