--- name: "Alan Bates" canonical: "https://film.one/person/alan-bates" roles: ["Actor"] born: "17 February 1934" died: "27 December 2003" reviewed_on_fi1m: 3 average_fi1m_score: 78 average_as: "actor" average_over: 3 updated: "2026-09-20T06:05:41.878265+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Alan Bates Actor. Born 17 February 1934 in Allestree, Derbyshire, England. Died 27 December 2003. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 17 February 1934, Allestree, Derbyshire, England - **Died:** 27 December 2003 - **Active:** 1964–2001 - **Also known as:** Алан Бейтс - **Academy Awards:** 1 Oscar nomination - **Average Fi1m score:** 78, as actor, over 3 titles - **Fi1m score by decade:** 1960s 67 (1), 1970s 82 (1), 2000s 85 (1) - **Score spread:** 2 at 80+, 1 at 60–79, 0 under 60 - **Lead roles:** 2 of 2 acting credits billed first or second - **Genres:** Drama 3, Comedy 1, Mystery 1, Romance 1, Thriller 1 - **Screen time:** 7 hours of reviewed films - **Box office:** $121m across 3 films with figures - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Bates, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q309160, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000869/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/27554 ## Fi1m on Alan Bates > Alan Bates was the man at the table who was not talking. For a decade of British films he stood beside louder actors and listened, and the listening was the performance; the stage, and Simon Gray, let him make the noise himself. Watch what Alan Bates does with his face in *Zorba the Greek* (1964) while Anthony Quinn roars. He plays Basil, the buttoned-up Englishman who has come to Crete and spends two hours being told how to live. The part is a listening post, and Bates listens: a slight stiffening, a glance towards the door, the look of a man who has been handed a drink he did not ask for. It is small work and it is easy to miss, and the film needs somebody on screen to take Zorba seriously so that we are not obliged to. That was his position for most of the 1960s. He came out of the Royal Court, where he was Cliff in *Look Back in Anger* in 1956, another quiet man beside a loud one, and made his film debut in *The Entertainer* (1960). Then the leads: *Whistle Down the Wind* (1961), *A Kind of Loving* (1962), *Zorba*, *Far from the Madding Crowd* (1967) as Gabriel Oak, *The Fixer* (1968) for John Frankenheimer, and *Women in Love* (1969), where Ken Russell gave him Rupert Birkin and, at last, the centre of the picture. John Schlesinger directed him three times in that stretch and seems to have understood that Bates read best when the camera stayed on him a beat after the other actor had finished. The complaint, then and since, was that he receded. Put him next to something electric and he dimmed, and in *Zorba* we felt it: watching Quinn dance and Bates look faintly alarmed for the fourth time, we wanted the film to cut to him for a reason other than reaction, and it never did. That is partly the script, which gives Basil nothing to want. But it is also Bates, who never seemed to mind being the frame rather than the picture. The stage let him out. He did six pieces of Simon Gray's, and *Butley* (1974), filmed from his stage performance, is the Bates the cinema rarely asked for: quick, bitter, funny, a man who has decided to talk everyone else out of the building. He worked with Harold Pinter twice. Late on there was Jennings in Robert Altman's *Gosford Park* (2001), a part in a very large cast that puts him back at the edge of the frame, where he was always comfortable. He once said, "You can time a part any way you like, for effect. But you must always be honest." He kept to the second half of that. The first half he mostly left to whoever he was standing next to. Start with *Women in Love*, where he is the one doing the talking, and go back to *Zorba* afterwards to see how much he was holding in. ## Biography Alan Bates (1934–2003) was an English actor whose career spanned stage, film and television from the mid-1950s until his death. He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and made his professional stage debut in 1955, gaining early recognition in John Osborne's *Look Back in Anger* (1956) with the English Stage Company at the Royal Court Theatre. Bates came to prominence in the 1960s with film roles including *Whistle Down the Wind* (1961), *A Kind of Loving* (1962), *Zorba the Greek* (1964) as Basil, *Georgy Girl* (1966) and *The Fixer* (1968), the last of which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. He continued to work across mediums, appearing in films such as *Women in Love* (1969), *The Go-Between* (1971) and *Gosford Park* (2001), and in television dramas including *An Englishman Abroad* (1983). He was appointed CBE in 1995 and knighted in 2003. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.