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John Mortimer (1) [1923–2009]

This page covers the author of The First Rumpole Omnibus.

For other authors named John Mortimer, see the disambiguation page.

John Mortimer (1) has been aliased into John Mortimer.

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Works have been aliased into John Mortimer.

The First Rumpole Omnibus 882 copies, 6 reviews
Rumpole of the Bailey 723 copies, 14 reviews
Paradise Postponed 658 copies, 8 reviews
Summer's Lease 546 copies, 11 reviews
Rumpole Rests His Case 512 copies, 9 reviews
The Second Rumpole Omnibus 512 copies, 6 reviews
Rumpole and the Primrose Path 499 copies, 4 reviews
Rumpole and the Reign of Terror 483 copies, 16 reviews
Rumpole à la Carte 453 copies, 4 reviews
Rumpole on Trial 448 copies, 6 reviews
Trials of Rumpole 435 copies, 8 reviews
Rumpole and the Golden Thread 408 copies, 6 reviews
Rumpole for the Defence 408 copies, 6 reviews
Clinging to the Wreckage 386 copies, 3 reviews
Titmuss Regained 357 copies, 5 reviews
Rumpole's Return 349 copies, 6 reviews
Rumpole and the Angel of Death 337 copies, 9 reviews
Rumpole and the Age of Miracles 320 copies, 7 reviews
Rumpole's Last Case 306 copies, 6 reviews
A Rumpole Christmas: Stories 267 copies, 19 reviews
The Third Rumpole Omnibus 260 copies, 2 reviews
Quite Honestly 236 copies, 10 reviews
Dunster 215 copies, 2 reviews
Rumpole 198 copies, 1 review
Felix in the Underworld 194 copies, 2 reviews
The Summer of a Dormouse 186 copies, 4 reviews
The Sound of Trumpets 180 copies, 2 reviews
Where There's a Will 138 copies, 4 reviews
The Oxford Book of Villains (Editor) 131 copies
Charade 130 copies, 2 reviews
In Character 117 copies, 1 review
The Narrowing Stream 113 copies, 2 reviews
Like Men Betrayed 81 copies, 2 reviews
Character Parts 73 copies
The Rapstone Chronicles 44 copies, 1 review
In Love and War [2001 TV movie] (Screenwriter) 28 copies
In Other Words 18 copies
The Judge 6 copies
Naked Justice 3 copies

Works have been aliased into John Mortimer.

Claudius the God (Introduction, some editions) 4,060 copies, 43 reviews
Orley Farm (Introduction, some editions) 662 copies, 14 reviews
The Best of Wodehouse (Introduction, some editions) 336 copies, 1 review
The Best of Modern Humor (Contributor) 283 copies, 2 reviews
The Big Book of Christmas Mysteries (Contributor) 251 copies, 8 reviews
The Pleasure of Reading (Contributor) 183 copies, 7 reviews
A Flea in Her Ear (Translator, some editions) 142 copies, 2 reviews
Brideshead Revisited [1981 TV miniseries] (Screenwriter) 124 copies, 2 reviews
The Best British Mysteries 2005 (Contributor) 121 copies, 3 reviews
A New Omnibus of Crime (Contributor) 93 copies, 2 reviews
Tea with Mussolini [1999 film] (Screenwriter) 84 copies, 5 reviews
The Best British Mysteries 2006 (Contributor) 61 copies, 1 review
Die Fledermaus [libretto] (Translator, some editions) 40 copies
Sittings, 1979-1983 (Introduction) 37 copies
Death Cruise: Crime Stories on the Open Seas (Contributor) 32 copies, 2 reviews
Bunny Lake is Missing [1965 film] (Writer) 27 copies, 2 reviews
Murder in Midwinter (Contributor) 25 copies
Crème de la Crime (Contributor) 23 copies, 1 review
Contemporary one-act plays (Contributor) 16 copies
A Feast of Stories (Contributor) 15 copies, 1 review
Murder on Trial (Contributor) 13 copies
Don Quixote [2000 TV movie] (Screenwriter) 9 copies
Laurie Lee: A Many-coated Man (Contributor) 5 copies
A Christmas Anthology (Contributor) 3 copies
Edwin [1984 TV movie] (Screenwriter) 1 copy
20th century (138) Ancient Rome (153) anthology (142) autobiography (147) biography (185) British (270) British fiction (101) British literature (135) British mystery (91) Christmas (77) classics (92) comedy (79) courtroom (89) crime (240) crime fiction (106) England (223) English (153) English literature (188) fiction (3,067) Folio Society (153) historical (96) historical fiction (518) history (153) humor (1,069) John Mortimer (99) law (354) lawyers (90) legal (138) literature (248) memoir (78) mystery (1,413) non-fiction (118) novel (344) read (168) Roman Empire (91) Rome (221) Rumpole (470) short stories (493) to-read (402) unread (81)
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Short biography
John Mortimer was born in London to Clifford Mortimer, a barrister, and his wife Kathleen May, née Smith. Mortimer attended the Dragon School and Harrow, originally intending to become an actor, and then a writer. His father persuaded him to follow him into a legal career. Mortimer went up to Oxford University, where he read law. During World War II, he worked for the Crown Film Unit, writing scripts for propaganda documentaries. Mortimer made his debut as an original playwright with The Dock Brief, first broadcast on BBC Radio in 1957 and later adapted for television.
Mortimer was called to the Bar at age 25 in 1948. His early career focused on wills and divorces, but he later undertook criminal cases. He's now best remembered for creating the character of Horace Rumpole, a barrister at London's Old Bailey courthouse.
He was married to Penelope Fletcher, who wrote as Penelope Mortimer. The couple divorced in 1971, and he married Penelope Gollop, with whom he had two daughters, Emily Mortimer and Rosie Mortimer. He was awarded the CBE in 1986, and knighted in 1998.

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