Michael Bates (actor)
| Michael Bates | |
|---|---|
Bates as Cyril Blamire in Last of the Summer Wine
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| Born |
Michael Hammond Bates 4 December 1920 Jhansi, United Provinces, British India |
| Died | 11 January 1978 (aged 57) Chelsea, London, England |
| Cause of death | Cancer |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1953–1977 |
| Children | 3 |
Michael Hammond Bates (4 December 1920 – 11 January 1978) was an English actor. He was best known for playing Cyril Blamire in Last of the Summer Wine (1973-75) and Rangi Ram in It Ain't Half Hot Mum (1974-77).
Bates was born in Jhansi, United Provinces, India to English parents Sarah (née Clarke) (1896-1982, daughter of William Hammond Walker of Congleton, Cheshire) and Harry Stuart Bates, CSI (1893–1985, son of Albert Bates, of Congleton, Cheshire), a civil servant. He was educated at Uppingham School and St Catharine's College, Cambridge. Bates served in Burma as a Major with the Brigade of Gurkhas before his discharge at the end of the Second World War.
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 1954, he married Margaret M. J. Chisholm. They had three children: Rupert (who went on to also be an actor), Camilla; and Jolyon.
In 1956 Bates appeared in Hotel Paradiso, 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, Lt. Bates, Rear Admiral Ironbridge, the Padre, and Captain Ignatius Aloysius Atchison.
Bates 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. Despite being born in India and fluent in Hindi and Urdu, his role as Rangi Ram caused some controversy, that Bates was performing in blackface. "All Michael Bates [...] wore was a light tan", protested Jimmy Perry in a 2013 interview with the journalist Neil Clark.
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