John Mortimer
Spouse | Penelope Fletcher (1949–1971; divorced) Penelope Gollop (1972–2009; his death) |
---|---|
Children | with Fletcher: Sally Silverman, Jeremy Mortimer with Gollop: Emily Mortimer, Rosie Mortimer with Wendy Craig: Ross Bentley |
Sir John Clifford Mortimer
Early life
Mortimer was born in
John Mortimer was educated at the Dragon School, Oxford, and Harrow School, where he joined the Communist Party,[7] forming a one-member cell.[8] He first intended to be an actor (his lead role in the Dragon's 1937 production of Richard II gained glowing reviews in The Draconian)[8] and then a writer, but his father persuaded him against it, advising: "My dear boy, have some consideration for your unfortunate wife... [the law] gets you out of the house."[7]
At 17, Mortimer went to
Early writing career
With weak eyes and doubtful lungs, Mortimer was classified as medically unfit for military service in World War II.[7] He worked for the Crown Film Unit under Laurie Lee, writing scripts for propaganda documentaries.
I lived in London and went on journeys in blacked-out trains to factories and coal-mines and military and air force installations. For the first and, in fact, the only time in my life I was, thanks to Laurie Lee, earning my living entirely as a writer. If I have knocked the documentary ideal, I would not wish to sound ungrateful to the Crown Film Unit. I was given great and welcome opportunities to write dialogue, construct scenes and try and turn ideas into some kind of visual drama.[12]
He based his first novel, Charade, on his experiences with the Crown Film Unit.[citation needed]
Mortimer made his radio debut as a dramatist in 1955, adapting his own novel
Mortimer's play
Legal career
Mortimer was called to the Bar (
He has sometimes been cited wrongly as one of the Lady Chatterley's Lover obscenity trial defence team.[15] He did, however, successfully defend publishers John Calder and Marion Boyars in a 1968 appeal against a conviction for publishing Hubert Selby Jr.'s Last Exit to Brooklyn.[7] He assumed a similar role three years later, this time unsuccessfully, for Richard Handyside, the English publisher of The Little Red Schoolbook.[7]
In 1971, Mortimer managed to defend the editors of the satirical paper
Later writing career
Mortimer is best remembered for creating a barrister named
In 1975 and 1976, Mortimer adapted eight of
Mortimer developed his career as a dramatist by rising early to write before attending court. His work in total includes over 50 books, plays and scripts.[23] Besides 13 episodes of Rumpole dramatized for radio in 1980, several others of his works were broadcast on the BBC, including the true crime series John Mortimer Presents: The Trials Of Marshall Hall and Sensational British Trials.[24]
Personal life
Penelope Fletcher, better known as
In September 2004, the Sunday Telegraph journalist Tim Walker revealed that Mortimer had fathered another son, Ross Bentley, who was conceived during a secret affair Mortimer had with the English actress Wendy Craig more than 40 years earlier. He was born in November 1961.[26][8] Craig and Mortimer had met when the actress had been cast playing a pregnant woman in Mortimer's first full-length West End play, The Wrong Side of the Park. Ross Bentley was raised by Craig and her husband, Jack Bentley, the show business writer and musician.
In Mortimer's memoirs, Clinging to the Wreckage, he wrote of "enjoying my mid-thirties and all the pleasures which come to a young writer."
