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English acting icon Alan Bates passed away late Saturday, due to complications from the cancer he had been fighting. Bates was 69.
Bates first gained acclaim on the British stage, including the original production of Look Back in Anger. Soon after with the transition to films, he - along with contemporaries Peter O'Toole, Richard Harris, Michael Caine, Terence Stamp and Albert Finney, set the high standard for that generation's actors.
A few years after a strong debut opposite Larry Olivier in The Entertainer (1960) and then John Schlesinger's A Kind of Loving (1962), Alan caught the world's attention in the instant classic Zorba the Greek (1964). An even bigger breakthrough for him as a star came with Lynn Redgrave in Georgy Girl (1966).
Perhaps his most enduring starring role came in Philippe De Broca's wonderful wartime sanitarium satire King of Hearts (1966), as the disposable grunt sent into a besieged French town to disarm a German bomb in the center square, but becoming tangled up with the colorful characters inhabiting an abandoned insane asylum - causing him to question the very idea of sanity, especially in war. Incredibly charming movie with real wit, and Bates holds it all together even as his character begins to lose it.
Schlesinger cast him well again as the honest shepherd Gabriel Oak in Far From the Madding Crowd (1967), from Thomas Hardy's novel, silently watching as Julie Christie's headstrong heroine bounces between the wrong choices of Terence Stamp and Peter Finch. Bates then garnered his first (and somehow only) Oscar nomination for his remarkable and almost unrecognizeable work in the adpatation of Bernard Malamud's The Fixer (1968). The '60s concluded with a strong role in another fine literary adaptation, Ken Russell's Women in Love (1969), co-starring Glenda Jackson and Oliver Reed. The nude, fireside wrestling scene between Bates and Reed is unforgettable.
Throughout the '70s, Bates continued to return to the stage when not involved in film projects, both in London and New York. The best of his movie work from that decade would have to be The Go-Between (1970) with Julie Christie again (great pairing), the offbeat thriller The Shout (1978), and Paul Mazursky's feminist dramedy An Unmarried Woman (1978) with Jill Clayburgh (a bit dated in subject matter, but featuring outstanding acting).
The second half of his career saw fewer important film roles, but by then he had ascended to the position of one of the most respected actors of his generation. He'd show up from time to time in visible projects, such as Claudius to Mel Gibson's Hamlet (1990) in Zefferelli's take on that Shakepspeare play. His most noteable role in recent years came in Robert Altman's upstairs/downstairs murder mystery Gosford Park (2001), as the tortured head butler Mr. Jennings. Another favorite of mine is working with his Zorba director again in an adaptation of Checkov's The Cherry Orchard (1999) with Charlotte Rampling - who had been so memorable together in Georgy Girl.
He's got a role with Rampling again in a movie still yet to get wide distribution here in The States, Norman Jewison's The Statement (2003), starring Michael Caine as an ex-Nazi who is discovered in hiding.
Alan Bates was equally adept at historical dramas and contemporary pieces steeped in realism, from the "angry young man" British wave he was a part of, to all manner of worldwide productions. Knighted in 2002, he will be missed everywhere by fans of excellence in acting.
If you're unfamiliar with his work, do yourself a huge favor and as soon as possible track down King of Hearts. Infectiously charming, it truly shows what this fine actor was capable of in all his ranges. It'll likely become an instant favorite film of yours, just as it will always be one of mine. Zorba the Greek and Far From the Madding Crowd are two other all-time personal favorites. Through these performances and many more, he'll never be forgotten.
Bates first gained acclaim on the British stage, including the original production of Look Back in Anger. Soon after with the transition to films, he - along with contemporaries Peter O'Toole, Richard Harris, Michael Caine, Terence Stamp and Albert Finney, set the high standard for that generation's actors.
A few years after a strong debut opposite Larry Olivier in The Entertainer (1960) and then John Schlesinger's A Kind of Loving (1962), Alan caught the world's attention in the instant classic Zorba the Greek (1964). An even bigger breakthrough for him as a star came with Lynn Redgrave in Georgy Girl (1966).
Perhaps his most enduring starring role came in Philippe De Broca's wonderful wartime sanitarium satire King of Hearts (1966), as the disposable grunt sent into a besieged French town to disarm a German bomb in the center square, but becoming tangled up with the colorful characters inhabiting an abandoned insane asylum - causing him to question the very idea of sanity, especially in war. Incredibly charming movie with real wit, and Bates holds it all together even as his character begins to lose it.
Schlesinger cast him well again as the honest shepherd Gabriel Oak in Far From the Madding Crowd (1967), from Thomas Hardy's novel, silently watching as Julie Christie's headstrong heroine bounces between the wrong choices of Terence Stamp and Peter Finch. Bates then garnered his first (and somehow only) Oscar nomination for his remarkable and almost unrecognizeable work in the adpatation of Bernard Malamud's The Fixer (1968). The '60s concluded with a strong role in another fine literary adaptation, Ken Russell's Women in Love (1969), co-starring Glenda Jackson and Oliver Reed. The nude, fireside wrestling scene between Bates and Reed is unforgettable.
Throughout the '70s, Bates continued to return to the stage when not involved in film projects, both in London and New York. The best of his movie work from that decade would have to be The Go-Between (1970) with Julie Christie again (great pairing), the offbeat thriller The Shout (1978), and Paul Mazursky's feminist dramedy An Unmarried Woman (1978) with Jill Clayburgh (a bit dated in subject matter, but featuring outstanding acting).
The second half of his career saw fewer important film roles, but by then he had ascended to the position of one of the most respected actors of his generation. He'd show up from time to time in visible projects, such as Claudius to Mel Gibson's Hamlet (1990) in Zefferelli's take on that Shakepspeare play. His most noteable role in recent years came in Robert Altman's upstairs/downstairs murder mystery Gosford Park (2001), as the tortured head butler Mr. Jennings. Another favorite of mine is working with his Zorba director again in an adaptation of Checkov's The Cherry Orchard (1999) with Charlotte Rampling - who had been so memorable together in Georgy Girl.
He's got a role with Rampling again in a movie still yet to get wide distribution here in The States, Norman Jewison's The Statement (2003), starring Michael Caine as an ex-Nazi who is discovered in hiding.
Alan Bates was equally adept at historical dramas and contemporary pieces steeped in realism, from the "angry young man" British wave he was a part of, to all manner of worldwide productions. Knighted in 2002, he will be missed everywhere by fans of excellence in acting.
If you're unfamiliar with his work, do yourself a huge favor and as soon as possible track down King of Hearts. Infectiously charming, it truly shows what this fine actor was capable of in all his ranges. It'll likely become an instant favorite film of yours, just as it will always be one of mine. Zorba the Greek and Far From the Madding Crowd are two other all-time personal favorites. Through these performances and many more, he'll never be forgotten.
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"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra
"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra
