Alan Bates
Known for: Acting
Born: February 17, 1934
Died: December 27, 2003
Place of birth: 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.
Advertisement
Filmography
82 movies · 19 TV shows, newest first
10.0
Love Left the Masquerade: Peter Medak's Cinema of Pretenders
2025
5.8
Shuttlecock: Sins of a Father
2020
6.8
Nothing Like a Dame
2018
7.5
Discovering Hamlet
2011
7.0
Spartacus
2004
6.7
Spartacus
2004
5.1
Hollywood North
2004
5.7
The Statement
2003
7.0
Meanwhile
2003
5.3
Celebrity Naked Ambition
2003
3.0
Salem Witch Trials
2003
6.4
Evelyn
2002
5.3
The Making of Gosford Park
2002
6.7
Bertie and Elizabeth
2002
6.4
The Sum of All Fears
2002
6.2
The Mothman Prophecies
2002
6.8
Gosford Park
2001
8.1
Love in a Cold Climate
2001
7.0
Anthony Quinn: The Final Words
2001
6.4
The Prince and the Pauper
2000
6.1
In the Beginning
2000
6.8
Arabian Nights
2000
5.0
St. Patrick: The Irish Legend
2000
5.0
The Cherry Orchard
1999
5.0
Nicholas’ Gift
1998
5.4
The Grotesque
1995
6.0
Oliver's Travels
1995
7.7
Hard Times
1994
NR
Hard Times
1994
4.7
Silent Tongue
1994
3.5
Shuttlecock
1993
8.0
Unnatural Pursuits
1992
7.0
Losing Track
1992
NR
Unnatural Pursuits
19924.1
Pebble Mill
1991
3.9
Secret Friends
1991
6.6
Hamlet
1990
7.5
102 Boulevard Haussmann
1990
4.7
Dr. M
1990
6.1
Mr. Frost
1990
7.2
Screen One
1989
6.2
Uncontrollable Circumstances
1989
5.0
The Dog It Was That Died
1989
6.4
We Think the World of You
1988
NR
The Ray Bradbury Theater: And So Died Riabouchinska
1988
5.9
A Prayer for the Dying
1987
6.8
Pack of Lies
1987
5.4
Duet for One
1986
NR
One for the Road
1985
6.9
The Ray Bradbury Theater
1985
5.7
Hands Up!
1985
7.1
Screen Two
1985
6.1
Dr. Fischer of Geneva
1984
7.4
A Voyage Round My Father
1984
6.1
An Englishman Abroad
1983
4.9
The Wicked Lady
1983
6.2
The Return of the Soldier
1983
6.6
Separate Tables
1983
6.2
Britannia Hospital
1982
5.8
Quartet
1981
8.0
The Trespasser
1981
5.0
Very Like a Whale
1981
4.9
Nijinsky
1980
6.7
The Rose
1979
6.0
The Shout
1978
6.8
An Unmarried Woman
1978
6.8
The Mayor of Casterbridge
1978
7.0
Laurence Olivier Presents
1976
4.4
The Collection
19764.0
Two Sundays
19758.5
Plaintiffs and Defendants
1975
5.8
Royal Flash
1975
5.2
In Celebration
1975
7.0
The Story of Jacob and Joseph
1974
6.7
Butley
1974
4.7
Impossible Object
1973
4.4
A Day in the Death of Joe Egg
1972
5.0
Second Best
1972
6.8
The Go-Between
1971
6.1
Great Performances
1971
4.3
Three Sisters
1970
6.6
Women in Love
1969
NR
Look at Life: All in a Day's Work
1969
6.2
The Fixer
19687.0
Location: Far from the Madding Crowd
1967
6.9
Far from the Madding Crowd
1967
6.3
Lionpower from MGM
1967
7.0
King of Hearts
1966
6.2
Georgy Girl
1966
6.0
Once Upon a Tractor
1965
7.5
Zorba the Greek
1964
5.2
The Wednesday Play
1964
6.1
Nothing But the Best
1964
7.4
The Caretaker
1964
6.7
The Running Man
1963
7.5
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962
7.1
A Kind of Loving
1962
7.2
Whistle Down the Wind
1961
6.2
The Entertainer
1960
6.0
Armchair Theatre
1956
8.8
Hallmark Hall of Fame
1951