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Michael Bates (actor)
Encyclopedia
Michael Bates was a British
actor
born in Jhansi
, United Provinces
, India
.
in Burma before his discharge at the end of World War II
. In 1953, while an ensemble member with the Stratford Festival in Stratford Ontario, he appeared in Richard III and All's Well That Ends Well. In 1956 he appeared in Hotel Paradiso, which starred Alec Guinness
, at the Winter Garden Theatre in London.
He appeared in many UK television series including Last of the Summer Wine
from 1973 to 1975 as Cyril Blamire and It Ain't Half Hot Mum
from 1974 to 1977 as Rangi Ram, as well as many others. His role as Rangi Ram caused some controversy as it required Bates to be made-up with fake tan to look like an Indian, which he took to naturally as he was born in India
and spoke the Hindi
language fluently. On radio he played a variety of characters in the BBC
's long-running comedy series The Navy Lark
. These were: Able Seaman Ginger, Lt. Bates, Rear Admiral Ironbridge, the Padre
and Captain Ignatius Aloysius Atchison.
Bates's film roles include Battle of Britain
(1969) as Warrant Officer
Warwick, Oh! What a Lovely War
(1969) as a Lance-corporal, Patton
(1970) as Field Marshal
Sir
Bernard Law Montgomery
(to whom he bore a striking resemblance), Frenzy
(1972) by Alfred Hitchcock
, and the Stanley Kubrick
film A Clockwork Orange
(1971). On stage, he did Shakespeare at Stratford and at the Old Vic and made a big impression as Inspector Truscott in the West End
production of Loot
by Joe Orton
in 1966. He died of cancer
in Cambridge
, aged 57. His son, Rupert is also an actor.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
born in Jhansi
Jhansi
Jhansi Hindi:झाँसी, , Marathi: झाशी, is a historical city of India. Jhansi is the administrative headquarters of Jhansi District and Jhansi Division. The original walled city grew up around its stone fort, which crowns a neighboring rock. This district is on the bank of river Betwa.The National...
, United Provinces
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...
, India
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
.
Biography
Bates served as a Major serving with the Brigade of GurkhasBrigade of Gurkhas
The Brigade of Gurkhas is the collective term for units of the current British Army that are composed of Nepalese soldiers. The brigade, which is 3,640 strong, draws its heritage from Gurkha units that originally served in the British Indian Army prior to Indian independence, and prior to that of...
in Burma before his discharge at the end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. In 1953, while an ensemble member with the Stratford Festival in Stratford Ontario, he appeared in Richard III and All's Well That Ends Well. In 1956 he appeared in Hotel Paradiso, which starred Alec Guinness
Alec Guinness
Sir Alec Guinness, CH, CBE was an English actor. He was featured in several of the Ealing Comedies, including Kind Hearts and Coronets in which he played eight different characters. He later won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Colonel Nicholson in The Bridge on the River Kwai...
, at the Winter Garden Theatre in London.
He appeared in many UK television series including Last of the Summer Wine
Last of the Summer Wine
Last of the Summer Wine is a British sitcom written by Roy Clarke that was broadcast on BBC One. Last of the Summer Wine premiered as an episode of Comedy Playhouse on 4 January 1973 and the first series of episodes followed on 12 November 1973. From 1983 to 2010, Alan J. W. Bell produced and...
from 1973 to 1975 as Cyril Blamire and It Ain't Half Hot Mum
It Ain't Half Hot Mum
It Ain't Half Hot Mum was a British sitcom about the adventures of a Royal Artillery Concert Party, broadcast on the BBC between 1974 and 1981, and written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, the creators of Dad's Army...
from 1974 to 1977 as Rangi Ram, as well as many others. His role as Rangi Ram caused some controversy as it required Bates to be made-up with fake tan to look like an Indian, which he took to naturally as he was born in India
Anglo-Indian
Anglo-Indians are people who have mixed Indian and British ancestry, or people of British descent born or living in India, now mainly historical in the latter sense. British residents in India used the term "Eurasians" for people of mixed European and Indian descent...
and spoke the Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
language fluently. On radio he played a variety of characters in the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's long-running comedy series The Navy Lark
The Navy Lark
The Navy Lark was a radio sit-com about life aboard a British Royal Navy frigate named HMS Troutbridge, based in HMNB Portsmouth, though in series 1 and 2 the ship and crew were stationed offshore at an unnamed location known simply as "The Island." In series 2 this island was revealed to be...
. These were: Able Seaman Ginger, Lt. Bates, Rear Admiral Ironbridge, the Padre
Military chaplain
A military chaplain is a chaplain who ministers to soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines and other members of the military. In many countries, chaplains also minister to the family members of military personnel, to civilian noncombatants working for military organizations and to civilians within the...
and Captain Ignatius Aloysius Atchison.
