Prolific British character actor, adept at eccentric or whimsical
impersonations, particularly of Dickensian characters. The son of law
society president Sir Dingwall Bateson, he won a scholarship to Wadham
College, where he trained for acting with the Oxford University
Dramatic Society. Straight out of college, he was handpicked by
Alberto Cavalcanti for the role of
Lord Verisopht in the Ealing production of
Nicholas Nickleby (1947).
Bateson made his theatrical debut at the Old Vic the following year in
"Twelfth Night". He was highly acclaimed for his performance as Lucky
in "Waiting for Godot", which he first performed at the Arts Theatre in
London in 1955.
Nothing, if not versatile, Bateson turned his considerable talents to a
wide variety of diverse assignments, ranging from Shakespearean
classics (Richard III. (1955)) to
social drama
The Guinea Pig (1948)) and
lightweight farce
(Die Maus, die brüllte (1959)).
He was a longstanding member of the BBC radio repertory company and
latterly much in demand for voice-over work, which included providing
the voice of Kreacher in
Harry Potter und der Orden des Phönix (2007).
Television saw him in small roles as scientists, police officers,
clerks and the like, in numerous popular shows from
Mit Schirm, Charme und Melone (1961) and
Freie Hand für Barlow (1962) to
Doctor Who (1963).
