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Rumpole's creator John Mortimer is dead at 85
Louise Jury, Chief Arts Correspondent16 Jan 2009
Sir John Mortimer, the barrister who created the fictional Rumpole Of The Bailey, died today. He was 85.
A charismatic figure who was a brilliant campaigning lawyer and a witty, somewhat naughty man of letters, he had been ill for some time.
He died at his home in Turville Heath, Oxfordshire, at 6am with Penelope, his second wife, and children by his side.
Geoffrey Robertson QC, who with his wife, author Kathy Lette, was a close friend, said: "His greatest achievement was creating in Rumpole a lawyer that the world could love.
"But he will also be remembered for doing more than anyone to roll back the dreadful years of English censorship. He was an amazing character."
In several key cases, Sir John was a crucial advocate of the right to freedom of expression.
He defended the editors of the satirical Oz magazine on obscenity charges in 1971. He also successfully defended obscenity cases after the publication of Hubert Selby's novel Last Exit To Brooklyn in Britain, and over the use of the word "bollocks" in the title of Sex Pistols' album Never Mind The Bollocks.
Mr Robertson said: "He taught by example that the art of cross-examination is not to examine crossly and that it was a fearful thing to have a responsibility for another's fate."
Sir John spearheaded calls for penal change as president of the Howard League for Penal Reform. And he played an active role in other areas of public life. He headed the inquiry which recommended contemporary sculpture for the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square.
He was president of the Royal Court Theatre and was also a patron of the Burma Campaign UK.
Yet if his public life was one of civic duty, his personal life was occasionally less conventional. He first married Penelope Fletcher and then Penelope Gollop, having two children with each, including actress Emily Mortimer.
But a fifth child was revealed in an unauthorised biography five years ago. Ross Bentley was born after an affair with English actress Wendy Craig, more than 40 years ago.
John Mortimer was born in 1923 in Hampstead and educated at Harrow School and Brasenose College, Oxford. He went on to work for the Crown Film Unit writing propaganda scripts for films in the Second World War.
And after he was called to the Bar in 1948, he continued writing alongside his legal work, getting up early to write dozens of books, plays and scripts.
Among his most famous work was the autobiographical A Voyage Round My Father, last seen on the West End stage starring Derek Jacobi two years ago. Sir John was an inveterate lover of good times and fun, continuing to drink champagne for breakfast even when wheelchair-bound towards the end of his life.
As tributes began to pour in, Stephen Fry described Sir John as "a delicious fellow". Melvyn Bragg added that Sir John was "completely seductive and will be badly, badly missed".
Reader views (2)
Rumpole was a gift from god. It times of upset or illness, Good old Rumpole was always there to comfort me, as well as "She Who Must Be Obayed"
- Andrew Deutsch, New Yrork state, 29/01/2009 03:20
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The "Rumple" series kept me going through some difficult times related to severe health problems and career challenges. Those wonderful characters, their foibles and their triumphs were wonderful respites for me. Many smiles, and some tears now...godspeed Sir John.
- Mark Conrad, Wisconsin, The United States of America, 17/01/2009 02:43
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