Leo McKern
Encyclopedia
Reginald "Leo" McKern, AO (16 March 192023 July 2002) was an Australia
n-born British
actor who appeared in numerous British and Australian television programmes and movies, and more than 200 stage roles.
. After an accident at age 15 he lost his left eye. He first worked as an engineering apprentice, then as an artist, followed by serving in the Australian Army
during World War II. During the war, he made his first stage appearance in Sydney in 1944.
theatre and the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre (now called the Royal Shakespeare Theatre
) in Stratford-upon-Avon
, despite the difficulties posed by his glass eye and Australian accent.
In 1949, he played Forester in Love's Labour's Lost
at the Old Vic. His most notable Shakespearean role was as Iago
to Anthony Quayle
's Othello
in 1952. On the West End in London, McKern originated the role of the Common Man for Robert Bolt
's A Man for All Seasons
in 1960, but for the show's Broadway production, he was shifted to the role of Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex
, the prosecutor of Sir Thomas More
, which he would reprise in the film version. He also memorably played Subtle in Ben Jonson
's The Alchemist
in 1962.
. His other notable film appearances included the science fiction classic The Day the Earth Caught Fire
(1961), the Beatles'
film Help!
(1965), the Academy Award
-winning adaptation of A Man for All Seasons
(1966), The Shoes of the Fisherman
(1968), Ryan's Daughter
(1970), Massacre in Rome
(1973), The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother
(1975),The Omen
(1976), The Blue Lagoon
(1980), and The French Lieutenant's Woman
(1981). He was given the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
for Travelling North
(1987). In Monsignor Quixote
(1989), he co-starred as Sancho Zancas with Alec Guinness
as Father Quixote.
McKern's final acting appearances came in the film Molokai: The Story of Father Damien
(1999) and on stage in 2000.
in the 1992 and 1993 BBC Radio
series Herge
's The Adventures of Tintin
.
. In the first episode he played Sir Roger DeLisle, who has usurped the Locksley manor and lands. (He also played Herbert of Doncaster, a corrupt moneylender, in the second episode.)
McKern was one of several Number Twos
in the 1960s cult classic television series The Prisoner
. McKern was one of only two actors to play Number Two more than once (the other was Colin Gordon
). He first played the character in the episodes "The Chimes of Big Ben
" and "Once Upon a Time
" and later reprised the role for the final episode "Fall Out
". Filming "Once Upon a Time" was a particularly intense experience for McKern. According to one biographer, the strain of filming this episode caused McKern to suffer either a nervous breakdown
or a heart attack (accounts differ), forcing production to stop for a time.
a BBC Play for Today. Thames TV then produced a series of the same title of forty-four episodes for seven series for ITV between 1978 and 1992. John Mortimer
, the writer and creator of the show, created the part with Alastair Sim
in mind, but revised his opinion after seeing McKern in the part. Mortimer was to say, "He not only played the character Rumpole, he added to it, brightened it and brought it fully to life."
McKern enjoyed the role but had shown concern regarding the fame and how much 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.
chose McKern to succeed John Houseman
as its spokesman. In addition to the change in spokesman, Smith Barney's corporate advertising department decided to tweak the format of the new commercials, the first of which aired in September 1987. However, the public did not like the new commercials nearly as much as they did the famous Houseman ones, and in 1989, Smith Barney switched to a campaign featuring the voice of American actor George C. Scott
.
In the last decade of his life, McKern starred in a series of commercials for Lloyds Bank
, widely shown on British television, in which he portrayed a character very like Rumpole.
, which became more difficult to cope with as he grew older. He had also worried that his stout frame would not appeal to audiences. Suffering from diabetes and other health problems, he was moved to a nursing home
near Bath, Somerset in 2002. He died there a few weeks later at the age of 82. McKern was survived by his wife Jane, daughters Abigail and Harriet, and a grandchild.
McKern was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia
in 1983 for his services to the performing arts.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n-born British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
actor who appeared in numerous British and Australian television programmes and movies, and more than 200 stage roles.
