Leo McKern

Grogan in The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981), Father Imperius in Ladyhawke (1985), and the role that made him a household name as an actor, Horace Rumpole, whom he played in the British television series Rumpole of the Bailey. He also portrayed Carl Bugenhagen in the first and second installments of The Omen series and Number Two in the TV series The Prisoner.

Leo McKern studied at Sydney Technical High School. The recorded working language is English. Places of work recorded in the authority are Australia. Works named in the authority record are Dad and Dave: On Our Selection and The Blue Lagoon. Distinctions recorded are Officer of the Order of Australia.

• Name — Leo McKern • Honorific Suffix — AO • Birth Name — Reginald McKern • Born — 16 March 1920 • Birthplace — Sydney, New South Wales, Australia • Died — 23 July 2002 • Place of death — Bath, Somerset, England • Education — Sydney Technical High School • Occupation — Actor • Years Active — 1944–1999 • Height — 5 ft 7 in • Known for — * A Man for All Seasons (play and film) • Travelling North (film) • Television — * The Prisoner • Rumpole of the Bailey • Children — 2, including Abigail McKern • Awards — Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role (1987)

Reginald McKern was born 16 March 1920 in Sydney, New South Wales, the son of Vera (née Martin) and Norman Walton McKern. Known as "Leo" from a young age, he attended Sydney Technical High School. On leaving school, he initially worked in a factory, where at the age of 15, he suffered an accident which resulted in the removal of his left eye. He first worked as an engineering apprentice, then as an artist, followed by service as a sapper with the Australian Army's Royal Australian Engineers during World War II. In 1944, in Sydney, he performed in his first stage role.

McKern fell in love with Australian actress Jane Holland, moved to the United Kingdom to be with her, and married her in 1946. Despite the difficulties posed by his glass eye and Australian accent, he soon became a regular performer at London's Old Vic theatre and the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre (now the Royal Shakespeare Theatre) in Stratford-upon-Avon. McKern's most notable Shakespearean role was as Iago in Othello, in 1952. In 1955 he appeared in The Burnt Flower Bed by Ugo Betti directed by Peter Hall at the Arts Theatre Club in London. He played Big Daddy in Peter Hall's production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at the Comedy Theatre in 1958, and went on to play the German ambassador in another Peter Hall production, Brouhaha starring Peter Sellers at the Aldwych Theatre. He also starred opposite him in the film The Mouse That Roared, though like with most of the other actors, he did not reprise his role in the sequel The Mouse on the Moon. He originated the role of Common Man in Robert Bolt's A Man for All Seasons in the West End in 1960, but for the show's Broadway production appeared as Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex, a role he would reprise for the 1966 film version. He also portrayed Subtle in Ben Jonson's The Alchemist in 1962. In 1965, he played the lead in Bolt's The Thwarting of Baron Bolligrew, and Disson in Harold Pinter's Tea Party. He appeared at the Royal Exchange, Manchester in Uncle Vanya in 1977 and in Crime and Punishment in 1978. In 1989-90, he played James Boswell in the one-man show, Boswell for the Defence in theatres in Melbourne, Sydney, Hong Kong and London.

Two of McKern's earliest television roles were Sir Roger DeLisle (usurper of the Locksley manor and lands) and Herbert of Doncaster (a corrupt moneylender) in the 1950s black-and-white series The Adventures of Robin Hood. During the 1960s, he was one of several Number Twos in the TV series The Prisoner. Along with Colin Gordon, McKern was one of only two actors to play Number Two more than once. He first played the character in the episodes "The Chimes of Big Ben" and "Once Upon a Time", and reprised the role in the final episode, "Fall Out". The filming of "Once Upon a Time" was a particularly intense experience for McKern; according to one biographer, the stress caused him to suffer either a nervous breakdown or a heart attack (accounts differ), forcing production to stop for a time. In 1976, McKern narrated and presented The Battle of the Somme, a BBC documentary marking the 60th anniversary of the World War I battle. He played the Earl of Gloucester in Granada Television's production of King Lear (1983). Also in 1983, he starred in episodes of the mini-series Reilly, Ace of Spies as Zaharov, director of Vickers.

In 1975, McKern made his first appearance in the role that would make him a household name as an actor, Horace Rumpole, whom he played in Rumpole of the Bailey, originally an episode of the BBC's Play for Today. A series of the same name, comprising 44 episodes, was produced for ITV between 1978 and 1992. According to Rumpole's creator, author John Mortimer, McKern "not only played the character Rumpole—he added to it, brightened it and brought it fully to life." Although he enjoyed the role, McKern expressed doubts about its popularity and the extent to which his life was becoming intertwined with Rumpole's. "McKern was often unhappy, decrying his television fame as an 'insatiable monster'. He stressed that his Peer Gynt was a greater performance and lamented: 'If I get an obit in any paper, they will say, "... of course, known to millions as Rumpole. In the later series, his daughter Abigail McKern joined the cast as Liz Probert.

