He was nominated for an Academy Award in the category of Best Sound for the film Gandhi,[3] and won a BAFTA in 1988 for his work on the film Cry Freedom alongside long-term collaborators Gerry Humphreys and Simon Kaye.
He was a pupil at The King's School, Canterbury and had early ambitions to become a jet pilot, but was influenced to work in the movies due to his father's relationship with the director David Lean.
[2][1] Jonathan Bates began his film career at Ealing Studios, Borehamwood as a runner and trainee soon after leaving school in 1956, and eventually became a Sound editor.
In 1966 Bates married Jennifer Thompson whilst shooting Hotel Paradiso in Paris.
He had first met her whilst working on the 1961 production of Whistle Down the Wind, where she was and also an assistant dubbing editor.