Bates's film roles include Battle of Britain
Battle of Britain (film)
Battle of Britain is a 1969 Technicolor film directed by Guy Hamilton, and produced by Harry Saltzman and S. Benjamin Fisz. The film broadly relates the events of the Battle of Britain...
(1969) as Warrant Officer
Warrant Officer
A warrant officer is an officer in a military organization who is designated an officer by a warrant, as distinguished from a commissioned officer who is designated an officer by a commission, or from non-commissioned officer who is designated an officer by virtue of seniority.The rank was first...
Warwick, Oh! What a Lovely War
Oh! What a Lovely War
Oh! What a Lovely War is a musical film based on the stage musical Oh, What a Lovely War! originated by Charles Chilton as a radio play, The Long Long Trail in December 1961, and transferred to stage by Gerry Raffles in partnership with Joan Littlewood and her Theatre Workshop created in 1963,...
(1969) as a Lance-corporal, Patton
Patton (film)
Patton is a 1970 American biographical war film about U.S. General George S. Patton during World War II. It stars George C. Scott, Karl Malden, Michael Bates, and Karl Michael Vogler. It was directed by Franklin J. Schaffner from a script by Francis Ford Coppola and Edmund H...
(1970) as Field Marshal
Field Marshal
Field Marshal is a military rank. Traditionally, it is the highest military rank in an army.-Etymology:The origin of the rank of field marshal dates to the early Middle Ages, originally meaning the keeper of the king's horses , from the time of the early Frankish kings.-Usage and hierarchical...
Sir
Sir
Sir is an honorific used as a title , or as a courtesy title to address a man without using his given or family name in many English speaking cultures...
Bernard Law Montgomery
Bernard Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein
Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, KG, GCB, DSO, PC , nicknamed "Monty" and the "Spartan General" was a British Army officer. He saw action in the First World War, when he was seriously wounded, and during the Second World War he commanded the 8th Army from...
(to whom he bore a striking resemblance), Frenzy
Frenzy
Frenzy is a 1972 British thriller film produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and is the penultimate feature film of his extensive career. The film is based upon the novel Goodbye Piccadilly, Farewell Leicester Square by Arthur La Bern, and was adapted for the screen by Anthony Shaffer. La Bern...
(1972) by Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
, and the Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick was an American film director, writer, producer, and photographer who lived in England during most of the last four decades of his career...
film A Clockwork Orange
A Clockwork Orange (film)
A Clockwork Orange is a 1971 film adaptation of Anthony Burgess's 1962 novel of the same name. It was written, directed and produced by Stanley Kubrick...
(1971). On stage, he did Shakespeare at Stratford and at the Old Vic and made a big impression as Inspector Truscott in the West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
production of Loot
Loot (play)
Loot is a two-act play by the English playwright Joe Orton. The play is a dark farce that satirises the Roman Catholic Church, social attitudes to death, and the integrity of the police force....
by Joe Orton
Joe Orton
John Kingsley Orton was an English playwright.In a short but prolific career lasting from 1964 until his death, he shocked, outraged and amused audiences with his scandalous black comedies...
in 1966. He died of cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
in Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
, aged 57. His son, Rupert is also an actor.
Selected television roles
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1973–1975 | Last of the Summer Wine Last of the Summer Wine Last of the Summer Wine is a British sitcom written by Roy Clarke that was broadcast on BBC One. Last of the Summer Wine premiered as an episode of Comedy Playhouse on 4 January 1973 and the first series of episodes followed on 12 November 1973. From 1983 to 2010, Alan J. W. Bell produced and... |
Cyril Blamire |
| 1974–1977 | It Ain't Half Hot Mum It Ain't Half Hot Mum It Ain't Half Hot Mum was a British sitcom about the adventures of a Royal Artillery Concert Party, broadcast on the BBC between 1974 and 1981, and written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, the creators of Dad's Army... |
Bearer Rangi Ram |
Selected filmography
- BedazzledBedazzled (1967 film)Bedazzled is a 1967 British comedy film directed and produced by Stanley Donen. It was written by and stars Peter Cook and Dudley Moore. It is a comic retelling of the Faust legend, set in the Swinging London of the 1960s...
(1967) - PattonPatton (film)Patton is a 1970 American biographical war film about U.S. General George S. Patton during World War II. It stars George C. Scott, Karl Malden, Michael Bates, and Karl Michael Vogler. It was directed by Franklin J. Schaffner from a script by Francis Ford Coppola and Edmund H...
(1970) - A Clockwork OrangeA Clockwork Orange (film)A Clockwork Orange is a 1971 film adaptation of Anthony Burgess's 1962 novel of the same name. It was written, directed and produced by Stanley Kubrick...
(1971) - No Sex Please, We're BritishNo Sex Please, We're British (film)No Sex Please, We're British is a 1973 British comedy film directed by Cliff Owen and starring Ronnie Corbett, Ian Ogilvy, Susan Penhaligon and Arthur Lowe...
(1973)