* ## On Fi1m (3) - *Gosford Park* (2001), Fi1m 85, as Jennings — [page](https://film.one/film/gosford-park.md) - *An Unmarried Woman* (1978), Fi1m 82, as Saul Kaplan — [page](https://film.one/film/an-unmarried-woman.md) - *Zorba the Greek* (1964), Fi1m 67, as Basil — [page](https://film.one/film/zorba-the-greek.md) ## Complete filmography (90) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *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) - *Discovering Hamlet* (2011), as Claudius (archive footage) - *Spartacus* (2004), series, as Antonius Agrippa - *Spartacus* (2004), as Antonius Agrippa - *Hollywood North* (2004), as Michael Baytes - *The Statement* (2003), as Armand Bertier - *Meanwhile* (2003), as Father Peter - *Salem Witch Trials* (2003), series, as Sir William Phips - *Evelyn* (2002), as Thomas Connolly - *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 — Fi1m 85, [page](https://film.one/film/gosford-park.md) - *Love in a Cold Climate* (2001), series, as Uncle Matthew - *The Prince and the Pauper* (2000), as Re Enrico VIII - *In the Beginning* (2000), series, as Jethro - *Arabian Nights* (2000), series, as Storyteller - *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 - *Oliver's Travels* (1995), series, as Oliver - *Hard Times* (1994), series, as Josiah Bounderby - *Silent Tongue* (1994), as Eamon McCree - *Shuttlecock* (1993), as Major James Prentis VC - *Unnatural Pursuits* (1992), series, as Hamish Partt - *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 - *Screen One* (1989), series, as Henry Sitchell - *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 - *The Ray Bradbury Theater* (1985), series, as John Fabian - *Screen Two* (1985), series, as Marcel Proust - *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 — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/an-unmarried-woman.md) - *The Mayor of Casterbridge* (1978), series, as Michael Henchard - *Laurence Olivier Presents* (1976), series, Actor - *The Collection* (1976), as James - *Two Sundays* (1975), as Charles - *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 - *Great Performances* (1971), series, as James - *Three Sisters* (1970), as Col. Vershinin - *Women in Love* (1969), as Rupert Birkin - *The Fixer* (1968), as Yakov Bok - *Far from the Madding Crowd* (1967), as Gabriel Oak - *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 — Fi1m 67, [page](https://film.one/film/zorba-the-greek.md) - *The Wednesday Play* (1964), series, as Grigor Pecharin - *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 - *Armchair Theatre* (1956), series, as Lewis Black, Mario - *Hallmark Hall of Fame* (1951), series, as Stewart ## Gallery - ![Alan Bates](https://film.one/media/person/306399/gallery-a96b4acbf016.jpg) Alan Bates — Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/10/Alan_Bates.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![This vintage photograph depicts Sir Alan Bates in the film, The Fixer (1968), for which he was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe. The film was directed (1969)](https://film.one/media/person/306399/gallery-583ab61f1f1d.jpg) This vintage photograph depicts Sir Alan Bates in the film, The Fixer (1968), for which he was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe. The film was directed (1969) — N/A studio, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/Alan_Bates_%E2%80%94_%22The_Fixer%22_%281968%29_publicity_still.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![This publicity still, a vintage photo from the 1964 play Poor Richard by Jean Kerr, was published and distributed with the intention of circulating attention fo](https://film.one/media/person/306399/gallery-0c56518051bf.jpg) This publicity still, a vintage photo from the 1964 play Poor Richard by Jean Kerr, was published and distributed with the intention of circulating attention fo — Samuel Lurie, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e5/%28L%E2%80%93R%29_Alan_Bates_%26_Joanna_Pettet_on_Broadway_in_%22Poor_Richard%22_%281964%29.jpg/1280px-%28L%E2%80%93R%29_Alan_Bates_%26_Joanna_Pettet_on_Broadway_in_%22Poor_Richard%22_%281964%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Alan Bates](https://film.one/media/person/306399/gallery-fe9af0c5af38.jpg) Alan Bates — Image via TMDB - ![Alan Bates](https://film.one/media/person/306399/gallery-79a1bbb31861.jpg) Alan Bates — Image via TMDB - ![Alan Bates](https://film.one/media/person/306399/gallery-e53e825ddbd6.jpg) Alan Bates — Image via TMDB ## Awards ### Academy Awards — 0 won, 1 nominated - 1969: Best Actor (nominated), for *The Fixer* ### Other awards — 3 won - Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play 2002: Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play (won) - Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Lead Actor 2001: Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Lead Actor (won) - Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play 1973: Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play (won) *From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.* --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/alan-bates