David Jason by Buster Merryfield). In 1989 Jason starred as Ted Simcock in the ITV drama series "A Bit of a Do", aired from January to December. In 1999, Jason starred as Captain Frank Beck in BBC's feature-length drama "All the King's Men" about the Sandringham regiment lost in World War I. He earned acclaim for a string of straight roles. These include Skullion in "Porterhouse Blue" (for Channel 4), Sidney "Pop" Larkin in the rural idyll "The Darling Buds of May" (Yorkshire Television/ITV) and based on the H. E. Bates novel, which featured Catherine Zeta-Jones in an early role. In 1992,
William H. Bates 1969. Immediately upon his death, the U.S. Navy attack submarine , originally planned to be named USS "Redfish", was renamed in his honor before her construction began. The Bates Bridge, which crosses the Merrimack River between Groveland and Haverhill, Massachusetts, is named in his honor. His great-nephew is comedian John Mulaney, whose maternal grandmother is Bates' sister. William H. Bates William Henry Bates (26 April 1917 – 22 June 1969) was a member of the United States House of Representatives notable for his staunch support of the United States Navy. Bates was born in Salem, Massachusetts, the son of Nora