Sir Alan Bates CBE

Alan Bates was an English actor who became well known in the 1960s.

He was born in 1934 and won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art where he met Peter O’Toole and Albert Finney.  In 1956 he acted in John Osborne’s play “Look Back in Anger” and which created the “kitchen sink”style of drama, That was followed by “A Kind of Loving” . In films,  he made his debut in 1960 in “The Entertainer “opposite Laurence Olivier.

Film critics cited the 1963 film “The Running Man” as being one of his finest performances. It also starred Lee Remick who like Bates, lived in Hamilton Terrace, St John’s Wood. Bates lived at no. 122 and she lived at no 8.

He married the actress Victoria Ward in 1970 although he had also numerous gay relationships. He was awarded the CBE in 1995 and was knighted in 2003. He died of cancer in 2003.