Alan Bates

Alan Bates wasn't looking for the camera. The camera found him in the dark corners of London theaters in the 1950s. In 1956 he made his debut at the Royal Court in Look Back in Anger and changed the tone of British acting without even trying. He was no porcelain leading man. He had a rugged jaw and a gaze that suggested he knew something everyone else didn't.

He didn't want to be a typical Hollywood star. He preferred flawed characters and stories that smelled of tobacco and Manchester rain. Alan Bates entered movies through the back door of the theater. In 1960 he appeared in The Entertainer alongside Laurence Olivier, and nobody could take their eyes off him.

Working-Class Grit

In 1962, he starred in A Kind of Loving directed by John Schlesinger. That was the moment audiences understood that Bates was the face of a new generation. But he did not settle for the social realism of the angry young men who dominated London.

He was looking for something more physical.

His role in Zorba the Greek in 1964 gave him international recognition. He played a stiff British writer who learns to live through the energy of Anthony Quinn. The film earned more than nine million dollars at the time in U.S. theaters alone.

And the gamble paid off.

In 1966 he starred in Georgy Girl and proved he could handle comedy with the same dryness as drama. Bates never underlined emotions. He let them drop onto the script as if he didn't care much, which forced viewers into an almost hypnotic level of attention.

The Physical Risk and the Nomination

In 1968 he received his only Oscar nomination for The Fixer. He played a Jewish man unjustly imprisoned in Tsarist Russia. The brutal shoot in Hungary left him exhausted. But the Academy's recognition didn't change the way he chose roles or his contempt for cheap fame.

He kept working with daring directors such as Ken Russell on Women in Love in 1969. The nude wrestling scene by the fireplace with Oliver Reed broke the taboos of British censorship. It was the first time a major studio allowed full frontal male nudity in a prestige production.

And they shot it without stunt doubles.

In 1971 he starred in The Go-Between alongside Julie Christie. The film won the Palme d'Or at Cannes and confirmed Bates as a safe bet for quality European cinema. But the industry was changing, and he retreated to the stage once again to keep his hunger alive.

Middle Years and Silence

The 1980s were a rollercoaster of television projects and auteur cinema. In 1978 he stood out in An Unmarried Woman, playing an artist who falls for a newly divorced woman. Bates knew how to age in front of the camera without losing an ounce of his natural mystery.

His personal life was marked by tragedy after the death of his son Tristan in 1990. It kept him out of the spotlight for a considerable time. But work was his lifeline, and he returned with supporting roles that stole every scene they appeared in.

In 2001 he took part in Gosford Park under Robert Altman. He played the butler Jennings in an ensemble cast full of British names. It was his last major big-screen impact before his health forced him to slow down his work pace.

Alan Bates died at a London clinic on December 27, 2003. He was 69 years old. He left three films that reached theaters throughout 2004.