Honours
Awarded a
Death
Mortimer suffered a stroke in October 2008 and died on 16 January 2009, aged 85.[28]
Attributes
John Mortimer was a member of
Bibliography
- Charade, Mortimer's first novel, Bodley Head, London (1947); Viking, New York (1986); ISBN 0-670-81186-6
- Rumming Park, Bodley Head, London (1948)
- Answer Yes Or No, Bodley Head, London (1950)
- Like Men Betrayed, Collins, London (1953); Viking, New York (1988); ISBN 0-670-81187-4
- The Narrowing Stream, Collins, London (1954); Viking, New York (1989); ISBN 0-670-81930-1
- Three Winters, Collins, London (1956)
- Heaven and Hell (including The Fear of Heaven and The Prince of Darkness) (1976)
- Will Shakespeare (1977)
- ISBN 0-14-004670-4
- The Trials of Rumpole (1979)
- Rumpole's Return (1980)
- Regina v Rumpole (1981)
- Rumpole for the Defence (1982)
- ISBN 0-89919-133-9
- The First Rumpole Omnibus (omnibus) (1983)
- Rumpole and the Golden Thread (1983)
- ISBN 978-0091054212
- Edwin and Other Plays (1984)
- In Character (1984); ISBN 0-14-006389-7
- ISBN 0-670-80094-5
- Character Parts (1986); ISBN 0-14-008959-4
- Rumpole for the Prosecution (1986)
- Rumpole's Last Case (1987)
- The Second Rumpole Omnibus (omnibus) (1987)
- Rumpole and the Age of Miracles (1988)
- Glasnost (BBC Radio Four, 1988)
- ISBN 0-14-010573-5
- Rumpole and the Age for Retirement (1989) - stand-alone publication of short story first published in The Trials of Rumpole (1979)
- Rumpole a La Carte (1990)
- Titmuss Regained (1990)
- Great Law And Order Stories (1990)
- The Rapstone Chronicles (omnibus; 1991)
- Rumpole On Trial(1992)
- Dunster (1992); ISBN 0-670-84060-2
- Thou Shalt Not Kill: Father Brown, Father Dowling And Other Ecclesiastical Sleuths (1992) (with G K Chesterton and Ralph McInerny)
- The Oxford Book of Villains (1992)
- The Best of Rumpole: A Personal Choice (1993)
- Under the Hammer (1994)
- ISBN 0-670-84902-2
- Rumpole and the Angel of Death (1995)
- Rumpole and the Younger Generation (1995) - stand-alone publication of short story first published in Rumpole of the Bailey (1978)
- Felix in the Underworld (1996)
- The Third Rumpole Omnibus (omnibus) (1997)
- The Sound of Trumpets (1998)
- The Mammoth Book of Twentieth-Century Ghost Stories (1998)
- ISBN 0-670-89986-0
- Rumpole Rests His Case (2002)
- Rumpole and the Primrose Path (2002)[29]
- The Brancusi Trial (2003)
- Where There's a Will (autobiography), Viking, London (2003) ISBN 0-670-03409-6
- ISBN 9780141017761
- Quite Honestly (2005); ISBN 0-670-03483-5
- The Scales of Justice (2005); ISBN 9780141022642
- ISBN 9780670916214
- The Antisocial Behaviour of Horace Rumpole (2007; in United States as Rumpole Misbehaves)
- ISBN 9780670917914
Select screenwriting credits
- The Innocents (additional dialogue, 1961)
- Bunny Lake Is Missing (1965)
- A Flea in Her Ear (1968)
- John and Mary(1969)
- Edwin (1984, TV film)
- Maschenka (1987) (Vladimir Nabokov novel adaptation directed by John Goldschmidt)
- Tea With Mussolini(1999)
References
- ^ "Rumpole's creator Mortimer dies". BBC News Online. 16 January 2009. Retrieved 16 January 2009.
- ISBN 9780198614111. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ The Law Times, vol. 232, 1961, p. 210, 'Obituary- Mr Herbert Clifford Mortimer'
- ^ John Mortimer Biography (1923-2009) Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ page 14, Graham Lord, John Mortimer: The Devil's Advocate (2005)
- ^ a b Helen T. Verongos "John Mortimer, barrister and creator of Rumpole, is dead", Archived 3 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine International Herald Tribune, 16 January 2009. This obituary was also carried by The New York Times; a more complete version than the version on the IHT website is online here.
- ^ a b c d e f g Obituary, Archived 6 February 2016 at the Wayback Machine Daily Telegraph, 16 January 2009
- ^ a b c d "Sir John Mortimer: creator of Rumpole of the Bailey", Archived 24 May 2010 at the Wayback Machine The Times, 17 January 2009.
- ^ a b David Hughes "Sir John Mortimer: Lawyer and writer who created Rumpole of the Bailey and elegised a bygone England", Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine The Independent, 17 January 2009.
- ^ Valerie Grove "Rumpole creator John Mortimer dies at 85" Archived 5 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine, The Times, 16 January 2009.
- ^ Grove, Valerie (2007). A Voyage Round John Mortimer. London: Viking. pp. 83–84.
