Alan Bates

Born: 1934-02-17

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.


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The Mothman Prophecies

as Alexander Leek
Released: 2002-01-25

Reporter John Klein is plunged into a world of impossible terror and unthinkable chaos when fate...

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The Sum of All Fears

as Dressler
Released: 2002-05-31

When the president of Russia suddenly dies, a man whose politics are virtually unknown succeeds...

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Spartacus

as Antonius Agrippa
Released: 2004-03-17

Sentenced to spend out the rest of his adult life laboring in the harsh deserts of Egypt, the...

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Gosford Park

as Jennings
Released: 2001-11-07

In 1930s England, a group of pretentious rich and famous gather together for a weekend of...

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Nothing Like a Dame

as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Released: 2018-05-02

BBC Arena's documentary on the Dames of British Theatre and film featuring Maggie Smith, Elieen...

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A Prayer for the Dying

as Jack Meehan
Released: 1987-09-11

Martin, an I.R.A. hitman, is seen by a Catholic priest while carrying out a hit. He grows a bond...

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Zorba the Greek

as Basil
Released: 1964-12-14

An uptight English writer traveling to Crete on a matter of business finds his life changed...

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Britannia Hospital

as Macready
Released: 1982-05-27

Britannia Hospital, an esteemed English institution, is marking its gala anniversary with a...

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Salem Witch Trials

as Sir William Phips
Released: 2002-12-24

Salem, Massachusetts. A small town—with no clear governing body—became embroiled in a scandal...

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The Rose

as Rudge Campbell
Released: 1979-11-07

Rock-and-roll singer Mary Rose Foster's romantic relationships and mental health are...

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Hamlet

as Claudius
Released: 1990-12-19

Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, finds out that his uncle Claudius killed his father to obtain the...

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King of Hearts

as Charles Plumpick
Released: 1966-12-21

An ornithologist mistaken for an explosives expert is sent alone into a small French town during...

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The Entertainer

as Frank Rice
Released: 1960-07-25

Archie Rice, an old-time British vaudeville performer sinking into final defeat, schemes to stay...

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An Unmarried Woman

as Saul Kaplan
Released: 1978-05-24

A wealthy woman from Manhattan's Upper East Side struggles to deal with her new identity and her...

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Far from the Madding Crowd

as Gabriel Oak
Released: 1967-06-18

Bathsheba Everdine, a willful, flirtatious, young woman, unexpectedly inherits a large farm and...

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A Kind of Loving

as Victor Arthur 'Vic' Brown
Released: 1962-04-12

As Vic Brown vacillates between infatuation and disinterest for his co-worker Ingrid Rothwell,...

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Evelyn

as Thomas Connolly
Released: 2002-09-30

Desmond Doyle is devastated when his wife abandons their family on the day after Christmas. His...

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The Shout

as Charles Crossley
Released: 1978-06-16

A traveller by the name of Crossley forces himself upon a musician and his wife in a lonely part...

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The Return of the Soldier

as Captain Chris Baldry
Released: 1983-01-06

The horrors of World War I have robbed returning veteran Chris Baldry of his memory. The...

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The Go-Between

as Ted Burgess
Released: 1971-06-16

British teenager Leo Colston spends a summer in the countryside, where he develops a crush on...

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The Statement

as Armand Bertier
Released: 2003-12-12

The film is set in France in the 1990s, the French were defeated by the Germans early in World...

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Uncontrollable Circumstances

as Malcolm Forrest
Released: 1989-04-04

Philippe and Daniel decide to go on vacation Southeast Asia, where they meet Hans, a European...

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Nijinsky

as Sergei Diaghilev
Released: 1980-03-20

A ballet dancer struggles with his homosexuality and the increasing allure of a young ballerina...

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Women in Love

as Rupert Birkin
Released: 1969-09-13

Growing up in the sheltered confines of a 1920s English coal-mining community, free-spirited...

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The Prince and the Pauper

as Re Enrico VIII
Released: 2000-12-01

An adaptation of the classic, "The Prince and the Pauper" is the retelling of Edward Tudor and...

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Georgy Girl

as Jos Jones
Released: 1966-08-04

A homely but vivacious young woman dodges the amorous attentions of her father's middle-aged...

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Whistle Down the Wind

as The Man, Arthur Alan Blakey
Released: 1961-07-25

When an injured wife-murderer takes refuge on a remote Lancashire farm, the farmer’s three...

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The Running Man

as Stephen
Released: 1963-10-01

An Englishman with a grudge against an insurance company for a disallowed claim fakes his own...

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The Grotesque

as Sir Hugo Coal
Released: 1995-09-09

Sir Hugo is more interested in reconstructing dinosaur bones than in paying attention to his...

