Alan Bates
Sir Alan Arthur Bates CBE (17 February 1934 – 27 December 2003) was an English actor who came to prominence in the 1960s, when he appeared in films ranging from the popular crime drama Whistle Down the Wind to the "kitchen sink" drama A Kind of Loving.
For other people named Alan Bates, see Alan Bates (disambiguation).
He is also known for his performance with Anthony Quinn in Zorba the Greek, as well as his roles in King of Hearts, Georgy Girl, Far From the Madding Crowd and The Fixer, for which he received 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 in The Rose with Bette Midler, as well as many television dramas, 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 appeared on the stage, notably in the plays of Simon Gray, such as Butley and Otherwise Engaged.
Personal life[edit]
Bates was married to actress Victoria Ward from 1970 until her death from a heart attack in 1992, although they had separated many years earlier.[11] They had twin sons, born in November 1970, the actors Benedick Bates and Tristan Bates. Tristan died following an asthma attack in Tokyo in 1990.[12]
Bates had numerous gay relationships, including those with actor Nickolas Grace and Olympic skater John Curry as detailed in Donald Spoto's authorised biography Otherwise Engaged: The Life of Alan Bates.[13] Spoto characterised Bates's sexuality as ambiguous, and said, "he loved women but enjoyed his closest relationships with men".[14] Even after homosexuality was partially decriminalised in England in 1967,[15] Bates rigorously avoided interviews and questions about his personal life, and even denied to his male lovers that there was a homosexual component in his nature.[13] Throughout his life Bates sought to be regarded as charming and charismatic, or at least as a man who, as an actor, could appear attractive to and attracted by women. He also chose some roles with an aspect of homosexuality or bisexuality,[13] including the role of Rupert in the 1969 film Women in Love and the role of Frank in the 1988 film We Think the World of You.
In the later years of his life, Bates had a relationship with the Welsh actress Angharad Rees.[16]
Death[edit]
Bates died of pancreatic cancer[17] in December 2003 after going into a coma. He is buried at All Saints' Church, Bradbourne in Derbyshire.[18]
Otherwise Engaged: The Life of Alan Bates[edit]
Donald Spoto's 2007 book, Otherwise Engaged: The Life of Alan Bates,[19] is a posthumous authorised biography of Alan Bates. It was written with the cooperation of his son Benedick and features more than one hundred interviews, including with Michael Linnit and Rosalind Chatto.
Tristan Bates Theatre[edit]
Bates and his family created the Tristan Bates Theatre at the Actors' Centre in Covent Garden, in memory of his son Tristan who died at the age of 19.[20] Tristan's twin brother, Benedick, is a vice-director.[21]