- ^ John Mortimer Clinging to the Wreckage: A Part of Life, 1982, p. 71.
- ^ "Legal Fiction: Wit, humanity and nostalgic English melancholy". The Daily Telegraph. London, UK. 19 November 2007. Archived from the original on 20 November 2007. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
- ^ Pain, Nesta (1961). "John Mortimer Radio Plays". Diversity Website Radio Drama. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
- ^ His biographer Valerie Grove dismisses this in tribute article Archived 5 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ The "Schoolkids" Oz, Soho, and the Downfall of the "Dirty Squad" flashbak.com, accessed 2 November 2020.
- ^ From the archive: John Mortimer on defending Felix Dennis at the Oz trial 24 June 2014 www.indexoncensorship.org, accessed 2 November 2020.
- ^ Brett Humphreys "The Law that Dared to Lay the Blame..." Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, pinktriangle.org.uk; accessed 13 January 2016.
- ^ Robert McCrum, Mortimer Tribute, The Observer, p. 29, 18 January 2009 McCrum, Robert (18 January 2009). "Accidental barrister who wielded his wit to share life's big joke". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 22 January 2009. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
- ^ Greene, Graham (1975). Shades of Greene. London: The Bodley Head & William Heinemann.
- ^ Published in United States as John Mortimer. The Secret Lives of Rumpole's Creator (New York, Thomas Dunne Books, 2006)
- ^ In appreciation of John Mortimer Archived 20 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine, Csmonitor, 16 January 2009; accessed 13 January 2016.
- ^ Daniel, Anne (2003). "John (Clifford) Mortimer". Dictionary of Literary Biography. 271 – via Literature Resource Center.
- ^ Deacon, Nigel (2012). "John Mortimer Radio Plays". Diversity Website Radio Drama. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
- ^ Obituary: Penelope Ruth Mortimer Archived 14 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine, 1999.
- ^ John Walsh "Wit, flirt, genius: John Mortimer dies aged 85" Archived 6 May 2016 at the Wayback Machine, The Independent, 17 January 2009
- ^ Robertson, Geoffrey (16 January 2009). "Obituary: Sir John Mortimer". The Guardian.
- ^ [1] John Mortimer – Lasting Tribute [dead link] New link: The obituary notice of SIR JOHN MORTIMER 16/01/2009 funeral-notices.co.uk, accessed 2 November 2020.
- ^ Rumpole stays the same. Hurrah www.theguardian.com, accessed 2 November 2020
- The Radio Companion by Paul Donovan, HarperCollins (1991) ISBN 0-246-13648-0
- Halliwell's Television Companion, Third edition, Grafton (1986) ISBN 0-246-12838-0
- Who's Who in the Theatre, 17th edition, ed Ian Herbert, Gale (1981) ISBN 0-8103-0235-7
- John Mortimer: The Devil's Advocate by Graham Lord, Orion (2005) ISBN 0-7528-6655-9
External links
- John Mortimer at IMDb
- John Mortimer at the Internet Broadway Database
- John Mortimer plays in Bristol University Theatre Archive
- John Mortimer at the BFI's Screenonline
- John Mortimer biography
- Finding Aid to the John Clifford Mortimer papers at The Bancroft Library
- Inventory to the John Clifford Mortimer papers at Harry Ransom Center
- Rosemary Herbert (Winter 1988). "John Mortimer, The Art of Fiction No. 106". The Paris Review. Winter 1988 (109).
- Recordings and Photos of the visit by Sir John to the College Historical Society in October 2007
- Miller, Lucasta (7 October 2006). "The old devil: John Mortimer's colourful personal life has provided material for biographers, tabloid scandals and his own fiction. Now in his 80s, he is tackling terrorism and New Labour". The Guardian. London, UK. Retrieved 7 October 2006.
- Obituary: Sir John Mortimer (BBC)
- Sir John Clifford Mortimer (1923-2009), barrister, playwright and writer Sitter in 7 portraits (National Portrait Gallery)
- Tony Lacey. "John Mortimer and Penguin". Penguin Books. Archived from the original on 8 June 2009. Retrieved 10 November 2010.
- Helen T. Verongos (17 January 2009). "John Mortimer, Barrister and Writer Who Created Rumpole, Dies at 85". The New York Times.