Early life
McKern was born Reginald McKern in Sydney, New South Wales, the son of Vera (née Martin) and Norman Walton McKern and attended Sydney Technical High SchoolSydney Technical High School
Sydney Technical High School is an academically selective, state-funded high school for boys in Bexley, a southern suburb of Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1911 as part of Sydney Technical College, the school was one of the six original New South Wales selective schools...
. After an accident at age 15 he lost his left eye. He first worked as an engineering apprentice, then as an artist, followed by serving in the Australian Army
Australian Army
The Australian Army is Australia's military land force. It is part of the Australian Defence Force along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. While the Chief of Defence commands the Australian Defence Force , the Army is commanded by the Chief of Army...
during World War II. During the war, he made his first stage appearance in Sydney in 1944.
The theatre
Having fallen in love with actress Jane Holland, McKern moved to the United Kingdom to be with her and they married in 1946. He soon became a regular performer at London's Old VicOld Vic
The Old Vic is a theatre located just south-east of Waterloo Station in London on the corner of The Cut and Waterloo Road. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, it was taken over by Emma Cons in 1880 when it was known formally as the Royal Victoria Hall. In 1898, a niece of Cons, Lilian...
theatre and the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre (now called the Royal Shakespeare Theatre
Royal Shakespeare Theatre
The Royal Shakespeare Theatre is a 1,040+ seat thrust stage theatre owned by the Royal Shakespeare Company dedicated to the British playwright and poet William Shakespeare. It is located in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon - Shakespeare's birthplace - in the English Midlands, beside the River Avon...
) in Stratford-upon-Avon
Stratford-upon-Avon
Stratford-upon-Avon is a market town and civil parish in south Warwickshire, England. It lies on the River Avon, south east of Birmingham and south west of Warwick. It is the largest and most populous town of the District of Stratford-on-Avon, which uses the term "on" to indicate that it covers...
, despite the difficulties posed by his glass eye and Australian accent.
In 1949, he played Forester in Love's Labour's Lost
Love's Labour's Lost
Love's Labour's Lost is one of William Shakespeare's early comedies, believed to have been written in the mid-1590s, and first published in 1598.-Title:...
at the Old Vic. His most notable Shakespearean role was as Iago
Iago
Iago is a fictional character in Shakespeare's Othello . The character's source is traced to Giovanni Battista Giraldi Cinthio's tale "Un Capitano Moro" in Gli Hecatommithi . There, the character is simply "the ensign". Iago is a soldier and Othello's ancient . He is the husband of Emilia,...
to Anthony Quayle
Anthony Quayle
Sir John Anthony Quayle, CBE was an English actor and director.-Early life:Quayle was born in Ainsdale, Southport, in Lancashire to a Manx family....
's Othello
Othello
The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1603, and based on the Italian short story "Un Capitano Moro" by Cinthio, a disciple of Boccaccio, first published in 1565...
in 1952. On the West End in London, McKern originated the role of the Common Man for Robert Bolt
Robert Bolt
Robert Oxton Bolt, CBE was an English playwright and a two-time Oscar winning screenwriter.-Career:He was born in Sale, Cheshire. At Manchester Grammar School his affinity for Sir Thomas More first developed. He attended the University of Manchester, and, after war service, the University of...
's A Man for All Seasons
A Man for All Seasons
A Man for All Seasons is a play by Robert Bolt. An early form of the play had been written for BBC Radio in 1954, and a one-hour live television version starring Bernard Hepton was produced in 1957 by the BBC, but after Bolt's success with The Flowering Cherry, he reworked it for the stage.It was...
in 1960, but for the show's Broadway production, he was shifted to the role of Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex
Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex
Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex, , was an English statesman who served as chief minister of King Henry VIII of England from 1532 to 1540....
, the prosecutor of Sir Thomas More
Thomas More
Sir Thomas More , also known by Catholics as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, social philosopher, author, statesman and noted Renaissance humanist. He was an important councillor to Henry VIII of England and, for three years toward the end of his life, Lord Chancellor...
