Highest rated as cast or director
Zorba the Greek
1964
King of Hearts
1966
The Shout
1978
The Entertainer
1960
Spartacus
2004
Hamlet
1990
Biography
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.
Acted in 87
2020s
- 2025
Love Left the Masquerade: Peter Medak's Cinema of Pretenders
Archive
- 2020
2010s
- 2011
Discovering Hamlet
Claudius (archive footage)
2000s
- 2004
Spartacus
Antonius Agrippa · 2 episodes
- 2003
Meanwhile
Father Peter
Salem Witch Trials
Sir William Phips · 2 episodes
- 2002
Bertie and Elizabeth
King George V
- 2001
Love in a Cold Climate
Uncle Matthew · 2 episodes
- 2000
In the Beginning
Jethro · 2 episodes
Arabian Nights
Storyteller · 2 episodes
St. Patrick: The Irish Legend
Calpornius
1990s
- 1999
The Cherry Orchard
Gayev
- 1998
Nicholas’ Gift
Reg Green
- 1995
The Grotesque
Sir Hugo Coal
Oliver's Travels
Oliver · 5 episodes
- 1994
Hard Times
Josiah Bounderby · 4 episodes
- 1993
Shuttlecock
Major James Prentis VC
- 1992
Unnatural Pursuits
Hamish Partt · 2 episodes
Losing Track
Henry Sitchell
Unnatural Pursuits
Hamish Partt
- 1991
Secret Friends
John
- 1990
102 Boulevard Haussmann
Marcel Proust
1980s
- 1989
Uncontrollable Circumstances
Malcolm Forrest
The Dog It Was That Died
Blair
- 1988
The Ray Bradbury Theater: And So Died Riabouchinska
John Fabian
- 1987
Pack of Lies
Stewart
- 1986
Duet for One
David Cornwallis
- 1985
One for the Road
Nicholas
- 1984
Dr. Fischer of Geneva
Dr. Alfred Jones
A Voyage Round My Father
John Mortimer
- 1983
An Englishman Abroad
Guy Burgess
Separate Tables
John Malcolm / Maj. Pollock
- 1982
Britannia Hospital
Macready
- 1981
Quartet
H.J. Heidler
The Trespasser
Siegmund
Very Like a Whale
Sir Jock Mellor
- 1980
Nijinsky
Sergei Diaghilev
1970s
- 1979
The Rose
Rudge Campbell
- 1978
An Unmarried Woman
Saul Kaplan
The Mayor of Casterbridge
Michael Henchard · 7 episodes
- 1976
Laurence Olivier Presents
TV
The Collection
James
- 1975
Royal Flash
Rudi Von Sternberg
In Celebration
Andrew Shaw
- 1974
Butley
Ben Butley
- 1973
Impossible Object
Harry
- 1972
A Day in the Death of Joe Egg
Bri
Second Best
Tom
- 1971
The Go-Between
Ted Burgess
- 1970
Three Sisters
Col. Vershinin
1960s
- 1969
Women in Love
Rupert Birkin
- 1968
The Fixer
Yakov Bok
- 1967
- 1966
Georgy Girl
Jos Jones
- 1965
Once Upon a Tractor
Joe Turrel
- 1964
Nothing But the Best
Jimmy Brewster
The Caretaker
Mick
- 1963
The Running Man
Stephen
- 1962
A Kind of Loving
Victor 'Vic' Brown
- 1961
Whistle Down the Wind
The Man, Arthur Alan Blakey
- 1960
1950s
- 1956
Armchair Theatre
Lewis Black, Mario · 1 episode
- 1951
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Stewart · 1 episode
Produced 1
1970s
- 1972
Second Best
Producer
Appearances9
2000s
- 2003
Celebrity Naked Ambition
Self (archive footage)
- 2002
The Making of Gosford Park
Self
- 2001
Anthony Quinn: The Final Words
Self
1980s
- 1985
Hands Up!
Self (1981 footage)
1960s
- 1969
Look at Life: All in a Day's Work
Self
- 1967
Lionpower from MGM
Self - Gabriel Oak (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 1962
