Timothy Bateson

Timothy Dingwall Bateson (3 April 1926 – 15 September 2009) was an English actor.

Life and career Born in London, the son of solicitor Dingwall Latham Bateson and the great-nephew of rugby player Harold Dingwall Bateson, he was educated at Lockers Park School in Hertfordshire, Uppingham School in Rutland and Wadham College, Oxford. At Oxford, he read history, rowed cox for the Wadham College Boat Club during Eights Week and performed in the Oxford University Dramatic Society.

Bateson's stage credits included the first British production of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot in 1955 at the Arts Theatre in London in a production directed by Peter Hall.

Family and death In 1953, Bateson married actress Sheila Shand Gibbs, with whom he had three children, Elizabeth, Andrew and Caroline. He and his wife were committed Christians. He died in London aged 83, on 15 September 2009.

Selected filmography

Nicholas Nickleby (1947) – Lord Verisopht Vice Versa (1948) – Coker The Guinea Pig (1948) – Tracey The History of Mr. Polly (1949) – Apprentice (uncredited) White Corridors (1951) – Dr. Cook Never Look Back (1952) as Court Official (uncredited) Sunday Night Theatre (1952–1954) – Val Carrington V.C. (1955) – 1st Soldier in NAAFI (uncredited) Richard III (1955) – Ostler The Black Arrow (1958) – Lord Shoreby Tread Softly Stranger (1958) – Fletcher Mother Courage and Her Children (1959) – 'Swiss Cheese' Yesterday's Enemy (1959) – Simpson (uncredited) The Mouse That Roared (1959) – Roger Devil's Bait (1959) – Dentist (uncredited) Bleak House (1959) – William Guppy Our Man in Havana (1959) – Rudy (uncredited) The Shakedown (1960) – Estate Agent The Big Day (1960) – Clerk There Was a Crooked Man (1960) – Flash Dan Barnaby Rudge (1960) – Simon Tappertit The Unstoppable Man (1960) – Rocky Seven Keys (1961) – Bank Teller (uncredited) What a Carve Up! (1961) – Porter – (US: 'No Place like Homicide') On the Fiddle (1961) – Stretcher Bearer (uncredited) The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961) – Printer in Printroom (uncredited) The Golden Rabbit (1961) – Henry Tucker Ring-a-Ding Rhythm (1962) – Coffee shop owner Crooks Anonymous (1962) – Partrige The Girl on the Boat (1962) – Purser Jigsaw (1962) – Porter (uncredited) Doctor in Distress (1963) – Mr. Holly Seventy Deadly Pills (1964) – Goldstone Father Came Too! (1964) – Wally Nightmare (1964) – Barman The Evil of Frankenstein (1964) – Hypnotized Man (uncredited) The Knack ...and How to Get It (1965) – Junkyard Owner The Wrong Box (1966) – Clerk Thirty-Minute Theatre (1966) – Big Ted After the Fox (1966) – Michael O'Reilly (uncredited) Danger Route (1967) – Halliwell Torture Garden (1967) – Fairground Barker The Anniversary (1968) – Mr. Bird Z-Cars (1968, TV) – Andrew Rogers Twisted Nerve (1968) – Mr. Groom The Italian Job (1969) – Dentist 1917 (1970) – Corporal Falk Doctor at Large (1971, TV) – Mr. Clifford Kindly Leave the Kerb (1971, TV) Please Sir! (1971, TV) – Dutton The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes (1971, TV) – Goujon Barlow at Large (1973) – Smeed David Copperfield (1974) – Mr. Dick Autobiography of a Princess (1975) – Blackmailer The Good Life (1976, TV) – Arthur Bailey Joseph Andrews (1977) – Master of Hounds The Duchess of Duke Street (1977, TV) – Mr. Bream Doctor Who: The Ribos Operation (1978, TV) – Binro Last of the Summer Wine (1978, TV) – Amos Hames Going Straight (1978, TV) – Oaksey All Creatures Great and Small (1978, TV) – Mr. Beckwith As You Like It (1978) – Sir Oliver Martext Pinocchio (1978, TV) – Schoolmaster A Hitch in Time (1978) – Headmaster (uncredited) The Famous Five (1978, TV) – Professor Hayling Diary of a Nobody (1979) – Cummings Rings on Their Fingers (1979) – Meter Reader Tanglewoods' Secret (1980) – Mr. Tandy Treasures of the Snow (1980) – Portier Grange Hill (1980–1983) – Mr. Thomson Loophole (1981) – 3rd Interviewer Chintz (1981) – Shop Assistant Terry and June (1981) – Mervyn Q.E.D. (1982) – Alfie The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1982) – Commerce High Road to China (1983) – Alec Wedgeworth Don't Wait Up (1983) – Mr. Burton A Christmas Carol (1984) – Mr. Fezziwig Minder (1984) – Railwayman Ever Decreasing Circles (1984) – Laurence Dramarama (1985) – Keeper Labyrinth (1986) – The Worm / The Four Guards / Goblin (voice) Foreign Body (1986) – Agent at Harley Street East of Ipswich (1987) – Mr. Macklin Hi-de-Hi! (1987) – Charlie Chelmsford 123 (1988) – Latin Tutor A Handful of Dust (1988) – MacDougal Tugs (1989–1990, TV Series) – O.J. / Eddie / Little Ditcher / Lord Stinker / Garbage Corporation Master / Big Mickey (voice) Never Come Back (1990, TV Series) – Poole Zorro (1990–1993, TV Series) – Padre Benites Shakespeare: The Animated Tales (1992) – Antigonus (voice) 2point4 Children (1992) – Mr Podd The Animals of Farthing Wood (1994) – Measley (Audiotape only) True Blue (1996) – Porter For My Baby (1997) – Max Liebman Merlin (1998) – Father Abbot Les Misérables (1998) – Banker Midsomer Murders (1999, TV) – Mr. Jocelyne The Criminal (1999) – Thomas The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999) – English Judge The Clandestine Marriage (1999) – Gaoler Barbara (2000, TV) – Mr. Dugdale The 10th Kingdom (2000, TV) – Tooth Fairy The Discovery of Heaven (2001) – Mr. Keller All or Nothing (2002) – Harold Fakers (2004) – Old Gezzer Ladies in Lavender (2004) – Mr. Hallett Oliver Twist (2005) – Parson Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont (2005) – Summers My Hero (2006, TV) – Leo Terry Pratchett's Hogfather (2006, TV) – The Lecturer Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) – Kreacher (voice) (final film role)