Ralph Bates

Acting

Ralph Bates

Born — Died

1940-02-12 — 1991-03-27

Place of birth

Bristol, England

Known for

Acting

Credits

49 titles

​From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.   Ralph Bates (12 February 1940 – 27 March 1991) was an English film and television actor, known for his role in the British sitcom Dear John and for being one of Hammer Horror's best-known actors from the latter period of the company. Bates was born in Bristol, England, of French ancestry (He was the great, great nephew of French scientist Louis Pasteur) and educated at Trinity College Dublin. He read French there, before winning a scholarship to Yale Drama School. The course completed, Bates returned to Ireland to make his stage debut in Shaw's You Never Can Tell at The Gate Theatre, Dublin, in 1963. A career in repertory theatre soon followed and …

Known for

Film credits

1990s · 6 titles

1970s · 11 titles

Taste the Blood of Dracula poster
6.1

Three elderly distinguished gentlemen are searching for some excitement in their boring borgoueis lives and gets in contact with one of count Dracula's servants. In a nightly ceremony they restore the count back to life. The three men killed Dracula's servant and as a revenge, the count makes sure that the gentlemen are killed one by one by their own sons.

Taste the Blood of Dracula

1970

The Horror of Frankenstein poster
5.9

Brilliant but arrogant scientist Victor Frankenstein builds a man from spare body parts, only for the monster to come alive and wreak havoc.

The Horror of Frankenstein

1970

Lust for a Vampire poster
5.9

In 1830, the Karnstein heirs use the blood of an innocent to bring forth the evil that is the beautiful Mircalla - or as she was in 1710, Carmilla. The nearby Finishing School offers rich pickings not only in in the blood of nubile young ladies but also with the headmaster who is desperate to become Mircalla's disciple, and the equally besotted and even more foolish author Richard Lestrange.

Lust for a Vampire

1971

Fear in the Night poster
5.8

It took Peggy Heller a long time to recover from the trauma of a brutal physical assault, suffered in her youth. When she married Robert, he provided her with the love and reassurance she craved for and the two settled down in a pretty house in the grounds of the public school where Robert was a master. But the headmaster of the school is not what he seems and Peggy is convinced he means to harm her - is her fear a figment of her tortured imagination or are there forces at work that intend to manipulate her anxieties with fatal consequences?

Fear in the Night

1972

Dr. Jekyll & Sister Hyde poster
6.2

In foggy London Dr Jekyll experiments on newly deceased women determined to discover an elixir for immortal life. Success enables his spectacular transformation into the beautiful but psychotic Sister Hyde who stalks the dark alleys of Whitechapel for young, innocent, female victims, ensuring continuation of the bloodstained research. With each transformation Sister Hyde becomes the more dominant personality, determined to eventually suppress the frail, ineffectual Dr Jekyll forever.

Dr. Jekyll & Sister Hyde

1971

Persecution poster
3.6

A cat lover (Lana Turner) kills her husband, blackmails her lover (Trevor Howard) and torments her son (Ralph Bates).

Persecution

1974

I Don't Want to Be Born poster
5.2

A woman gives birth to a baby, but this is no ordinary one. The child is seemingly possessed by the Devil.

I Don't Want to Be Born

1976

Kay poster
NR

Domestic drama by Alma Cullen

Kay

1978

Murder Motel poster
10.0

A young woman looking into the disappearance of her fiance discovers that the last place he was seen was at a very strange motel.

Murder Motel

1975

Thank You Very Much poster
9.0

A social satire in which advertisers realise that having a blind beggar as the public face of charities would help make them seem more appealing to donors. 

Thank You Very Much

1971

No artwork available
NR

Drama about the 1914-16 Irish uprising, from the perspective of Irish rebels and English military planners.

Would You Look at Them Smashing All Those Lovely Windows

1970

Series credits

Crown Court poster
5.7

Crown Court is an afternoon television courtroom drama produced by Granada Television for the ITV network that ran from 1972, when the Crown Court system replaced Assize courts and Quarter sessions in the legal system of England and Wales, to 1984.