, which he would reprise in the film version. He also memorably played Subtle in Ben Jonson
Ben Jonson
Benjamin Jonson was an English Renaissance dramatist, poet and actor. A contemporary of William Shakespeare, he is best known for his satirical plays, particularly Volpone, The Alchemist, and Bartholomew Fair, which are considered his best, and his lyric poems...
's The Alchemist
The Alchemist (play)
The Alchemist is a comedy by English playwright Ben Jonson. First performed in 1610 by the King's Men, it is generally considered Jonson's best and most characteristic comedy; Samuel Taylor Coleridge claimed that it had one of the three most perfect plots in literature...
in 1962.
Film
McKern's film debut came in 1952's Murder in the CathedralMurder in the Cathedral
Murder in the Cathedral is a verse drama by T. S. Eliot that portrays the assassination of Archbishop Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral in 1170, first performed in 1935...
. His other notable film appearances included the science fiction classic The Day the Earth Caught Fire
The Day the Earth Caught Fire
The Day the Earth Caught Fire is a British science fiction disaster film starring Edward Judd, Leo McKern and Janet Munro. It was directed by Val Guest and released in 1961....
(1961), the Beatles'
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
film Help!
Help! (film)
Help! is a 1965 film directed by Richard Lester, starring The Beatles—John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr—and featuring Leo McKern, Eleanor Bron, Victor Spinetti, John Bluthal, Roy Kinnear and Patrick Cargill. Help! was the second feature film made by the Beatles and is a...
(1965), the Academy Award
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
-winning adaptation of A Man for All Seasons
A Man for All Seasons (1966 film)
A Man for All Seasons is a 1966 film based on Robert Bolt's play A Man for All Seasons about Sir Thomas More. It was released on December 12, 1966. Paul Scofield, who had played More in the West End stage premiere, also took the role in the film. It was directed by Fred Zinnemann, who had...
(1966), The Shoes of the Fisherman
The Shoes of the Fisherman
The Shoes of the Fisherman is a 1963 novel by the Australian author Morris West, as well as a 1968 film based on the novel.The book reached #1 on the New York Times bestseller list for adult fiction on 30 June 1963, and became the #1 bestselling novel in the United States for that year, according...
(1968), Ryan's Daughter
Ryan's Daughter
Ryan's Daughter is a 1970 film directed by David Lean. The film, set in 1916, tells the story of a married Irish woman who has an affair with a British officer during World War I, despite opposition from her nationalist neighbours...
(1970), Massacre in Rome
Massacre in Rome
Massacre in Rome is a 1973 film directed by George Pan Cosmatos about the Ardeatine massacre which occurred at the Ardeatine caves in Rome, 24 March 1944, committed by the Germans as a reprisal for a partisan attack.-Summary:...
(1973), The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother
The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother
The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother is a 1975 English/American comedy film with Gene Wilder, Marty Feldman, Madeline Kahn, Dom DeLuise, Roy Kinnear and Leo McKern. The film was Wilder's directorial debut....
(1975),The Omen
The Omen
An original score for the film, including the movie's theme song Ave Satani, was composed by Jerry Goldsmith, for which he received the only Oscar of his long career. The score features a strong choral segment, with a foreboding Latin chant...
(1976), The Blue Lagoon
The Blue Lagoon (1980 film)
The Blue Lagoon is a 1980 American romance and adventure film directed by Randal Kleiser. The screenplay by Douglas Day Stewart was based on the novel The Blue Lagoon by Henry De Vere Stacpoole. The film stars Brooke Shields and Christopher Atkins...
(1980), and The French Lieutenant's Woman
The French Lieutenant's Woman
The French Lieutenant’s Woman , by John Fowles, is a period novel inspired by the 1823 novel Ourika, by Claire de Duras, which Fowles translated into English in 1977...
(1981). He was given the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
The AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role is an award in the annual AACTA Awards, presented by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts...
for Travelling North
Travelling North
Travelling North is a 1987 film directed by Carl Schultz.An aged couple decide to move from Melbourne to Queensland.-Play:The David Williamson play Travelling North premiered in 1979, the year that Williamson moved from Melbourne to Sydney...
