Editing Alan Bates (section)

===Film stardom===
Bates played the lead in his second feature, ''[[Whistle Down the Wind (film)|Whistle Down the Wind]]'' (1961), directed by [[Bryan Forbes]]. He followed it with the lead in ''[[A Kind of Loving (film)|A Kind of Loving]]'' (1962), directed by [[John Schlesinger]]. Both films were very popular, establishing Bates as a film star.<ref name="three">{{cite magazine|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|magazine=Filmink|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/forgotten-british-moguls-nat-cohen-part-three-1962-68/|date=21 January 2025|access-date=21 January 2025|title=Forgotten British Moguls: Nat Cohen – Part Three (1962-68)}}</ref>
[[File:Alan Bates vintage headshot from "The Entertainer" (1960).jpg|thumb|left|Bates [[head shot]] for his film debut, ''[[The Entertainer (1960 film)|The Entertainer]]'' (1960).]]
Film critics cited the 1963 film noir ''[[The Running Man (1963 film)|The Running Man]]'' as being one of Bates' finest performances. The film starred Laurence Harvey as a man who fakes his death, with Bates in the supporting role of Stephen Maddox, an insurance company investigator.

Bates went into an adaptation of [[Harold Pinter]]'s ''[[The Caretaker (1963 film)|The Caretaker]]'' (1963) with Donald Pleasence and Robert Shaw. It was directed by [[Clive Donner]] who then made ''[[Nothing But the Best (film)|Nothing But the Best]]'' (1964) with Bates.

Bates supported [[Anthony Quinn]] in ''[[Zorba the Greek (film)|Zorba the Greek]]'' (1964) and [[James Mason]] in ''[[Georgy Girl]]'' (1966). Bates returned to TV doing episodes of ''[[Wednesday Theatre]]'' and starred in [[Philippe de Broca]]'s ''[[King of Hearts (1966 film)|King of Hearts]]'' (1966).

Bates was reunited with Schlesinger in ''[[Far from the Madding Crowd (1967 film)|Far From the Madding Crowd]]'' (1967), starring [[Julie Christie]] then did the [[Bernard Malamud]] film ''[[The Fixer (1968 film)|The Fixer]]'' (1968), which earned him an [[Academy Award]] nomination for [[Academy Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]].

In 1969 Bates starred in ''[[Women in Love (film)|Women in Love]]'' directed by [[Ken Russell]] with [[Oliver Reed]] and [[Glenda Jackson]], in which Bates and Reed wrestled naked. He followed it appearing as Col. Vershinin in the [[Royal National Theatre|National Theatre]]'s film of ''[[Three Sisters (1970 Olivier film)|Three Sisters]]'', directed by and co-starring [[Laurence Olivier]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066454/|title=Three Sisters (1970)|date=2 March 1973|publisher=IMDb}}</ref>

Bates was handpicked by director [[John Schlesinger]] (with whom he had previously worked on ''A Kind of Loving'' and ''Far From The Madding Crowd'') to play the starring role of Dr Daniel Hirsh in the film ''[[Sunday Bloody Sunday (film)|Sunday Bloody Sunday]]'' (1971). Bates was held up filming ''[[The Go-Between (1971 film)|The Go-Between]]'' (1971) for director [[Joseph Losey]] alongside Christie, and had also become a father around that time, and so he had to refuse the role. (The part then went first to [[Ian Bannen]], who balked at kissing and simulating sex with another man, and then to [[Peter Finch]] who earned an [[Academy Award]] nomination for the role.)

Bates starred in the film of ''[[A Day in the Death of Joe Egg (film)|A Day in the Death of Joe Egg]]'' (1972) and produced and appeared in a short, ''Second Best'' (1972).

Bates starred in ''[[Story of a Love Story]]'' (1973), and some play adaptations, ''[[Butley (film)|Butley]]'' (1974) and ''[[In Celebration]]'' (1975). He was the villain in ''[[Royal Flash (film)|Royal Flash]]'' (1975) and appeared on television in ''Plays for Today'' and the ''[[Laurence Olivier Presents]]'' version of [[Harold Pinter]]'s ''[[The Collection (play)|The Collection]]'' (1976).