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n e w s

"You could not be in his presence an hour
without the sense that you had seen as good a thing as is made."
- A description of Thomas Hardy that also applied to Alan Bates.
Alan's family have placed these words on his grave.

 Welcome to the Alan Bates Archive, created in 1997 to document the work of Sir Alan Bates, CBE on stage, in films, and on television. It was - and indeed, continues to be - his official web site. "My web," he called it.

The present cover photo shows Alan as Guy Burgess in the classic 1983 BBC drama "An Englishman Abroad." "Englishman" has just been named one of the British Film Institute's 100 top programmes; it is No. 30 on the grand list of 100, and No. 5 in the Single Drama category. Here is the note:

"An enormously enjoyable comedy spun from a real-life story told to Alan Bennett by the actress Coral Browne, who had met the traitor Guy Burgess in Moscow on a cultural exchange visit in 1958. Out of this story, Bennett fashioned a screenplay which reflected on patriotism and treachery, drawing many parallels between Hamlet, which the Old Vic was performing on the trip, and Burgess's actions. Alan Bates's Burgess is ferociously charming and engaging; but underlying his jaunty championing of life in the Soviet Union there is despair and a deep longing for England."

Not mentioned is the fact that "An Englishman Abroad" was written by Alan Bennett as one of a pair of one-act plays about the so-called "Cambridge spies." Together the two plays are referred to as "Single Spies," and you can find both by visiting the Bates Archive Shop (link at the top of the navigation column, left).

In Memoriam

At his death on 27 December 2003 there was an outpouring of affection and respect for Alan from friends, fans, colleagues, the media. I have gathered the best tributes, my own message and an account of the September Royal Court Celebration in a permanent Archive section, In Memoriam.

I hope that you'll enjoy your visit to some of the site's special features, whether it's a Quicktime film, an interview out of the Archive, a look at the Photo Gallery, or a visit to the Shop, where you can find rare films and CDs of Alan's work.




Karen Rappaport

The British Theatre Guide interview featuring the Bates Archive

The Alan Bates Archive was launched on 17 February 1997,
and was Sir Alan's official website.
Site and domain name © copyright Karen Rappaport, 2010.
Photo copyrights remain with the photographers.
The copyrights for quoted reviews and interviews remain with the individual publications cited.
No links or adaptation of the material herein contained without permission.