Versatile Brit mixed pix, legit

Bates' chameleon quality kept him from being typecast

By RICHARD NATALE

Bates

British actor Alan Bates, best known for his roles in films "Women in Love," "Zorba the Greek" and "King of Hearts" and onstage in the plays of Simon Gray, John Osborne and David Storey, has died. He was 69.

Bates died of cancer Saturday night in a London hospital, said his agent, Rosalind Chatto.

Like his contemporaries Albert Finney and Peter O'Toole, the dark-haired, green-eyed Bates had a stretch as an international leading man in the 1960s and '70s, though he never had as identifiable a role as Finney's Tom Jones or O'Toole's Lawrence of Arabia.

It was Bates' chameleon quality that kept him from being typecast early in his career. He could be a romantic heartthrob in such pics as cult French film "King of Hearts" or the Thomas Hardy pic "Far From the Madding Crowd"; he played bookish and recessive in Ken Russell's "Women in Love" and Michael Cacoyannis' "Zorba the Greek," and earthy and dangerous in "The Caretaker" and "The Go-Between." He was Jill Clayburgh's suave suitor in his best-known American role, in "An Unmarried Woman."

Bates worked with all of England's top directors and playwrights and became a staple of the London stage. He created roles in Harold Pinter's "The Caretaker" and Gray's "Butley" on the English stage and on Broadway, winning a Tony for the latter. He also won a Tony for his portrayal of an impoverished nobleman in "Fortune's Fool."

While he was hard to peg, his work always had intelligence, a simmering passion and a touch of whimsical self-amusement.

Born Alan Arthur Bates in Allestree, Derbyshire, England, Bates began studying acting while still at home, landing a scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. After serving in the Royal Air Force, he made his stage debut in 1955.He then joined the English Stage Company, a repertory group that focused on new as well as classical works. It was the ESC's critically acclaimed production of John Osborne's "Look Back in Anger" that established Bates. The anti-establishment drama took him to Moscow and later to Broadway.

In 1960 Pinter asked Bates to appear with Donald Pleasance and Peter Woodthorpe in his odd comedy "The Caretaker," a landmark production that again brought Bates to Broadway. It was the same year Bates made his film debut in a small role in Osborne's "The Entertainer," under the direction of Tony Richardson.

"Zorba the Greek" (1964), in which he played opposite Anthony Quinn, cemented his status as a leading man.The film was such a success that Bates was in great demand onstage and in films.

He struck gold again opposite Lynn Redgrave in "Georgy Girl" (1966), although, as in "Zorba," he was overshadowed by the film's star. But "King of Hearts" was all Bates: A French production by Philippe de Broca, the lyrical comedy suggested that the inmates of a madhouse were saner than the WWI soldiers fighting outside. The film struck a counterculture nerve (it received its U.S. release in 1967) and was a major arthouse and college circuit hit for years to come, making Bates a major heartthrob.

John Frankenheimer's 1968 film version of Bernard Malamud's "The Fixer," brought Bates his only Oscar nom. The 1969 "Women in Love" was a prestige hit. The film featured a nude wrestling scene between Bates and Oliver Reed and was the first commercial film to feature frontal male nudity of its stars.

Film triumphs in Olivier's "The Three Sisters" and Losey's "The Go Between" (written by Pinter, again co-starring with Christie) were followed by the title role in "Butley" (1971), which brought Bates an Evening Standard Award in London and a Tony on Broadway and was one of his most famous roles.

After the '70s he slowly made the transition to older leading man or character roles. More recent films include "The Cherry Orchard" (again with director Cacoyannis), Robert Altman's "Gosford Park," "The Mothman Prophecies," "The Sum of All Fears" and "Evelyn." He also appears in Norman Jewison's "The Statement."

But theater became his mainstay. Barely a season went by without his presence in a new play by Gray or Storey, as well as classics by Chekhov or Shakespeare. He did some of his finest work in plays by Gray including not just "Butley" but "Otherwise Engaged," "Melon," "Stage Struck," "Simply Disconnected" and "Life Support." He also starred in Osborne's "A Patriot for Me," Peter Shaffer's "Yonadab" at the National Theater and Pinter's "One for the Road" and "Victoria Station." Bates also worked frequently in TV, most prominently John Schlesinger's "An Englishman Abroad" (one of his best perfs, as spy Guy Burgess).

He was cast in USA Networks' mini "Spartacus," directed by Robert Dornhelm, and had completed some work on the film during a break in chemotherapy treatment for his cancer, which was diagnosed about a year ago.

Bates was made a Commander of the British Empire in 1995 and knighted last year.

Bates' son Tristan died of an asthma attack in 1990 and his wife, actress Victoria Ford, died in 1992. He is survived by two brothers; his actor son Benedick, who performed with his father in "Fortune's Fool"; and a granddaughter.

Funeral arrangements were not yet final.

(Timothy M. Gray and wire services contributed to this report.)