Michael Bates (actor)


Michael Hammond Bates was an Indian born actor. He was best known for playing the chief prison guard who processes Alex in A Clockwork Orange, Cyril Blamire in Last of the Summer Wine, and Rangi Ram in It Ain't Half Hot Mum.

Early life

Bates was born in Jhansi, United Provinces, India. His parents were of Cheshire families; his father, Henry Stuart Bates, son of Albert Bates, of Congleton, was educated at Denstone School and St Catharine's College, Cambridge before entering the Indian Civil Service in 1920. He served as Deputy Secretary of the Revenue Department and a Member of the Board of Revenue for the United Provinces of India until 1947 and was later of the Colonial Office. Bates's mother, Sarah Clarke Walker was daughter of William Hammond Walker, also of Congleton.
Having been sent home to England aged seven by his parents, Bates was educated at Uppingham School and his father's alma mater, St Catharine's College, Cambridge. He was commissioned in the Indian Army in March 1942. He served in the Burma Campaign as a major with the Brigade of Gurkhas and was mentioned in dispatches in 1944.

Career

In 1953, while an ensemble member with the Stratford Festival in Stratford, Ontario, Canada, Bates appeared in Richard III and All's Well That Ends Well.
Bates appeared in Hotel Paradiso, which starred Alec Guinness, in 1956 at the Winter Garden Theatre in London. On the radio, he played a variety of characters in the BBC's long-running comedy series The Navy Lark, including Able Seaman Ginger, Lieutenant Bates, Rear Admiral Ironbridge, the Padre, and Captain Ignatius Aloysius Atchison.
Bates appeared in many British television series, including Last of the Summer Wine from 1973 to 1975 and It Ain't Half Hot Mum from 1974 to 1977. His role as Rangi Ram led to some controversy due to allegations that he had performed in blackface. Perry told Stuart Jeffries in 2003 that they had been unable to find a suitable Asian actor. Interviewed by the journalist Neil Clark for The Daily Telegraph in 2013, Jimmy Perry protested that Bates only "wore was a light tan. He wasn’t blacked up! Michael spoke fluent Urdu, and was a captain in the Gurkhas". The show is not repeated in the UK by the BBC, who use the "blacked up" description of Bates’s performance on their website's article about the series.
Bates's film roles include Bedazzled as the flirtatious police inspector, Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush as Mr. McGregor, Battle of Britain as Warrant Officer Warwick, Oh! What a Lovely War as a Lance-Corporal, Patton as Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery, A Clockwork Orange and Frenzy. On stage, he played Shakespearean roles 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.

Personal life

In 1954, Bates married Margaret M. J. Chisholm. They had three children: Rupert, Camilla, and Jolyon.
Bates was a supporter of the Conservative Party. Peter Sallis claimed that Bates's right-wing opinions contrasted so sharply with the left-wing views of fellow Last of the Summer Wine star Bill Owen that the series was almost not made because of their arguments.
Bates died of cancer on 11 January 1978 in Chelsea, London, aged 57.

Selected television roles

Selected filmography