When he was three, Bate's family moved to
Whitley Bay. His first venture came aged 13 when he started singing an accompanying himself on the guitar. Aged 17, Tony (as he was known) became an excellent guitarist and leader of a well-respected local beat group, "The Strangers" who expanded with the addition of a singer into "The Sixteen Strings" and made a record before disbanding when Anthony [Tony] left for college. During this time, they performed cabaret, inserting more comedy into the act and performing in clubs. In between this, Tony also had a number of other jobs including working as a van driver, labourer and fitter of artificial limbs. Moving to London, Tony sang in pubs and took whatever job he could find such as being an MC. After trying amateur theatre with the Chelsea Players, he gave up music, swapping it for acting, taking a two-year drama course at the
Mount View Theatre School in
Hornsey. This led to him playing
Hamlet and
Romeo on the campus and in a two-month tour of the
United States arranged by the school. Upon returning home, the actor joined the Tyneside Theatre Company. == Career ==