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The Wicked Lady

as Captain Jerry Jackson
Released: 1983-04-21

Caroline is to be wed to Sir Ralph and invites her sister Barbara to be her bridesmaid. Barbara...

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Quartet

as H.J. Heidler
Released: 1981-10-25

When her husband's arrest leaves her penniless, a woman accepts an invitation to move in with a...

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The Story of Jacob and Joseph

as Narrator (voice)
Released: 1974-04-07

This film recounts the tales of the Biblical figures, Jacob and Joseph. The first part tells the...

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Story of a Love Story

as Harry
Released: 1973-05-24

Harry is a married writer who has an affair with a woman whose husband knows that she is...

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An Englishman Abroad

as Guy Burgess
Released: 1983-11-29

Actress Coral Browne travels to Moscow, and meets a mysterious Englishman. Turns out he's the...

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Shuttlecock: Sins of a Father

as Major James Prentis (archival footage)
Released: 2020-12-31

At the memorial for his father, WWII hero Major James Prentis (Alan Bates), John (Lambert...

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The Fixer

as Yakov Bok
Released: 1968-12-08

Set in tsarist Russia around the turn of the century and based on a true story of a Russian...

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Mister Frost

as Felix Detweiler
Released: 1990-04-10

Frost is arrested and committed for murder after he is apprehended burying his victims in the...

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A Day in the Death of Joe Egg

as Bri
Released: 1972-05-01

A couple uses extremely black comedy to survive taking care of a daughter who is nearly...

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Royal Flash

as Rudi Von Sternberg
Released: 1975-10-10

Cowardly rogue Harry Flashman's (Malcolm McDowell) schemes to gain entry to the royal circles of...

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Three Sisters

as Col. Vershinin
Released: 1970-04-01

Nearly a thousand miles away from their beloved Moscow, Chekhov's Three Sisters live in virtual...

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Hands Up!

as Self (1981 footage)
Released: 1985-01-21

The reunion of a group of former medical students results in a flood of bitter memories.

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Dr. M

as Dr, Marsfeldt / Guru
Released: 1990-05-24

In the not-too-distant future Berlin is shocked by a series of spectacular suicides; a...

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Hard Times

as Josiah Bounderby
Released: 1994-04-29

Charles Dickens' bleak, passionate novel about the challenges of life in 19th-century London...

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We Think the World of You

as Frank Meadows
Released: 1988-12-22

An aimless young man, Johnny, is sent prison. He entrusts his beloved dog, Evie, to the care of...

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Silent Tongue

as Eamon McCree
Released: 1993-01-28

Mad with grief after the death of his Kiowa wife, Roe awaits death under a tree with her body...

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The Collection

as James
Released: 1976-01-01

Set in the rarefied world of West End boutique owners and fashion designers, The Collection...

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In Celebration

as Andrew Shaw
Released: 1975-03-17

In a Yorkshire mining town, three educated brothers return to their blue-collar home to...

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Bertie and Elizabeth

as King George V
Released: 2002-06-04

The duke of York, nicknamed Bertie, was born as royal 'spare heir', younger brother to the...

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Shuttlecock

as Major James Prentis VC
Released: 1993-04-07

Major James Prentis VC is a British spy of World War II and war hero who goes under the code...

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Hollywood North

as Michael Baytes
Released: 2004-01-12

The making of a serious, Canadian arthouse film descends into Hollywood farce when its producer...

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Pack of Lies

as Stewart
Released: 1987-04-26

A British couple are shocked out of their suburban malaise when British intelligence agent...

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The Cherry Orchard

as Gayev
Released: 1999-01-01

Madame Ranevskaya is a spoiled aging aristocratic lady, who returns from a trip to Paris to face...

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Duet for One

as David Cornwallis
Released: 1986-12-25

When Stephanie, a famous violinist, contracts multiple sclerosis her life begins to fall apart....

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The Caretaker

as Mick
Released: 1964-01-21

Aston, a quiet, reserved man, lives alone in a top-floor cluttered room of a small abandoned...

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Once Upon a Tractor

as Joe Turrel
Released: 1965-09-09

Short film directed by Leopoldo Torre Nilsson.

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Secret Friends

as John
Released: 1991-06-21

During a train ride, an anxiety attack leads middle-aged illustrator John into an identity...

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Very Like a Whale

as Sir Jock Mellor
Released: 1981-01-02

Theme of a powerful and respected man tearing his life to bits.

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The Dog It Was That Died

as Blair
Released: 1989-01-01

Rupert Purvis jumps off a bridge onto a dog, causing problems for Blair, his superior at MI5....

