December 29, 2003
Alan Bates, Film and Stage Actor, Dies at 69
Alan Bates, the versatile British actor who forged his name on the West End stage in John Osborne's "Look Back in Anger" in 1956 and went on to captivate audiences on both sides of the Atlantic in a wide-ranging film, theater and television career, died on Saturday at a hospital in London. He was 69.
Sir Alan, who had been named a Commander of the British Empire in 1995, was knighted last year shortly before he was found to have pancreatic cancer. He died of complications of the disease, his agent, Rosalind Chatto, told The Associated Press yesterday.
In portrayals that spanned five decades, Sir Alan — often outstanding in supporting roles — appeared in 59 stage productions, including five Broadway plays, winning two Tony Awards.
He starred in 33 television productions and 50 movies, including "Zorba the Greek," "Georgy Girl," "Far from the Madding Crowd," "The Fixer," "Butley," "An Unmarried Woman," "Women in Love," and "Gosford Park."
On the stage, he performed Shakespeare and Chekhov, but also works by modern playwrights, including Harold Pinter, David Storey and Tom Stoppard. His 1958 performance in Eugene O'Neill's "Long Day's Journey Into Night" was acclaimed. His television work included numerous movies and a major Masterpiece Theater production of Dickens's "Hard Times."
Along with Albert Finney, Richard Harris, Peter O'Toole and Tom Courtenay, Sir Alan was one of the pioneers in the "kitchen sink" drama revolution that overtook the London theater in the 1950's: angry young men — writers, actors and directors and their creations — rebelling against postwar England's middle-class values.
His passion for acting had begun as a teenager in Derbyshire, in the British Midlands where he grew up, and was rewarded with a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. As with many successful actors, his was a case of being in the right place at the right time.
The place was the Royal Court, the time 1956 and the play was Osborne's ground-breaking drama, "Look Back in Anger," which reflected Britain's social and class turmoils of the time. Handsome, determined, his square face framed in a mass of unruly black hair, his resonant voice reaching out to the balconies, Mr. Bates portrayed Cliff, the affable sidekick to the angry Jimmy Porter.
Although his was a supporting role, it was a crucial counterpoint to the tumultuous lead played by Kenneth Haigh, and critics acclaimed the 22-year-old Mr. Bates as a powerful and subtle performer. He was soon swamped with film and stage offers, most of which he rejected. In 1957, he appeared on Broadway in the Osborne play.
His first major film was "The Entertainer," opposite Laurence Olivier, in 1960, and his first lead came two years later in "A Kind of Loving," in which he and June Ritchie played a couple trapped in their working-class life in Manchester.
In 1964 he portrayed the Englishman Basil in "Zorba the Greek," opposite Anthony Quinn, and in 1966 was in "Georgy Girl" with Lynn Redgrave.
One of the memorable scenes of his film career unfolded in Ken Russell's 1969 film "Women in Love," based on the D.H. Lawrence novel, in which he wrestled nude with Oliver Reed. Glenda Jackson, his co-star, told the BBC, "He always brought the unexpected to everything he did."
His versatility was shown again as the lead in Simon Gray's "Butley," a comedy about the emotional and psychic disintegration of an English literature professor. Sir Alan originated the character on a London stage in 1971, did a reprise on Broadway in 1972, winning his first Tony Award, and played it again in a 1973 film.
American film audiences hailed him again in 1978 as an intriguing but self-absorbed artist, Jill Clayburgh's bearded and ultimately spurned lover in "An Unmarried Woman," directed by Paul Mazursky.
He appeared as Claudius in Franco Zeffirelli's 1990 film "Hamlet," which starred Mel Gibson. In more recent films, Sir Alan played a butler bordering on breakdown in Robert Altman's 2001 period drama and murder mystery, "Gosford Park"; a fascist who plots to bomb a Super Bowl game in the 2002 thriller "The Sum of All Fears"; and a mad scientist who foretells disaster in "The Mothman Prophecies," also in 2002.
Despite his success in films, Sir Alan seemed always to be drawn back to the stage. He played classical roles in "Hamlet," "Richard III," and "Antony and Cleopatra." He also appeared in Pinter's "Caretaker" onstage and in the film.
He was nominated for an Oscar for his performance in John Frankenheimer's 1968 film "The Fixer," opposite Dirk Bogarde, and won another Tony Award in 2002 for his Broadway portrayal of an impoverished nobleman in "Fortune's Fool," Ivan Turgenev's examination of 19th-century country life in Russia.
Alan Bates was born in Derbyshire on Feb. 17, 1934, the eldest of three sons of an insurance salesman. His studies at the Royal Academy were interrupted by two years of military service with the Royal Air Force. He made his professional theater debut with the Midland Theater Company in central England in 1955, and got his break a year later in "Look Back in Anger."
His son, Tristan, died of an asthma attack in 1990, and his wife, the actress Victoria Ward, died in 1992. He is survived by another son, Ben; two brothers, Jon and Martin; and a granddaughter, Ms. Chatto, the agent, said. His son and his brother Martin were at his bedside when he died, she added.
