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Born February 17, 1934 in Derbyshire, England, Alan Bates was the eldest of three sons of an insurance broker and a housewife. Wanting to be an actor from the age of 11, he won a scholarship to RADA (the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts) where his classmates included Albert Finney and Peter O’Toole. After his studies he joined the Royal Air Force for a stint before embarking on his stage and screen career. Making his staged debut in 1955, he won acclaim for his 1956 West End performance in Look Back in Anger which he repeated on TV. His part in the 1959 film version, however, went to Richard Burton.

Bates his film debut in 1960’s The Entertainer in which he and Finney played the sons of Laurence Olivier. By 1962 he had become a major star in two British films, Bryan Forbes’ Whistle Down the Wind and John Schlesinger’s A Kind of Loving for which he earned a BAFTA nomination for Best Actor. He became internationally known for his major supporting performances in 1964’s Zorba the Greek and 1966’s Georgy Girl and gave what many considered the best performance in Schlesinger’s 1967 film of Far from the Madding Crowd.

Bates received his only Oscar nomination for John Frankenheimer’s largely forgotten 1968 film of Bernard Malamud’s The Fixer. He received a second BAFTA nomination for Ken Russell’s 1970 film of D.H. Lawrence’s Women in Love.

Married to actress Victoria Ward in 1970, Bates was Schlesinger’s first choice for the male lead in 1971’s Sunday Bloody Sunday but overtime on Joseph Losey’s The Go-Between and the birth of his twin sons forced him to back out.

Splitting his time between television, the theatre and the screen, Bates took roles that interested him rather than those that would keep in the limelight. As a result, his later successes were sporadic, although he did score critical acclaim for his portrayals of Jill Clayburgh’s new-found love in 1978’s An Unmarried Woman, Bette Midler’s manager in 1979’s The Rose and impresario Sergei Diaghilev in 1980’s Nijinsky. He also gave a good account of himself as Claudius in Franco Zeffirelli’s 1990 film of Hamlet, the year one of his twin sons, Tristan, died of a drug overdose while on assignment as a model in Tokyo, although it was reported as an asthma attack at the time.

Although they had been separated for many years, Bates was also shaken by the sudden death of his estranged wife less than two years after the death of his son. In 1994, one of his former male lovers, Olympic figure skating multiple gold medalist John Curry reportedly died in his arms.

With the tragedies of the 1990s behind him, Bates began the new century on a high with his performance in Robert Altman’s all-star 2001 film, Gosford Park; his Tony award-winning performance in 2002’s Fortune’s Fool which featured the Broadway debut of his other twin son, Benedick, and his knighthood in 2003.

Shortly after receiving his knighthood, Bates was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, suffered a stroke and was gone by the end of the year.

Alan Bates died on December 27, 2003 at 69.

ESSENTIAL FILMS

ZORBA THE GREEK (1964), directed by Michael Cacoyannis

Just two years earlier, Bates earned acclaim for his portrayal of the wife killer believed to be the Second Coming of Christ by three impressionable children in Whistle Down the Wind and his very different portrayal of the young Londoner forced into marriage in A Kind of Loving. Here he is yet again a completely different personality as the young uptight writer pulled into a world he doesn’t know on the island of Crete in which he more than holds his own against the larger-than-the life performance of Anthony Quinn and the heart-breaking ones of Irene Papas and Lila Kedrova.

GEORGY GIRL (1966), directed by Silvio Narizzano

One of the great films of life in London with the swingers of the swinging sixties, buoyed by the effervescent Oscar-nominated title song that dominated the airwaves at the time, this was an acting tour-de-force for all four of its stars, Oscar-nominated Lynn Redgrave and James Mason, double Golden Globe nominee Bates and the then less appreciated Charlotte Rampling. Bates more than earns his Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Comedy, although his second nomination for Best Newcomer is a real headscratcher considering all that he had already done. Here he shows great comic timing that would be rarely taken advantage of in his career.

WOMEN IN LOVE (1970), directed by Ken Russell

Russell’s film of D.H. Lawrence’s 1920 novel about two very different sisters looking for love after World War I took most of the available men is famous for two things – Glenda Jackson’s Oscar winning performance and the nude wresting match between Bates and Oliver Reed. Jackson is, of course, superb as the unlikeable manipulative sister, Gudrun, in a toxic relationship with Reed, but Jennie Linden is just as fine as the loving schoolmarm Ursula, who finds a kinder love with top-billed Bates. The counter-balance of the relationships between the two male friends and the women, and each of the couples remains ever fascinating.

AN UNMARRIED WOMAN (1978), directed by Paul Mazursky

Although he reprised his Tony award-winning performance in the film version of 1974’s Butley, Bates’ movie star period pretty much ended with 1971’s The Go-Between opposite Julie Christie. By 1978, he was no longer seen in starring roles. Mazursky’s film centers around the title character played by Jill Clayburgh in a brilliant Oscar-nominated performance. Bates doesn’t even show up until half way through the film, but easily charms Clayburgh and the audience for as long as he’s around. The only downside to the film is that Clayburgh doesn’t stay with Bates.

GOSFORD PARK (2001), directed by Robert Altman

Altman’s all-star cast murder mystery was a total delight that led writer Julian Fellowes to outdo himself with the later TV series, Downton Abbey in which the lives of the upstairs members of the household and their guests and the downstairs servants are explored with equal finesse. Although the women in the film, including Maggie Smith, Helen Mirren, Eileen Atkins, Kristin Scott Thomas, Emily Watson and Kelly Macdonald tend to overshadow the men, there are also memorable characterizations provided by the likes of Michael Gambon, Jeremey Northam, Derek Jacobi, Clive Owens and Bates as the butler in one of his last roles.

ALAN BATES AND OSCAR

  • The Fixer (1968) – nominated – Best Actor

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