Crown Court

1972

Minder poster
7.2

Roguish comedy drama following the misadventures of small-time crook Arthur Daley.

Minder

1979

Tales of the Unexpected poster
6.8

A British television anthology of stories, often with sinister and wryly comedic undertones, and a twist at the end. With early episodes written and presented by Roald Dahl, the series featured a plethora of big name guest stars.

Tales of the Unexpected

1979

ITV Playhouse poster
7.0

ITV Playhouse is a British comedy-drama TV series that ran from 1967 to 1983, which featured contributions from playwrights such as Dennis Potter, Rhys Adrian and Alan Sharp. The series began in black and white, but was later shot in colour and was produced by various companies for the ITV network, a format that would inspire Dramarama. Actors appearing in the series included Leslie Anderson, Gwen Nelson, Ricky Alleyne, Pat Heywood, Michael Elphick, Ian Hendry, Edward Woodward, Margaret Lockwood, Jessie Matthews and Lloyd Peters.

ITV Playhouse

1967

Screen Two poster
7.1

Series of single made-for-television dramas.

Screen Two

1985

Playhouse poster
7.0

A one-hour anthology television series of one-off contemporary and classic dramas produced by the BBC.

Playhouse

1974

The Persuaders! poster
7.7

An English aristocrat and an American millionaire come together to tackle crime.

The Persuaders!

1971

Secret Army poster
7.8

World War II drama about covert organisation Lifeline helping allied airmen escape after being shot down in occupied Europe, working with the Resistance and hiding from the Gestapo.

Secret Army

1977

The Protectors poster
6.1

The Protectors is a British television series, an action thriller created by Gerry Anderson. It was Anderson's second TV series using live actors as opposed to electronic marionettes, and also his second to be firmly set in contemporary times. It was also the only Gerry Anderson produced television series that was not of the fantasy or science fiction genres. It was produced by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment production company. Despite not featuring marionettes or any real science fiction elements, The Protectors became one of Anderson's most popular productions, easily winning a renewal for a second season. A third season was in the planning stages when the show's major sponsor pulled out, forcing its cancellation. The Protectors first aired in 1972 and 1973, and ran to 52 episodes over two series, each 25 minutes long - making it one of the last series of this type to be produced in a half-hour format. It starred Robert Vaughn as Harry Rule, Nyree Dawn Porter as the Contessa Caroline di Contini, and Tony Anholt as Paul Buchet. Episodes often featured prominent guest actors.

The Protectors

1972

Thriller poster
7.0

Thriller is a British television series, originally broadcast in the UK from 1973 to 1976. It is an anthology series: each episode has a self-contained story and its own cast. As the title suggests, each story is a thriller of some variety, from tales of the supernatural to down-to-earth whodunits.

Thriller

1973

The World of Hammer poster
6.8

The World of Hammer is a thirteen-part British documentary series created and written by Robert and Ashley Sidaway for Channel 4. Initially broadcast from 12 August to 4 November 1994, the series is narrated by English actor and frequent Hammer collaborator Oliver Reed.

The World of Hammer

1994

Poldark poster
6.9

Poldark is a television drama based on Winston Graham's novels of the same title. It was first transmitted on BBC Two across two seasons between 1975 and 1977. The adaptation covered all seven novels (of the eventual twelve) published up to the time. In late 18th-century Cornwall, Ross Poldark loses his fiancée, well-bred beauty Elizabeth, to his cousin Francis. He ends up marrying his servant, Demelza Carne, but his passion for Elizabeth simmers on for years. Meanwhile, he strives to make his derelict copper mines a success. Life is hard, smuggling is rife, and Ross finds himself taking the side of the underclass against the ruthless behaviour of his enemies, the greedy Warleggan clan.

Poldark

1975

Jason King poster
7.8

Jason King - a suavely sophisticated former secret agent turned novelist - travels the world searching for material to fill his books, encountering an endless parade of glamorous women, exotic locales, menacing villains and daring intrigue! Before Austin Powers swung into action, Jason King set the standard for the hip crime-fighting international playboy!

