Acting · Allestree, Derbyshire, England · Born February 17, 1934
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.
MovieLove Left the Masquerade: Peter Medak's Cinema of Pretenders
2025
as Archive
MovieShuttlecock: Sins of a Father
2020
as Major James Prentis (archival footage)
MovieNothing Like a Dame
2018
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
MovieDiscovering Hamlet
2011
as Claudius (archive footage)
TVThe Graham Norton Show
2007
as Self
TVSpartacus
2004
as Antonius Agrippa
MovieSpartacus
2004
as Antonius Agrippa
MovieHollywood North
2004
as Michael Baytes
MovieThe Statement
2003
as Armand Bertier
MovieMeanwhile
2003
as Father Peter
MovieCelebrity Naked Ambition
2003
as Self (archive footage)
TVSalem Witch Trials
2003
as Sir William Phips
MovieEvelyn
2002
as Thomas Connolly
MovieThe Making of Gosford Park
2002
as Self
MovieBertie and Elizabeth
2002
as King George V
MovieThe Sum of All Fears
2002
as Dressler
MovieThe Mothman Prophecies
2002
as Alexander Leek
MovieGosford Park
2001
as Jennings
TVLove in a Cold Climate
2001
as Uncle Matthew
MovieAnthony Quinn: The Final Words
2001
as Self
MovieThe Prince and the Pauper
2000
as Re Enrico VIII
TVIn the Beginning
2000
as Jethro
TVArabian Nights
2000
as Storyteller
MovieSt. Patrick: The Irish Legend
2000
as Calpornius
MovieThe Cherry Orchard
1999
as Gayev
MovieNicholas’ Gift
1998
as Reg Green
MovieThe Grotesque
1995
as Sir Hugo Coal
TVOliver's Travels
1995
as Oliver
MovieHard Times
1994
as Josiah Bounderby
TVHard Times
1994
as Josiah Bounderby
MovieSilent Tongue
1994
as Eamon McCree
MovieShuttlecock
1993
as Major James Prentis VC
TVUnnatural Pursuits
1992
as Hamish Partt
MovieLosing Track
1992
as Henry Sitchell
MovieUnnatural Pursuits
1992
as Hamish Partt
Pebble Mill
1991
as Self
MovieSecret Friends
1991
as John
MovieHamlet
1990
as Claudius
Movie102 Boulevard Haussmann
1990
as Marcel Proust
MovieDr. M
1990
as Dr, Marsfeldt / Guru
MovieMister Frost
1990
as Felix Detweiler
TVScreen One
1989
as Henry Sitchell
MovieUncontrollable Circumstances
1989
as Malcolm Forrest
MovieThe Dog It Was That Died
1989
as Blair
MovieWe Think the World of You
1988
as Frank Meadows
MovieThe Ray Bradbury Theater: And So Died Riabouchinska
1988
as John Fabian
MovieA Prayer for the Dying
1987
as Jack Meehan
MoviePack of Lies
1987
as Stewart
MovieDuet for One
1986
as David Cornwallis
MovieOne for the Road
1985
as Nicholas
TVThe Ray Bradbury Theater
1985
as John Fabian
MovieHands Up!
1985
as Self (1981 footage)
TVScreen Two
1985
as Marcel Proust
MovieDr. Fischer of Geneva
1984
as Dr. Alfred Jones
MovieA Voyage Round My Father
1984
as John Mortimer
MovieAn Englishman Abroad
1983
as Guy Burgess
MovieThe Wicked Lady
1983
as Captain Jerry Jackson
MovieThe Return of the Soldier
1983
as Captain Chris Baldry
MovieSeparate Tables
1983
as John Malcolm / Maj. Pollock
MovieBritannia Hospital
1982
as Macready
MovieQuartet
1981
as H.J. Heidler
MovieThe Trespasser
1981
as Siegmund
MovieVery Like a Whale
1981
as Sir Jock Mellor
MovieNijinsky
1980
as Sergei Diaghilev
MovieThe Rose
1979
as Rudge Campbell
MovieThe Shout
1978
as Charles Crossley
MovieAn Unmarried Woman
1978
as Saul Kaplan
TVThe Mayor of Casterbridge
1978
as Michael Henchard
TVLaurence Olivier Presents
1976
MovieThe Collection
1976
as James
Two Sundays
1975
as Charles
Plaintiffs and Defendants
1975
as Peter
MovieRoyal Flash
1975
as Rudi Von Sternberg
MovieIn Celebration
1975
as Andrew Shaw
MovieThe Story of Jacob and Joseph
1974
as Narrator (voice)
MovieButley
1974
as Ben Butley
MovieImpossible Object
1973
as Harry
MovieA Day in the Death of Joe Egg
1972
as Bri
MovieSecond Best
1972
as Tom
MovieThe Go-Between
1971
as Ted Burgess
TVGreat Performances
1971
as James
MovieThree Sisters
1970
as Col. Vershinin
MovieWomen in Love
1969
as Rupert Birkin
MovieLook at Life: All in a Day's Work
1969
as Self
MovieThe Fixer
1968
as Yakov Bok
Location: Far from the Madding Crowd
1967
as Himself
MovieFar from the Madding Crowd
1967
as Gabriel Oak
MovieLionpower from MGM
1967
as Self - Gabriel Oak (archive footage) (uncredited)
MovieKing of Hearts
1966
as Charles Plumpick
MovieGeorgy Girl
1966
as Jos Jones
MovieOnce Upon a Tractor
1965
as Joe Turrel
MovieZorba the Greek
1964
as Basil
TVThe Wednesday Play
1964
as Grigor Pecharin
MovieNothing But the Best
1964
as Jimmy Brewster
MovieThe Caretaker
1964
as Mick
MovieThe Running Man
1963
as Stephen
TVThe Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962
as Self
MovieA Kind of Loving
1962
as Victor 'Vic' Brown
MovieWhistle Down the Wind
1961
as The Man, Arthur Alan Blakey
MovieThe Entertainer
1960
as Frank Rice
TVArmchair Theatre
1956
as Lewis Black
TVHallmark Hall of Fame
1951
as Stewart
