Michael Angelis

He has been the longtime companion of actress Helen Worth, who he later married. Bates was made a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in 1996, and was knighted in 2003.He died of pancreatic cancer. He was also one of the stars of the famous 1982 BBC drama serial Boys from the Blackstuff and its comedies such as Luv and The Liver Birds which he was on from seasons 5-9. On television, his parts ranged from classic roles such as The Mayor of Casterbridge (1978) to Guy Burgess in An Englishman Abroad (1983) to the storyteller in the 2000 version of the Arabian Nights. Angelis is best known for narrating the British Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends series from 1991 onwards. Bates starred in such international hit films as Georgy Girl, Far From the Madding Crowd, Zorba the Greek, An Unmarried Woman and Women in Love, but he consciously decided to concentrate on a few well-defined roles, rather than to take everything that came his way. Michael Angelis is a British actor who was born in Liverpool, England. He was married to the actress, Victoria Ward, from 1970 until her death in 1992; they had two sons.

He soon starred in Whistle Down the Wind, and in the Bernard Malamud film The Fixer, which gave him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. Four years later, he appeared in The Entertainer, his first film role. In 1956, he debuted on stage in the West End, starring in Look Back in Anger, a role which made him a star. Born in Derbyshire, Bates earned a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, where he studied before leaving to join the Royal Air Force.

Sir Alan Arthur Bates (February 17, 1934 - December 27, 2003) was a British actor.