Jason King

1971

The Agatha Christie Hour poster
6.8

This ten episode program was based on ten short stories written by Agatha Christie but with wide-ranging themes. Some were romances, some had supernatural themes and a couple were adventures. The common link was that all came from the talented pen of Agatha Christie, all were entertaining and each drama was carefully crafted and well cast with many of Britain's best known actors of the time represented.

The Agatha Christie Hour

1982

Comic Relief poster
6.0

Comic Relief is a British charity, founded in 1985 by the comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis and comedian Sir Lenny Henry in response to the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia. The concept of Comic Relief was to get British comedians to make the public laugh, while raising money to help people around the world and in the United Kingdom. The highlight of Comic Relief's appeal is Red Nose Day, an annual (previously biennial) telethon held in March. The first live fundraising evening, held on 4 April 1986, featured comedians and pop stars, including Rowan Atkinson, Billy Connolly, Stephen Fry, Kate Bush and co-founder Lenny Henry.

Comic Relief

1988

Boy Meets Girl poster
NR

Anthology series of love stories.

Boy Meets Girl

1967

The Six Wives of Henry VIII poster
8.1

A six-episode dramatisation of Henry VIII's relationships with each of his six wives. Each episode, with a different writer, is devoted to one wife, and is a complete play in itself.

The Six Wives of Henry VIII

1970

Dear John poster
7.6

Dear John is a British sitcom created and written by John Sullivan. Two series and a special were broadcast between 1986 and 1987. The title refers to 'Dear John' letters, girls to their boyfriends breaking off a relationship. John discovers in the opening episode that his wife is leaving him for a friend, and he is forced to find lodgings. In desperation, he attends the 1-2-1 Singles Club and finds other members mostly social misfits. In 1988, an American adaptation of the same name was produced by Paramount for the NBC network, starring Judd Hirsch. It lasted for four seasons.

Dear John

1986

Moonbase 3 poster
7.3

The adventures of David Caulder and his crew stationed on Moonbase 3.

Moonbase 3

1973

No artwork available
NR

A series of plays, each reflecting an individual dilemma - sometimes serious, occasionally humorous - and each with a happy ending.

Happy Ever After

1969

The Caesars poster
8.0

The Caesars is a British television series produced by Granada Television for the ITV network in 1968. Made in black-and-white and written and produced by Philip Mackie, it covered similar dramatic territory to the later BBC adaptation of I, Claudius, dealing with the lives of the early emperors of Ancient Rome, but differed in its less sensationalist depictions of historical characters and their motives.

The Caesars

1968

Wicked Women poster
NR

Dramas about women who made the headlines of Victorian newspapers.

Wicked Women

1970

No artwork available
NR

An anthology series wherein the ten commandments are interpreted in contemporary scenarios by different writers. It was transmissioned from 30 March to 1 June 1971 on ITV Yorkshire.

The Ten Commandments

1971

House on the Hill poster
8.0

A series of six plays centred on a house in Glasgow, from 1878 to the 1980s.

House on the Hill

1981

No artwork available
NR

Middle aged couple, Chris and Kate Hurst, face up to divorce.

Second Chance

1981

Farrington of the F.O. poster
7.5

Farrington of the F.O. is a British sitcom created and written by Dick Sharples, broadcast on ITV from 1986 to 1987. The two series programme focuses on the chaotic life of a British consulate in a fictional Latin American country, described as 'one of the armpits of Latin America', led by the new Consul-General, Harriet Farrington.

Farrington of the F.O.

1986

Dangerous Knowledge poster
8.0

A gritty six-part mystery thriller serial from 1976, starring John Gregson as Bill Kirby. Bill is an insurance salesman travelling back to the UK from France. Accompanied by Laura Marshall (Prunella Ransome), he has to evade the two armed agents that are following him. A series of murders follow and Bill tries to unmask who's behind them.

Dangerous Knowledge

1976

No artwork available
NR

An ex-SAS officer cannot find work on "Civvy Street" and becomes a freelance mercenary.

The Odd Job Man

1984

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Broad And Narrow

1965