​From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Michael Hammond Bates was an Indian-born English actor. He was educated at Uppingham School in Rutland and St Catharine's College, Cambridge. Bates served as a Major serving with the Brigade of Gurkhas in Burma before his discharge at the end of World War II. In 1953, while an ensemble member with the Stratford Festival in Stratford, Ontario, he appeared in Richard III and All's Well That End's Well. In 1956 he appeared in Hotel Paradiso which starred Alec Guinness, at the Winter Garden Theatre in London. He appeared in many UK television series including Last of the Summer Wine from 1973 to 1975 as Cyril Blamire and It Ain't Half Hot Mum from 1974 to 1977 as Rangi Ram, as well as many others. His role as Rangi Ram caused some controversy as it required Bates to be made-up with fake tan to look like an Indian, which he took to naturally as he was born in India and spoke the Hindi language fluently. On radio he played a variety of characters in the BBC's long-running comedy series The Navy Lark. These were: Able Seaman Ginger, Lt. Bates, Rear Admiral Ironbridge, the Padre and Captain Ignatius Aloysius Atchison. Bates' film roles include 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 Law Montgomery (to whom he bore a striking resemblance), Frenzy (1972) by Alfred Hitchcock, and the Stanley Kubrick film A Clockwork Orange (1971). On stage, he did Shakespeare at Stratford and the Old Vic and made a big impression as Inspector Truscott in the West End production of Loot by Joe Orton in 1966. He died of cancer in Cambridge, aged 57. Description above from the Wikipedia article Michael Bates (actor), licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Filmography

• 1978Hokusai: An Animated Sketchbook — Narrator
• 1977Gulliver's Travels — (voice)
• 1976The Bawdy Adventures of Tom Jones — Madman
• Comedy Premiere — Reg Forrester
• Fall of Eagles — Von Ludendorff
• It Ain't Half Hot Mum — Rangi Ram
• Last of the Summer Wine — Cyril Blamire
• 1973No Sex Please - We're British — Mr. Arnold Needham
• 1972Frenzy — DS Spearman
• 1972The Stone Tape — Eddie Holmes
• 1971A Clockwork Orange — Chief Guard
• Budgie — Minces Nutty
• Jason King
• Six Dates with Barker — Gasman
• 1971The Fox Trot — Arthur
• The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes — Colonel Sandstream
• 1970Every Home Should Have One — Magistrate
• 1970Patton — Field Marshal Sir Bernard Law Montgomery
• The Misfit — Sgt. Wilfreds
• 1970The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer — Mr. Spimm
• 1969Arthur? Arthur! — Mr. Harrington
• 1969Battle of Britain — Warrant Officer Warwick
• ITV Saturday Night Theatre — Fred, George
• 1969Male of the Species — Fred
• Male of the Species — Fred
• 1969Oh! What a Lovely War — Drunk Lance Corporal
• 1969Sling Your Hook — Joe
• 1968Don't Raise the Bridge, Lower the River — Dr. Spink
• 1968Hammerhead — Andreas / Sir Richard
• 1968Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush — Mr. McGregor
• Ooh La La! — Vatelin
• 1968Salt & Pepper — Inspector Crabbe
• 1968The Brahmin Widow — Mr. Ambekar
• 1967Bedazzled — Inspector Clarke
• ITV Playhouse — Mr. Ambekar, Harold Radcliff
• Man in a Suitcase — Delacroix
• 1966Macready's Gala — Mike MacFarland
• 1965A Passage to India — Professor Godbole
• BBC Play of the Month — Professor Godbole
• Public Eye — George
• Thirty-Minute Theatre — Captain Gambell, Mr. Lightfoot
• Cluff — Inspector Mole
• The Wednesday Play — Joe, Mike MacFarland, Tommy
• Theatre 625 — Shpichelsky
• Thursday Theatre — Tommy
• The Dick Emery Show
• The Saint — Joe
• 1959I'm All Right Jack — Bootle
• No Hiding Place — Alec Peters
• The Four Just Men — Corporal Bates
• 1958A Midsummer Night's Dream — Starveling
• 1958Dunkirk — Froome
• Ivanhoe — Will The Simple
• Armchair Theatre
• 1956The Spanish Gardener — Consular Official (uncredited)
• 1955Quay South — Captain Alan Gerald
• 1954Carrington V.C. — Major Broke-Smith
• Sunday Night Theatre — Starveling

Appearances as themselves (2)

• Cilla — Self
• 1954The Stratford Adventure — Self