Ralph Bates

Bates was born in Bristol, England. His parents were both psychiatrists; his mother was French^[1] and he was a great-great-grandson of French scientist Louis Pasteur.^[2] He held dual-nationality and was bilingual,^[1] and was educated at Trinity College Dublin.^[2] He read French there, before winning a scholarship to attend Yale Drama School.^[3]

In 1968, he made his screen debut portraying Caligula in the BBC television series The Caesars (1968).^[3][4]

Later, Bates carved a niche in the world of horror films and played important roles or the lead in several Hammer Horror productions,^[3] such as Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970),^[5] The Horror of Frankenstein (1970),^[5] Lust for a Vampire (1971),^[5] and Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde (1971),^[5] in which he played a doctor who mistakenly transforms himself into a beautiful siren.^[6][3]

He played Thomas Culpeper in an episode of The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1970),^[5] he starred in the series Moonbase 3 (1973),^[3] and Poldark (1975-1977),^[5] in which he played villainous George Warleggan for 29 episodes.^[7]

He also played communist Paul Vercors in the final season of the drama series Secret Army (1979).^[8] In 1981 he'd played a lead role in Second Chance (1981).^[5] Because of his French ancestry and dark looks, he often was chosen to play a Frenchman on television, such as in an episode of ITV comedy drama Turtle's Progress (1980).^[9] Bates also appeared in the television movie Minder on the Orient Express (1985), again as a Frenchman.^[10]

It looked, for some time, as if he might remain typecast in sinister roles, but he was offered a part in comedy series Dear John (1986-1987), by the writer John Sullivan, which saw Bates cast in a more sympathetic role as the newly divorced member of a singles group.^[11] It ran for two series, and gave him chance to display a talent for comic roles.^[12]

His last roles were as Ed in the episode: "Flying in the Branches" in Screen Two (1989),^[5] and as LeDuc in the film King of the Wind (1990).^[5]

In 1964 Bates married actress Joanna Van Gyseghem. The marriage ended in divorce.^[3] In 1973 he married actress Virginia Wetherell. The couple had a daughter Daisy (born 1974) and a son Will (born 1977).^[3]

Bates was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and died from the disease ten weeks later^[13] in London, at the age of 51.^[14][15]

The Ralph Bates Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund is a registered charity.^[16]

The charity mainly funds research at St George's University of London, where work is currently focused on the effectiveness of drugs or a combination of drugs on pancreatic cancer cells and also their effectiveness in inhibiting cell resistance to chemotherapy. The research has resulted in a high impact publication in the International Journal of Cancer, showing that a commonly used antibiotic, Doxycycline, is capable of inducing cell death in human pancreatic cancer cells.^[17]

^[5][3]