James Bate

James Patrick Bate (7 December 1941 - 18 April 1992) was an English stage and screen actor, best known for his roles of his roles in the television shows The European, The Spoils of War and The Bill. He is also known for his leading role in the 1977 film adaptation of William Shakespeare's play Richard III.
Early Life
James Bate was born James Patrick Bate on the 7 December 1941 at his parents' home in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear in England, United Kingdom. However, when Bate was only two months old, he and his parents moved to Dorchester in Dorset, where Bate was brought up.
Career
After training at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and later the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Bate left college to pursue a succesful career as a stage and screen actor in 1968, at the age of 26 (turning 27).
Bate's first few roles were in films such as The Lion in Winter, Alfred the Great, Escape from the Planet of the Apes, The Three Musketeers and The Wicker Man and in television shows such as Coronation Street, Crossroads, Z-Cars and Dixon of Dock Green.

Bate first rose to prominince in 1973, when he guest starred as Corporal Ernest Bright in 6 episodes of the television series The Regiment. Only the following year, he got his first leading role of Detective Chief Inspector Bob Prescott in the television serial The Waterhouse Murders alongside Helen Mirren, Edward Woodward and David Hemmings.
Following this role, Bate's rise to fame climbed through the 1970s, and reached its peak in 1977, when he got the leading role in a 1977 film adaptation of William Shakespeare's play Richard III, directed by Desmond Davis, for which he was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role.
The same year, Bate was chosen for the leading role in a crime television series titlted The European, where Bate played international police officer Detective Inspector Jeffrey "Jeff" Mulcaster, otherwise known as "The European". The series ran for seven series between 1977 and 1983, and for the role won two British Academy Television Awards for Best Actor, one following the first and second series in 1978, and the second following the seventh and final series in 1983.
In 1980, Bate played the role of Mark Warrington in The Spoils of War, and played the role in 14 episodes between both two series between 1980 and 1981, and in 1985, Bate auditioned for the role of DI Colin Blake in new television drama The Bill, and was picked for the role instead of William Tarmey, who was the original choice, and played the role until 1991.
Following his lead in Richard III in 1977, Bate collaborates with film director Desmond Davis on two more occasions. The second collaboration was when he played the supporting role of Acastus in his 1981 film Clash of the Titans, and the third time he collaborated with the director was when he played his Academy Award for Best Actor-nominated lead in his 1989 film Peter and Joanne, where he played the woman-wary bachelor Peter Armstrong.
Bate also appeared in Doctor Who in 1984, where he played Amyand in the serial "Planet of Fire", and as Malcolm Hallwood in two episodes of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet in 1985. In 1991, Bate was due to reprise his role of Detective Inspector Jeffrey "Jeff" Herressey in Return of the European, but retired before he could start the role after having contracted HIV positive a year prior.
Personal Life
He married his wife Collette in 1980, and they shared one child, Robert, in 1981. Both Bate and his wife, and also most of Bate's family, are all atheists.
Bate's son died from diebetes in 2003, aged 22.
Death
Bate's health first declined in 1990, when he contracted HIV positive, which led to his retirement early the following year of 1991. However, it was not AIDS, that led to Bate's death, but infact, Bate, who was the vitim of chronic alcoholism for a large partion of his life between 1977 and 1991, died from a massive heart attack in 1992. He had suffered a few minor heart attacks prior to his death, between 1989 and his death, most notably in 1990, when he was taken to hospital following a car accident which was caused when he suffered a heart attack at the wheel of his Jaguar.
Bate was burried in Dorchester in Dorset, where he was brought up.
Filmography
* The Lion in Winter (1968)
* Coronation Street (1969) TV
* Alfred the Great (1969)
* Z-Cars (1970) TV
* Dixon of Dock Green (1971) TV
* Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971)
* The Intruder (1972) TV
* ITV Playhouse (1972) TV
* The Three Musketeers (1973)
* The Wicker Man (1973)
* Blue Movie Blackmail (1973) TV
* The Regiment (1973) TV
* ITV Sunday Night Theatre (1973) TV
* The Waterhouse Murders (1974) TV Serial
* Thriller (1975) TV
* The Man Who Would Be King (1975)
* When the Boat Comes In (1976) TV
* A Bridge Too Far (1977)
* The European (1977 - 83) TV
* Horse in the House (1977) TV
* Richard III (1977)
* Winterspelt (1979)
* Jukes of Piccadilly (1980) TV
* The Spoils of War (1980 - 81) TV
* The Elephant Man (1980)
* Chariots of Fire (1981)
* Clash of the Titans (1981)
* The Gentle Touch (1982) TV
* Gandhi (1982)
* Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984)
* 1984 (1984)
* Doctor Who (1984) TV
* Black Arrow (1985) Television Movie
* The Bill (1985 - 91) TV
* Auf Wiedersehen, Pet (1986) TV
* Last of the Summer Wine (1987) TV
* Empire of the Sun (1987)
* Peter and Joanne (1989)
* Home to Roost (1989) TV
* Spender (1991) TV

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