Michael Bates

• Name — Michael Bates • Birth Name — Michael Hammond Bates • Born — 4 December 1920 • Birthplace — Jhansi, United Provinces, British India (present-day Uttar Pradesh, India) • Died — 11 January 1978 • Place of death — Chelsea, London, England • Citizenship — United Kingdom • Education — St Catharine's College, Cambridge • Occupation — Actor • Years Active — 1953–1977 • Children — 3

Bates was born in Jhansi, United Provinces, British Raj (present-day Uttar Pradesh, India). His parents were of Cheshire families; his father, Henry Stuart "Harry" Bates (16 March 1893 – 1 September 1985), son of Albert Bates (born 1868), of Congleton, Cheshire, was educated at Denstone School and Cambridge University 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 (in which year he was created Order of the Star of India (CSI) and was later of the Colonial Office. Bates's mother, Sarah Clarke Walker (19 June 1896 – 24 November 1982) was daughter of William Hammond Walker (1851 – 19 May 1904), 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. During the Second World War he served in the Burma Campaign as a major with the 3rd Battalion, The 9th Gurkha Rifles, and was mentioned in dispatches in 1944.

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. In 1956, Bates appeared in Hotel Paradiso (L'Hôtel du libre échange), which starred Alec Guinness, at the Winter Garden Theatre in London. On 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 Military padre, and Captain Ignatius Aloysius Atchison. Bates appeared in many British television series, including Last of the Summer Wine from 1973 to 1975 (as Cyril Blamire) and It Ain't Half Hot Mum from 1973 to 1977 (as Rangi Ram). Bates's film roles include Bedazzled (1967) as the flirtatious police inspector, Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush (1967) as Mr. McGregor, 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 Montgomery (to whom he bore a striking resemblance), A Clockwork Orange (1971) and Frenzy (1972). 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.

In 1954, Bates married Margaret M. J. Chisholm. They had three children. He was a supporter of the Conservative Party. Peter Sallis described Bates as being "slightly to the right of Thatcher" politically and said 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 at the Royal Marsden Hospital in Chelsea, London, aged 57. Bates had reportedly started to suffer from a rapid health decline around eighteen months before his death. He died shortly after the fifth series of It Ain't Half Hot Mum had been broadcast; his character was written out of the show with no explanation.

Bates's role as Rangi Ram in It Ain't Half Hot Mum led to the allegation that he had performed in brownface. Series co-creator Jimmy Perry told Stuart Jeffries in 2003 that they had been unable to find a suitable Asian actor. "But Michael was ideal for the role", Perry said. Interviewed by the journalist Neil Clark for The Daily Telegraph in 2013, Perry said that all Bates 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, which uses the "blacked up" description of Bates's performance in its website's article about the series. The series has been repeatedly shown on the UK channel That's TV since the summer of 2023, with an on-screen 'disclaimer' at the beginning of each episode reminding viewers that it contains language and attitudes reflecting the era in which it was made.

• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 1953 — The Appleyards — Mr. Crump — Episode: "The Problem of Joe" • 1955-1958 — ITV Television Playhouse — Captain Alan Gerard/Sergeant Grey — 2 episodes • BBC Sunday Night Theatre — Maxwell Oliver/Starveling • 1957 — Television World Theatre — Bardulph/Williams — Episode: "The Life of Henry V" • 1958 — Dixon of Dock Green — Jimmy — Episode: "A Little Bit of Luck" • Ivanhoe — Will the Simple — Episode: "The Raven" • Saturday Playhouse — Gregory Lupton/Colonel Lukyn — 2 episodes • 1959 — World Theatre — Old Colonel — Episode: Mother Courage and Her Children • The Four Just Men — Corporal Bates — Episode: "The Deserter" • 1960 — No Hiding Place — Alec Peters — Episode: "Three Small Bones" • Boyd Q.C. — Dr. Attard — Episode: "The Little Man" • 1960-1966 — Emergency Ward 10 — Joe Watson/James Wilberforce — 9 episodes • 1961 — ITV Play of the Week — Lieutenant-Commander Richard Stanford — Episode: "The Flashing Stream" • 1962 — Tales of Mystery — Arthur Vezin — Episode: "Ancient Sorceries" • 1963 — The Saint — Joe — Episode: "The Fellow Traveller" • 1965 — Thursday Theatre — Tommy — Episode: "Photo Finish" • Cluff — Inspector Mole — Season 2 • 1965-1970 — BBC Play of the Month — Professor Godbole/Ronald Storrs — 2 episodes • 1966 — Theatre 625 — Shpichelsky — Episode: "A Month in the Country" • 1966-1969 — The Wednesday Play — Mike MacFarland/Joe — 2 episodes • 1968 — Man in a Suitcase — Delacroix — Episode: "Blind Spot" • ITV Playhouse — Mr. Ambekar/Harold Radcliff — 2 episodes • Armchair Theatre — Episode: "The Escape Club" • 1968-1973 — Comedy Playhouse — Antrobus/Cyril Blamire — 2 episodes • 1969 — The Mind of Mr. J.G. Reeder — Ras Lal Punjabi — Episode: "Sheer Melodrama" • 1969-1972 — ITV Saturday Night Theatre — Various — 3 episodes • 1970 — NBC Experiment in Television — Eustace Cartwright — Episode: "The Engagement" • Oh In Colour — 1 episode • 1970-1971 — Mr Digby Darling — Norman Stanhope — 6 episodes • 1970-1973 — Thirty-Minute Theatre — Captain Gambell/Mr. Lightfoot — 2 episodes • 1971 — Man at the Top — Tom Binsey — Episode: "Too Good for This World" • Six Dates with Barker — Gasman / Patient — Episode: "1971: Come in and Lie Down" • The Misfit — Sgt. Wilfreds — Episode: "On Arrivals and Departures and Things in Between" • Play for Today — Arthur — Episode: "The Fox Trot" • Jason King — Edward — Episode: "As Easy as A.B.C." • The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes — Colonel Sandstream — Episode: "The Assyrian Rejuvenator" • 1972 — Budgie — Minces Nutty — Episode: "Louie the Ring is Dead and Buried in Kensal Green Cemetery" • Lollipop Loves Mr Mole — Mr. Christmas — Episode: "It's Only Natural Gas" • Public Eye — George (Shopkeeper / Retired policeman) — Episode: "Horse and Carriage" • The Stone Tape — Eddie Holmes — TV film • 1973–1975 — Last of the Summer Wine — Cyril Blamire — Seasons 1-2 • 1974 — Fall of Eagles — Von Ludendorff — 2 episodes • The Dick Emery Show — Horace Toombs/Veedo • 1974–1977 — It Ain't Half Hot Mum — Bearer Rangi Ram — Seasons 1-5 • 1975 — Comedy Premiere — Reg Forrester — Episode: "Honey"

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