Michael Bates (actor)

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Michael Bates (born December 4, 1920 in Jhansi , British India , † January 11, 1978 in Cambridge , England ) was a British actor and officer .

Life

Bates grew up in India and spoke Urdu fluently . He served in the Burma Campaign during World War II as an officer in the Chindits behind Japanese lines. After the war he played at the Connaught Theater until 1947 , after which he was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company from 1948 to 1953 .

During the 1970s he appeared in television programs, for example from 1973 to 1975 in Last of the Summer Wine and from 1974 to 1977 in It Ain't Half Hot Mum . He also took on speaking roles for the BBC's British radio show The Navy Lark .

Bates could also be seen in the cinema. In the biographical war film Patton he played the British Commander-in-Chief Bernard Montgomery , and in Kubrick's film version of Uhrwerk Orange he played the chief constable. In 1972 he was seen in the Hitchcock classic Frenzy in a supporting role as an investigative sergeant.

However, the actor remained loyal to the theater and worked, among other things, in 1976 in the West End production of Joe Orton's Loot as Inspector Tuscott .

When Bates was diagnosed with cancer, he took no more projects, but focused on his role in It Ain't Half Hot Mum . He finally succumbed to his illness at the age of 57.

Filmography (selection)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Bates, Michael
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British actor and officer
DATE OF BIRTH 4th December 1920
PLACE OF BIRTH Jhansi , British India
DATE OF DEATH January 11, 1978
Place of death Cambridge , England