ANTHONY BATE - British Character Actor in "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"

British actor Anthony Bate, who was noted for his role as Oliver Lacon in the BBC production of "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy", died in an Isle of Wight, England, hospital, on June 19, 2012. He was 84.  Bate was born in Stourbridge, Worcestershire, England, on August 31, 1927. He began his career on stage in the early 1950s, and made his West End debut in a production of "Inherit the Wind" in 1960. He appeared frequently on television from the late 1950s with roles in such series as "A Tale of Two Cities", "Captain Moonlight: Man of Mystery", "White Hunter", "Ivanhoe", "The Honey Siege", "Deadline Midnight", "The World of Tim Frazer", "Boyd Q.C.", "You Can't Win", "A Chance of Thunder", "Dixon of Dock Green", "Studio 4", "Sir Francis Drake", "Out of This World", "BBC Sunday-Night Play", "No Hiding Place", "The Odd Man", "First Night", "Sergeant Cork", "The Edgar Wallace Mystery Theatre", "The Sullavan Brothers", "ITV Sunday Night Drama", "The Idiot", "Gideon's Way", "Redcap", "Broome Stages", "Drama '67", "ITV Play of the Week", "Angel Pavement" as Mr. Golspie in 1967, "Theatre 625", "The Avengers", "Spindoe", "Half Hour Story", "City 68", "The Saint", "The Champions", "Ivanhoe" as Sir Brian de Bois Guilbert in 1970, "Grady", "Shadows of Fear", "The Expert", "Horizon", "Out of the Unknown", "The Gardians", "Suspicion", "ITV Saturdeay Night Theatre", "The Befrienders", "The Man Chance", "Menace", "Sutherland's Law", "Armchair Theatre", "Helen: Woman of Today", "Heil Caesar!", "Intimate Strangers" as Harry Paynter in 1974, "Shades of Greene", "Couples" as Robert Warren from 1975 to 1976, "Murder", "Beasts", "Jubilee", "A Life at Stake", "The Wilde Alliance", "Scorpion Tales", "Scene", "Square Mile of Murder", "Leap in the Dark", "Play for Today", "BBC 2 Playhouse", "Crown Court", "Maybury" "Weekend Playhouse", "Artist's and Models", "Call Me Mister", "Inspector Morse", "Game, Set, and Match" as Bret Renssalaer in 1988, "Agatha Christie's Poirot", "Medics", "A Touch of Frost", "Bodyguards", "Silent Witness", "Midsomer Murders", and "The Bill". His other television credits include productions of "Cards with Uncle Tom" (1959), "Macbeth" (1966), "Les Miserables" (1967) as Insp. Javert, "Julius Caesar" (1969), "Fathers and Sons" (1971), "King Oedipus" (1972), "Ego Hugo" (1973), "Philby, Burgess and Maclean" (1977) as Kim Philby, "Treasure Island" (1977), "The Seagull" (1978), "An Englishman's Castle" (1978), "Crime and Punishment" (1979), the 1979 adaptation of John Le Carre's "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" as Sir Oliver Lacon, a role he reprised in the 1982 sequel "Smiley's People", "'Tis Pity She's a Whore" (1980), "Fanny by Gaslight" (1981), "Shackleton" (1982), "A Woman Called Golda", "Nelly's Version" (1983), "Breakthrough at Reykjavik" (1987), "Countdown to War" (1989), "War and Remembrance" (1988) as Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt, "Prime Suspect: Inner Circle" (1995), and "Rebecca" (1997). Bate was featured in a handful of films during his career including "High Tide at Noon" (1957), "Desert Mice" (1959), "The Big Day" (1960), "Dentist in the Chair" (1960), "Payroll" (1961), "Dentist on the Job" (1961), "A Prize of Arms" (1962), "The Set Up" (1963), "Act of Murder" (1964), "Stopover Forever" (1964), "Davy Jones' Locker" (1966), "Ghost Story" (1974), "Give My Regards to Broad Street" (1984), "Eminent Domain" (1990), "Happy Now" (2001), and "Nowhere in Africa" (2001).