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Butley

as Ben Butley
Released: 1974-01-21

Butley is set in Queen Mary’s College, London and focuses on two English instructors, Ben...

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Separate Tables

as John Malcolm / Maj. Pollock
Released: 1983-01-01

Two one-act plays explore love and loneliness. In "Table by the Window" an aging fashion model...

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Nicholas’ Gift

as Reg Green
Released: 1998-04-21

Fact based drama about an American couple on vacation in Italy in 1994 with their two children...

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Mel Gibson Goes Back to School

as Claudius (archive footage)
Released: 1991-01-01

Mel Gibson teaches Hamlet to a group of high school drama students.

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The Trespasser

as Siegmund
Released: 1981-01-25

Adapted from the D. H. Lawrence novel this tells the romantic story of Siegmund and Helena....

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Dr. Fischer of Geneva

as Dr. Alfred Jones
Released: 1984-10-08

Dr. Fischer has an unusual hobby — to expose human greed. How much humiliation will his fellow...

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102 Boulevard Haussmann

as Marcel Proust
Released: 1990-11-09

In 1916 author Marcel Proust is leading a reclusive life in Paris. He hires a quartet of...

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St. Patrick: The Irish Legend

as Calpornius
Released: 2000-03-12

A young Christian boy attends a druid worship that is attacked by invading Irish tribes. Taken...

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The Making of 'Gosford Park'

as Self
Released: 2002-06-18

A documentary giving film fans a behind-the-scenes look at the making this Robert Altman film...

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Nothing But the Best

as Jimmy Brewster
Released: 1964-03-10

Success has James Brewster's name written all over it, and he also has his heart set on his...

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Discovering Hamlet

as Claudius (archive footage)
Released: 2011-11-01

Journey into "Hamlet"-the play and the man-through the experiences of some of the major actors...

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Second Best

as Tom
Released: 1972-01-01

A short film based on a story by D.H. Lawrence in which two sisters meet after being apart for a...

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A Voyage Round My Father

as John Mortimer
Released: 1984-04-19

A successful lawyer struck with blindness in middle age continues his battles in the courtroom...

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Anthony Quinn: The Final Words

as Self
Released: 2001-01-01

In a historical interview only a few months before his death, the harger-than-life star of Zorba...

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Losing Track

as Henry Sitchell
Released: 1992-10-18

In 1950, a man returns home to the UK from India after the death of his wife to build bridges...

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Meanwhile

as uncredited
Released: 2003-07-19

Two childhood friends - Darren and Gary - re-unite for the funeral of an old acquaintance. Gary...

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Unnatural Pursuits

as Hamish Partt
Released: 1992-01-01

An English playwright sacrifices his health waiting for his play's make-or-break opening on...

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The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

as Self
First aired: 1962-10-01

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under The Tonight...

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The Graham Norton Show

as Self
First aired: 2007-02-22

Each week celebrity guests join Irish comedian Graham Norton to discuss what's being going on...

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Great Performances

as James
First aired: 1971-01-28

The best in the performing arts from across America and around the world including a diverse...

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The Ray Bradbury Theater

as John Fabian
First aired: 1985-05-21

A Canadian-produced fantastic anthology series scripted by famed science-fiction author Ray...

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Spartacus

as Antonius Agrippa
First aired: 2004-04-18

Spartacus, who was enslaved by the Romans after they murdered his father, leads fellow slaves in...

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Arabian Nights

as Storyteller
First aired: 2000-04-30

Targeted for assassination by his first wife and his evil brother, a young sultan must marry by...

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In the Beginning

as Jethro
First aired: 2000-11-12

In the Beginning is a 2-part biblical television miniseries directed by Kevin Connor. It stars...

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Hallmark Hall of Fame

as Stewart
First aired: 1951-12-24

Hallmark Hall of Fame is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark...

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Laurence Olivier Presents

as uncredited
First aired: 1976-12-05

Laurence Olivier Presents is a British television series made by Granada Television which ran...

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Hard Times

as Josiah Bounderby
First aired: 1994-04-29

Charles Dickens' bleak, passionate novel about the challenges of life in 19th-century London...

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Love in a Cold Climate

as Uncle Matthew
First aired: 2001-02-04

Dramatization of Nancy Mitford's novel about three aristocratic young girls' adventures in love.

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Oliver's Travels

as Oliver
First aired: 1995-06-11

Oliver's Travels is a five-part television serial written by Alan Plater and starring Alan...

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The Mayor of Casterbridge

as Michael Henchard
First aired: 1978-01-22

Michael Henchard, an out-of-work hay-trusser, gets drunk at a fair and for five guineas sells...

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