Granville Bates (January 7, 1882 â€" July 8, 1940) was an American
character actor and bit player, appearing in over ninety films.Bates
was born in Chicago in 1882. He began his film career in the 1910s
with Essanay Studios of the Chicago film industry. He appeared on
Broadway in the late 1920s and early 1930s, notably in the original
production of Merrily We Roll Along (1934) by George S. Kaufman and
Moss Hart. He was also the Conductor in the original production of
Twentieth Century (1932).From the 1930s, he appeared in a number of
classic films, although sometimes uncredited. He received favorable
notice for his character roles, such as in My Favorite Wife (1940),
where he played an irascible judge - The New York Times critic Bosley
Crowther wrote "Mr. Bates deserves a separate mention for his
masterpiece of comic creation." Another New York Times reviewer noted
that "Edward Ellis and Granville Bates provoked an early audience
yesterday to gentle laughter in a brief but quietly amusing sequence"
in Chatterbox (1936), while Crowther praised his work in Men Against
the Sky (1940): "The players' performances are stock and pedestrian,
excepting that of Granville Bates as a cynical banker". Bates died of
a heart attack in 1940.
character actor and bit player, appearing in over ninety films.Bates
was born in Chicago in 1882. He began his film career in the 1910s
with Essanay Studios of the Chicago film industry. He appeared on
Broadway in the late 1920s and early 1930s, notably in the original
production of Merrily We Roll Along (1934) by George S. Kaufman and
Moss Hart. He was also the Conductor in the original production of
Twentieth Century (1932).From the 1930s, he appeared in a number of
classic films, although sometimes uncredited. He received favorable
notice for his character roles, such as in My Favorite Wife (1940),
where he played an irascible judge - The New York Times critic Bosley
Crowther wrote "Mr. Bates deserves a separate mention for his
masterpiece of comic creation." Another New York Times reviewer noted
that "Edward Ellis and Granville Bates provoked an early audience
yesterday to gentle laughter in a brief but quietly amusing sequence"
in Chatterbox (1936), while Crowther praised his work in Men Against
the Sky (1940): "The players' performances are stock and pedestrian,
excepting that of Granville Bates as a cynical banker". Bates died of
a heart attack in 1940.
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