REMEMBERING: A wonderful actor and special guy, RALPH BATES. Sadly, no longer with us, and died today in 1991. A talented actor and a truly gentle and kind man.
THE GREAT, GREAT nephew of the renowned French scientist Louis Pasteur
developed into a strangely handsome dark haired, pale complexioned
English actor. Ralph Bates was born in 1940 in Bristol, England and
attended the University of Dublin and studied at the Yale Drama School.
His dramatic talents first came to audiences attention playing the evil
Emperor Caligula in the well received BBC TV series The Caesars
(1968). However, the Hammer studios resurrection of the horror genre
was then in full stride, and Bates was soon engulfed in the swirling
cloak of Hammer's success as he appeared in several horror films in
quick succession.
FIRSTLY IN A SUPPORT role as demonic Lord Courtley in Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970), followed as the lead character Baron Frankenstein in The Horror of Frankenstein (1970), then as Giles Barton in the sexy Lust for a Vampire (1971) and as the well meaning Dr. Jekyll in an unusual spin on the Robert Louis Stevenson story in Dr Jekyll & Sister Hyde
(1971) and 'Fear in the Night' with Peter Cushing in 1972. Bates brought a new zest to Hammer and with his stylish
dialogue delivery and film acting methods, he quickly won himself quite a
few fans in both critics and regular film goers!
UNFORTUNATELY, by the early 1970s there had been a downturn in Hammer studios fortunes,
and Bates then found himself turning to more traditional character work
in other production houses and he appeared in several films before
snaring other superb villainous role as George Warleggan in the 18th
century period piece Poldark (1975).
AFTER POLDARK, Bates himself kept busy in a few forgettable UK made TV shows
and television film roles which did not really do justice to his
remarkable talents. In the late 1980s his health rapidly deteriorated,
and he sadly passed away from cancer aged only 51 on 27th March 1991.
BELOW OUR ANSWER to LAST WEEKS TUESDAY TOUGHIE!
ANSWER: THE ACTORS who Peter Cushing worked with BETWEEN 1956 and 1959 who became KNIGHTED were MICHAEL REDGRAVE in TIME WITHOUT PITY (1957) , CHRISTOPHER LEE in a whole range of feature films, STANLEY BAKER in VIOLENT PLAYGROUND (1958) and JOHN MILLS in END OF THE AFFAIR (released 1956)
#TOOCOOLTUESDAY! HERE ARE OUR LUCKY FOUR winners to the competition we held LAST WEEK! YOUR magazine will be with you shortly. IF ytou did not supply a postal address where you would like your prizes mailed to, PLEASE contact me at the PCAS email. AGAIN thank you everyone who took part and entered AND many thanks to DARIO at CINEFICCION for those prize copies! HERE is where you can ORDER YOUR copy too! ANOTHER COMPETITION LATER THIS WEEK! KEEP LOOKING IN!
