Biography

John Mortimer

Jump to

Sir John Mortimer was a prolific writer for the theatre, films (starting during World War II, when he wrote scripts for the Crown Film Unit), television and radio. He was knighted in 1998. He also wrote fiction and was a trial attorney for more than 30 years. Arguably his most famous creation is Horace Rumpole, "barrister at law, 68 next birthday, Old Bailey hack, husband to Mrs Hilda Rumpole," the protagonist and narrator of dozens of stories. (The quotation comes from Rumpole and the Younger Generation.) On television, Leo McKern personified Rumpole for the better part of two decades.
- IMDb mini biography by: RK

In September 2004, it was revealed that he had a second son, Ross Bentley, born in 1962 and the result of a short affair with Wendy Craig.
Openly political, he described himself as a "champagne socialist".
He successfully defended Oz magazine against charges of obscenity in 1971.
In 1971, his play Bermondsey featured the first gay kiss seen on a West End stage (the actors were Denholm Elliott and Joss Ackland).
During his career as a barrister, Mortimer successfully defended the likes of Sex Pistols when the band was arrested on obscenity charges over the release of its 1974 album "Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols." The prosecution's argument was that the word "bollocks," as a derivative of '"testicles," was an offensive term. Virgin Records founder Richard Branson was also embroiled in the controversy for having the album boldly displayed in his store window.

As the son of a divorce barrister, I was fed, raised, educated and clothed entirely on the proceeds of adultery. If people had remained faithful, I would never have been sent to Harrow.
[Speaking in 2006, on the prospect of his retiring] What else can I do? I can't play golf... Writing keeps me alive.
[on David Niven] He was a model of how people who are famous and who enjoy the terrific privilege of stardom or public acclaim should behave.
[on why he preferred defending murderers to handling divorce cases] Matrimonial clients hate each other so much and use their children to hurt each other in beastly ways. Murderers have usually killed the one person in the world that was bugging them and they're usually quite peaceful and agreeable.
No brilliance is require in law. Just common sense and relatively clean fingernails.

Suggest an edit or add missing content