Starting in 1985, McKern appeared in a series of advertisements for Lloyds Bank, playing the upholder of quality standards. In 1987, investment firm Smith Barney selected McKern to succeed John Houseman as its spokesman. The move was part of a broader shift in their TV commercials, including hiring Dinah Sheridan to play McKern's wife. In 1989, Smith Barney again changed spokesmen, dropping McKern for American actor George C. Scott.

McKern wrote one radio play, London Story, which became the film Chain of Events (1958). He also provided the voice of Captain Haddock in the 1992 and 1993 BBC Radio adaptation of Hergé's The Adventures of Tintin.

In 1983, McKern was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for his services to the performing arts. He frequently travelled between England and Australia, both to visit family and friends and to appear in various films and plays. As he was frightened of flying, he booked tickets to travel on cargo ships. This gave him time and peace to read scripts and contracts, with the added benefit of feeling he was on holiday. Worried that his stout frame would not appeal to audiences, McKern suffered from stage fright, which became harder to control with age. In 1997 he appeared in a party political broadcast for the United Kingdom Independence Party. McKern and his wife, fellow Australian actor Jane Holland (A Son Is Born, 1946), had two daughters, Abigail and Harriet. Suffering in his final years from ill health, McKern moved into a nursing home near Bath in Somerset in 2002, where he died a few weeks later, on 23 July, at the age of 82; his body was cremated at Haycombe Cemetery in Bath.

• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 1951 — Murder in the Cathedral — Third Knight • 1955 — All for Mary — Gaston Nikopopoulos • 1956 — X the Unknown — Police Inspector McGill • 1957 — Time Without Pity — Robert Stanford • Confess, Killer — Lt. Kolski • 1958 — A Tale of Two Cities — Attorney General • 1959 — Web of Evidence — McEvoy • Yesterday's Enemy — Max • The Mouse That Roared — Benter, Leader of the Opposition • The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film — Short, uncredited • 1960 — Scent of Mystery — Tommy Kennedy • Jazz Boat — Inspector • 1961 — Mr. Topaze — Muche • The Day the Earth Caught Fire — Bill Maguire • 1962 — The Inspector — Brandt • 1963 — Doctor in Distress — Harry Heilbronn • 1964 — Children of the Damned — Inspector — Uncredited • Hot Enough for June — Simoneva • A Jolly Bad Fellow — Professor Kerris Bowles-Ottery • King and Country — Captain O'Sullivan • 1965 — The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders — Squint • Help! — High Priest Clang • 1966 — A Man for All Seasons — Thomas Cromwell • 1968 — Assignment K — Smith • Nobody Runs Forever — Flannery — Uncredited • Decline and Fall... of a Birdwatcher — Captain Grimes • The Shoes of the Fisherman — Cardinal Leone • 1970 — Ryan's Daughter — Thomas Ryan • 1973 — Massacre in Rome — General Kurt Mälzer • 1975 — The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother — Professor Moriarty • 1976 — The Omen — Carl Bugenhagen — Uncredited • The Battle of the Somme — Narrator • 1977 — Candleshoe — Harry Bundage • 1978 — Damien - Omen II — Carl Bugenhagen — Uncredited • 1980 — The Blue Lagoon — Paddy Button • 1981 — The French Lieutenant's Woman — Dr. Grogan • 1984 — The Chain — Thomas • 1985 — Ladyhawke — Imperius • 1987 — Travelling North — Frank • 1995 — Dad and Dave: On Our Selection — Dad (Joseph) Rudd • 1999 — Molokai: The Story of Father Damien — Bishop Maigret

• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 1955 — The Adventures of Robin Hood — Herbert of Doncaster/Sir Roger de Lisle — 2 episodes • 1956-58 — BBC Sunday Night Theatre — Kostlyov/Zdarov — 2 episodes • 1957-61 — ITV Play of the Week — Various — 3 episodes • 1959-67 — Armchair Theatre — 4 episodes • 1960 — Saturday Playhouse — Sheridan Whiteside — Episode: "The Man Who Came to Dinner" • 1962 — Drama 61-67 — Billy Driscoll — Episode: "Drama '62: No Decision" • 1963 — The Magical World of Disney — Roublot — 2 episodes • 1965 — Love Story — Theo Sandman — Episode: "A Cure for Tin Ear" • 1966 — Thirty-Minute Theatre — Mark — Episode: "Case Suspended" • Alice in Wonderland — Duchess — TV movie • 1967-68 — The Prisoner — Number Two — Episodes: "The Chimes of Big Ben", "Once Upon a Time" and "Fall Out" • 1968 — The Wednesday Play — Robert Kelvin — Episode: "On the Eve of Publication" • 1973 — ITV Saturday Night Theatre — Leo — Episode: "Afternoon at the Festival" • BBC Play of the Month — Azdak — Episode: "Caucasian Chalk Circle" • 1975 — Churchill's People — King Penda — Episode: "The Coming of the Cross" • Shades of Greene — Henry — Episode: "Cheap in August" • 1975-81 — Play for Today — Horace Rumpole/Sir Frederic Charlton — 2 episodes • 1976 — Space: 1999 — Companion Gwent — Episode: "The Infernal Machine" • Our Mutual Friend — Mr. Boffin — 6 episodes • 1978–1992 — Rumpole of the Bailey — Horace Rumpole • 1978 — Omnibus — Paul Gaughin — Episode: "Paul Gaughin: The Savage and the Construction of Paradise" • The Nativity — Herod the Great — TV movie • 1982 — ITV Playhouse — Edwin Coote — Episode: "The Boxwallah" • 1983 — Reilly, Ace of Spies — Basil Zaharoff — 4 episodes • King Lear — Earl of Gloucester — TV movie • 1985 — Murder with Mirrors — Inspector Curry • Monsignor Quixote — Sancho Zancas • 1992 — Screen Two — Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch — Episode: "The Last Romantic" • 1993 — Screen One — Cyril — Episode: A Foreign Field

• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 1948–49 — The Miser — Old Master Simon — New Theatre (London) • She Stoops to Conquer — Little Aminadab; T/O Tony Lumpkin • 1949–50 — Hamlet — Guildenstern • The Miser — The Old Vic • A Month in the Country — Matvey — New Theatre • Love's Labour's Lost — A Forester; T/O Dull • 1950-51 — Bartholomew Fair — The Old Vic • The Wedding • Electra • Henry V — Nym/Sir Thomas Erpingham • The Merry Wives of Windsor • Twelfth Night — Feste • 1951 — The Clandestine Marriage — Brush • 1951-52 — Timon of Athens • Tamburlaine • King Lear — Fool • 1952 (press night) — Othello — Iago — Shakespeare Memorial Theatre • As You Like It — Touchstone • 1953 (press night) — Othello — Iago — Tour - Royal Shakespeare Company • As You Like It — Touchstone • Henry IV, Part 1 — Northumberland / Owen Glendower • 1954 (press night) — A Midsummer Night's Dream — Peter Quince • Romeo and Juliet — Friar Laurence • The Taming of the Shrew — Grumio • Troilus and Cressida — Ulysses • Toad of Toad Hall — Mr. Toad — Princes Theatre • 1955 — The Lark — The Promoter — Lyric Theatre, Opera House, Manchester, and other locations • The Burnt Flower Bed — Thomas — Arts Theatre • 1955-6 — The Queen and the Rebels — Amos — Theatre Royal Haymarket • 1958 — Cat on a Hot Tin Roof — Amos — Comedy Theatre • 1958-9 — Brouhaha — Aldwych Theatre • 1959-60 — Rollo — Léon Rollo — Strand Theatre, London, Duchess Theatre, and other locations • 1960-61 — A Man for All Seasons — The Common Man — Globe Theatre, London, New Theatre, Oxford, and other locations • 1961 — Queen After Death — King Ferrante — Oxford Playhouse • 1962 — The Alchemist — Subtle — The Old Vic • 1962-3 — Othello • Peer Gynt — Peer Gynt/The Boyg • 1963-4 — Coriolanus — Menenius Agrippa — Nottingham Playhouse • 1965 (press night) — The Thwarting of Baron Bolligrew — Baron Bolligrew — Aldwych Theatre • 1966-7 — Volpone — Volpone — Oxford Playhouse and Garrick Theatre, • 1973-4 — The Wolf — Keleman — Oxford Playhouse, Apollo Theatre and other locations • 1980 — Rollo — Léon Rollo — Royal Exchange Theatre • 1982 — The Housekeeper — Matt Quinlan — Apollo Theatre, London, Theatre Royal, Brighton, and other locations • 1984 — Number One — Léon Saint-Pé — Theatre Royal, Windsor and Queen’s Theatre, London • 1989 — Boswell for the Defence — James Boswell — Playhouse Theatre • 1995-6 — Hobson's Choice — Henry Horatio Hobson — Chichester Festival Theatre, Lyric Theatre and other locations • Theatre Royal, Bath • 1996 — When We Are Married — Henry Ormonroyd — Savoy Theatre and Chichester Festival Theatre