Alan Bates, Film and Stage Actor, Dies at 69
Alan Bates, the versatile British actor who forged his name on the West End stage in John Osborne's "Look Back in Anger" in 1956 and went on to captivate audiences on both sides of the Atlantic in a wide-ranging film, theater and television career, died on Saturday at a hospital in London. He was 69.
Sir Alan, who had been named a Commander of the British Empire in 1995, was knighted last year shortly before he was found to have pancreatic cancer. He died of complications of the disease, his agent, Rosalind Chatto, told The Associated Press yesterday.
In portrayals that spanned five decades, Sir Alan — often outstanding in supporting roles — appeared in 59 stage productions, including five Broadway plays, winning two Tony Awards.
He starred in 33 television productions and 50 movies, including "Zorba the Greek," "Georgy Girl," "Far from the Madding Crowd," "The Fixer," "Butley," "An Unmarried Woman," "Women in Love," and "Gosford Park."
On the stage, he performed Shakespeare and Chekhov, but also works by modern playwrights, including Harold Pinter, David Storey and Tom Stoppard. His 1958 performance in Eugene O'Neill's "Long Day's Journey Into Night" was acclaimed. His television work included numerous movies and a major Masterpiece Theater production of Dickens's "Hard Times."
Along with Albert Finney, Richard Harris, Peter O'Toole and Tom Courtenay, Sir Alan was one of the pioneers in the "kitchen sink" drama revolution that overtook the London theater in the 1950's: angry young men — writers, actors and directors and their creations — rebelling against postwar England's middle-class values.
His passion for acting had begun as a teenager in Derbyshire, in the British Midlands where he grew up, and was rewarded with a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. As with many successful actors, his was a case of being in the right place at the right time.
The place was the Royal Court, the time 1956 and the play was Osborne's ground-breaking drama, "Look Back in Anger," which reflected Britain's social and class turmoils of the time. Handsome, determined, his square face framed in a mass of unruly black hair, his resonant voice reaching out to the balconies, Mr. Bates portrayed Cliff, the affable sidekick to the angry Jimmy Porter.
Although his was a supporting role, it was a crucial counterpoint to the tumultuous lead played by Kenneth Haigh, and critics acclaimed the 22-year-old Mr. Bates as a powerful and subtle performer. He was soon swamped with film and stage offers, most of which he rejected. In 1957, he appeared on Broadway in the Osborne play.
His first major film was "The Entertainer," opposite Laurence Olivier, in 1960, and his first lead came two years later in "A Kind of Loving," in which he and June Ritchie played a couple trapped in their working-class life in Manchester.
In 1964 he portrayed the Englishman Basil in "Zorba the Greek," opposite Anthony Quinn, and in 1966 was in "Georgy Girl" with Lynn Redgrave.
One of the memorable scenes of his film career unfolded in Ken Russell's 1969 film "Women in Love," based on the D.H. Lawrence novel, in which he wrestled nude with Oliver Reed. Glenda Jackson, his co-star, told the BBC, "He always brought the unexpected to everything he did."
His versatility was shown again as the lead in Simon Gray's "Butley," a comedy about the emotional and psychic disintegration of an English literature professor. Sir Alan originated the character on a London stage in 1971, did a reprise on Broadway in 1972, winning his first Tony Award, and played it again in a 1973 film.
American film audiences hailed him again in 1978 as an intriguing but self-absorbed artist, Jill Clayburgh's bearded and ultimately spurned lover in "An Unmarried Woman," directed by Paul Mazursky.
He appeared as Claudius in Franco Zeffirelli's 1990 film "Hamlet," which starred Mel Gibson. In more recent films, Sir Alan played a butler bordering on breakdown in Robert Altman's 2001 period drama and murder mystery, "Gosford Park"; a fascist who plots to bomb a Super Bowl game in the 2002 thriller "The Sum of All Fears"; and a mad scientist who foretells disaster in "The Mothman Prophecies," also in 2002.
Despite his success in films, Sir Alan seemed always to be drawn back to the stage. He played classical roles in "Hamlet," "Richard III," and "Antony and Cleopatra." He also appeared in Pinter's "Caretaker" onstage and in the film.
He was nominated for an Oscar for his performance in John Frankenheimer's 1968 film "The Fixer," opposite Dirk Bogarde, and won another Tony Award in 2002 for his Broadway portrayal of an impoverished nobleman in "Fortune's Fool," Ivan Turgenev's examination of 19th-century country life in Russia.
Alan Bates was born in Derbyshire on Feb. 17, 1934, the eldest of three sons of an insurance salesman. His studies at the Royal Academy were interrupted by two years of military service with the Royal Air Force. He made his professional theater debut with the Midland Theater Company in central England in 1955, and got his break a year later in "Look Back in Anger."
His son, Tristan, died of an asthma attack in 1990, and his wife, the actress Victoria Ward, died in 1992. He is survived by another son, Ben; two brothers, Jon and Martin; and a granddaughter, Ms. Chatto, the agent, said. His son and his brother Martin were at his bedside when he died, she added.
