Basic Information
| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Full name | Langdon Doyle Bates |
| Approximate birth | circa 1900–1901 |
| Death | 1989 |
| Occupation (reported) | Mechanical engineer |
| Notable family connection | Son of Finis L. Bates; father of actress Kathy Bates |
| Known spouses (reported) | Adrienne Marguerite Boutall (married 1928), Bertye Kathleen (Talbert/Talbot) |
| Children (reported) | Beverley/Beverly Anne Bates; Patricia M. Bates; Mary S. Bates; Kathleen “Kathy” Bates (b. 1948) |
| Public footprint | Mostly genealogical records and family biographies rather than press coverage |
Biography — how the man in the margins shows up in the story
I like to think of Langdon Doyle Bates as the kind of character who belongs in a black-and-white frame at the edge of a technicolor saga — an engineer by trade, quietly shaping machines while one of his daughters lit up stages and screens. Records place his birth around 1900–1901 and his death in 1989; those dates anchor a life that spans the bulk of the twentieth century, with its upheavals, war-efforts, and industrial romance.
His father — Finis L. Bates (1848–1923) — was a man who left a louder echo in public memory, thanks to books and eccentric tales. That louder echo made Langdon easier to find in family trees: he appears consistently as a son of Finis, and later as a husband and father in mid-century America. I’ve followed the traces — marriage notation in 1928, census-style footprints, and the repeated reference in biographies of his youngest daughter — and what emerges is less a headline figure and more the steady backbone of a family narrative.
There’s a kind of poetry in that. Imagine an engineer who spends his days with gears and tolerances, then returns home to three daughters, one of whom becomes a Hollywood household name. It’s the textbook Booth-to-Broadway-to-Babel of family lore — ordinary and extraordinary at once.
Family & Personal Relationships — tabled like an on-set roll call
| Relation | Name | Dates / Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Father (notable ancestor) | Finis L. Bates | 1848–1923; author and local figure |
| Mother | Madge Young Doyle | listed in genealogies as Langdon’s mother |
| Spouse (reported) | Adrienne Marguerite Boutall | Married 1928 (records vary) |
| Spouse (reported) | Bertye Kathleen (Talbert/Talbot) | Mother of three daughters, lived into late 20th century |
| Daughter | Beverly/Beverley Anne Bates | Listed in family trees; spelling varies |
| Daughter | Patricia M. Bates | Listed as sister to Kathy |
| Daughter | Mary S. Bates | Listed as sister to Kathy |
| Daughter | Kathleen (“Kathy”) Bates | Born 1948; acclaimed actress, youngest daughter |
I’ll be honest — family trees are full of variant spellings and polite silences. Names like Bertye/Talbert and Beverley/Beverly hop around documents, and that’s normal with early- and mid-century records. Still, across those variations, the outline remains: Langdon as husband, father, and the practical counterpoint to a theatrical daughter’s rise.
Career & Public Life — the workaday hero
If you like neat labels, “mechanical engineer” is the one most often attached to Langdon Doyle Bates. That description shows up consistently in biographies that focus on his famous offspring — the kind of small, stabilizing detail writers use when sketching a family’s backstory. There’s also a hint of collegiate or fraternity association that suggests ties to technical training: a name in a mid-century alumni or society list aligns with his engineering identity.
Numbers here are sparse: no big trade journal articles, no headline patents that leap off public indexes. Instead, his presence is procedural — a profession that implies manuals and blueprints, a livelihood that hums behind the theatrical glare. If life were a movie, Langdon would be the slow, steady montage: the clink of tools, the quiet checking of measurements, the off-stage hand that keeps the set from collapsing.
Net Worth & Records — the ledger of silence
Short answer: there’s no credible, public net-worth figure for Langdon Doyle Bates. He does not appear in searchable modern lists of estates or celebrity finances; the traceable records are genealogical, biographical, and local. That absence isn’t scandalous — it’s explanatory. He’s not a public-money figure; he’s a private-life one. If you want hard dollars, you won’t find them in the gloss of celebrity finance — you’ll find them, maybe, in probate files or local archives, but those are the kind of records that stay tucked away unless someone opens the drawer.
News, Stories & Social Mentions — where gossip meets genealogy
Most references to Langdon are indirect. He’s cited because of his father’s curious place in history and because of his daughter’s public career. The louder stories in the family — notably the odd, attention-grabbing tales about Finis — tend to pull genealogists and local historians into the orbit, and Langdon shows up as part of that orbit. Social posts, family-tree entries, and local history blogs keep the name alive; mainstream press does not, not as a subject in his own right.
There’s a certain charm to that. Look at it this way: where celebrity families are often a cascade of interviews and exposés, Langdon’s presence reads like a prop in a stage drama — indispensable, never the protagonist. That makes the family narrative feel lived-in, textured, real.
FAQ
Who was Langdon Doyle Bates?
Langdon Doyle Bates was a mid-20th-century man identified in records as a mechanical engineer and best known publicly today as the father of actress Kathy Bates.
When did he live?
Records and family summaries place his birth around 1900–1901 and his death in 1989.
Who were his parents?
His father was Finis L. Bates (1848–1923), a figure who appears in local history and family lore; his mother is listed in genealogies as Madge Young Doyle.
Who were his spouses and children?
He is reported to have married Adrienne Marguerite Boutall (noted 1928) and later Bertye Kathleen (Talbert/Talbot), and to have fathered at least four daughters, including Kathy Bates (born 1948).
What did he do for a living?
Most biographical references call him a mechanical engineer; details like specific employers or projects are not widely documented in public sources.
Is there information about his wealth?
There are no credible public records that state a net worth for Langdon Doyle Bates; available mentions are biographical rather than financial.
Where does he appear in public records?
Langdon appears primarily in genealogical records, family biographies, and as a background figure in biographies of his daughter, rather than as a subject of news coverage.
Why is he mentioned today?
He endures in public memory mainly because of his familial connections — a father in a family with a notable public figure — and because family-history enthusiasts keep those threads alive.
