British actor Sir Alan Bates has died after a long battle with cancer. He was 69. The star was acclaimed for his performances in John Osborne's landmark play Look Back In Anger and for many screen appearances, particularly playing opposite the late Oliver Reed in Women In Love.
He died at a London hospital last night, his agent Ms Rosalind Chatto said today.
Bates made his name initially on the stage before becoming one of Britain's most highly regarded screen actors.
It was his appearances in Osborne's ground-breaking play Look Back In Anger in 1956 that brought Bates his first great success.
And he went on to earn a reputation for fine performances in works by many of the best contemporary playwrights, including Tom Stoppard, Simon Gray and Harold Pinter.
Bates made his film debut in an adaptation of Osborne's The Entertainer in 1960.
Among the most memorable of his varied performances was in Ken Russell's screen version of DH Lawrence's classic novel Women In Love, where he famously wrestled naked with Oliver Reed.
Born in Allestree, Derby in 1934, Bates won a scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London and began his stage career in the Midlands.
He moved to the English Stage Company at the Royal Court Theatre after a period of National Service in the RAF.
During a career spanning more than 40 years in which he won numerous awards, Bates continued to appear in stage works by playwrights as diverse as Shakespeare and Alan Bennett.