Alan Bates
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- February 17, 1934
- Died
- December 27, 2003
- Birthplace
- Allestree, Derbyshire, England
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.
Filmography
Love Left the Masquerade: Peter Medak's Cinema of Pretenders 2025
as Archive
Shuttlecock: Sins of a Father 2020
as Major James Prentis (archival footage)
Nothing Like a Dame 2018
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Discovering Hamlet 2011
as Claudius (archive footage)
Spartacus 2004
as Antonius Agrippa
Hollywood North 2004
as Michael Baytes
The Statement 2003
as Armand Bertier
Celebrity Naked Ambition 2003
as Self (archive footage)
Meanwhile 2003
as Father Peter
Evelyn 2002
as Thomas Connolly
The Making of Gosford Park 2002
as Self
Bertie and Elizabeth 2002
as King George V
The Sum of All Fears 2002
as Dressler
The Mothman Prophecies 2002
as Alexander Leek
Gosford Park 2001
as Jennings
Anthony Quinn: The Final Words 2001
as Self
The Prince and the Pauper 2000
as Re Enrico VIII
St. Patrick: The Irish Legend 2000
as Calpornius
The Cherry Orchard 1999
as Gayev
Nicholas’ Gift 1998
as Reg Green
The Grotesque 1995
as Sir Hugo Coal
Silent Tongue 1994
as Eamon McCree
Shuttlecock 1993
as Major James Prentis VC
Losing Track 1992
as Henry Sitchell
Unnatural Pursuits 1992
as Hamish Partt
Secret Friends 1991
as John
Hamlet 1990
as Claudius
102 Boulevard Haussmann 1990
as Marcel Proust
Dr. M 1990
as Dr, Marsfeldt / Guru
Mr. Frost 1990
as Felix Detweiler
Uncontrollable Circumstances 1989
as Malcolm Forrest
The Dog It Was That Died 1989
as Blair
We Think the World of You 1988
as Frank Meadows
The Ray Bradbury Theater: And So Died Riabouchinska 1988
as John Fabian
A Prayer for the Dying 1987
as Jack Meehan
Pack of Lies 1987
as Stewart
Duet for One 1986
as David Cornwallis
One for the Road 1985
as Nicholas
Hands Up! 1985
as Self (1981 footage)
Dr. Fischer of Geneva 1984
as Dr. Alfred Jones
A Voyage Round My Father 1984
as John Mortimer
An Englishman Abroad 1983
as Guy Burgess
The Wicked Lady 1983
as Captain Jerry Jackson
The Return of the Soldier 1983
as Captain Chris Baldry
Separate Tables 1983
as John Malcolm / Maj. Pollock
Britannia Hospital 1982
as Macready
Quartet 1981
as H.J. Heidler
The Trespasser 1981
as Siegmund
Very Like a Whale 1981
as Sir Jock Mellor
Nijinsky 1980
as Sergei Diaghilev
The Rose 1979
as Rudge Campbell
The Shout 1978
as Charles Crossley
An Unmarried Woman 1978
as Saul Kaplan
The Collection 1976
as James
- Two Sundays
Two Sundays 1975
as Charles
- Plaintiffs and Defendants
Plaintiffs and Defendants 1975
as Peter
Royal Flash 1975
as Rudi Von Sternberg
In Celebration 1975
as Andrew Shaw
The Story of Jacob and Joseph 1974
as Narrator (voice)
Butley 1974
as Ben Butley
Impossible Object 1973
as Harry
A Day in the Death of Joe Egg 1972
as Bri
Second Best 1972
as Tom, Producer
The Go-Between 1971
as Ted Burgess
Three Sisters 1970
as Col. Vershinin
Women in Love 1969
as Rupert Birkin
Look at Life: All in a Day's Work 1969
as Self
The Fixer 1968
as Yakov Bok
- Location: Far from the Madding Crowd
Location: Far from the Madding Crowd 1967
as Self
Far from the Madding Crowd 1967
as Gabriel Oak
Lionpower from MGM 1967
as Self - Gabriel Oak (archive footage) (uncredited)
King of Hearts 1966
as Charles Plumpick
Georgy Girl 1966
as Jos Jones
Once Upon a Tractor 1965
as Joe Turrel
Zorba the Greek 1964
as Basil
Nothing But the Best 1964
as Jimmy Brewster
The Caretaker 1964
as Mick
The Running Man 1963
as Stephen
A Kind of Loving 1962
as Victor 'Vic' Brown
Whistle Down the Wind 1961
as The Man, Arthur Alan Blakey
The Entertainer 1960
as Frank Rice
Credits from TMDB.