(1987). In Monsignor Quixote
Monsignor Quixote
Monsignor Quixote is a novel by Graham Greene, published in 1982. The book is a pastiche of the classic Spanish novel Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes with many moments of hilarious comedy, but also offers reflection on matters such as life after a dictatorship, Communism, and the Catholic...
(1989), he co-starred as Sancho Zancas with Alec Guinness
Alec Guinness
Sir Alec Guinness, CH, CBE was an English actor. He was featured in several of the Ealing Comedies, including Kind Hearts and Coronets in which he played eight different characters. He later won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Colonel Nicholson in The Bridge on the River Kwai...
as Father Quixote.
McKern's final acting appearances came in the film Molokai: The Story of Father Damien
Molokai: The Story of Father Damien
Molokai: The Story of Father Damien is a 1999 biopic of Father Damien, who was a Belgian priest working at the Kalaupapa Leprosy Settlement on the Hawaiian island of Molokai...
(1999) and on stage in 2000.
Radio
McKern provided the voice of Captain HaddockCaptain Haddock
Captain Archibald Haddock is a fictional character in The Adventures of Tintin, the series of classic Belgian comic books written and illustrated by Hergé...
in the 1992 and 1993 BBC Radio
BBC Radio
BBC Radio is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927. For a history of BBC radio prior to 1927 see British Broadcasting Company...
series Herge
Hergé
Georges Prosper Remi , better known by the pen name Hergé, was a Belgian comics writer and artist. His best known and most substantial work is the 23 completed comic books in The Adventures of Tintin series, which he wrote and illustrated from 1929 until his death in 1983, although he was also...
's The Adventures of Tintin
The Adventures of Tintin
The Adventures of Tintin is a series of classic comic books created by Belgian artist , who wrote under the pen name of Hergé...
.
TV
One of McKern's earliest television roles was in the black and white classic The Adventures of Robin HoodThe Adventures of Robin Hood (TV series)
The Adventures of Robin Hood is a popular British television series comprising 143 half-hour, black and white episodes. It starred Richard Greene as the outlaw Robin Hood and Alan Wheatley as his nemesis, the Sheriff of Nottingham. The show aired weekly between 1955 and 1959 on ITV in London in the...
. In the first episode he played Sir Roger DeLisle, who has usurped the Locksley manor and lands. (He also played Herbert of Doncaster, a corrupt moneylender, in the second episode.)
McKern was one of several Number Twos
Number Two (The Prisoner)
Number Two was the title of the chief administrator of The Village in the 1967-68 British television series The Prisoner. More than 17 different actors appeared as holders of the office during the 17-episode series .The first...
in the 1960s cult classic television series The Prisoner
The Prisoner
The Prisoner is a 17-episode British television series first broadcast in the UK from 29 September 1967 to 1 February 1968. Starring and co-created by Patrick McGoohan, it combined spy fiction with elements of science fiction, allegory and psychological drama.The series follows a British former...
. McKern was one of only two actors to play Number Two more than once (the other was Colin Gordon
Colin Gordon
Colin Gordon was a British actor born in Ceylon .He was educated at Marlborough College and Christ Church, Oxford. He made his first West End appearance in 1934 as the hind legs of a horse in a production of “Toad of Toad Hall”. From 1936 to 1939 he was a director with the Fred Melville Repertory...
). He first played the character in the episodes "The Chimes of Big Ben
The Chimes of Big Ben (The Prisoner)
"The Chimes of Big Ben" is the title of the second episode of the British science fiction-allegorical series, The Prisoner. It originally aired in the UK on ITV on 6 October 1967 and was first broadcast in the United States on CBS on 8 June 1968....
" and "Once Upon a Time
Once Upon a Time (The Prisoner)
"Once Upon a Time" is the title of the 16th episode of the British science fiction-allegorical series, The Prisoner, starring Patrick McGoohan as Number Six...
" and later reprised the role for the final episode "Fall Out
Fall Out (The Prisoner)
"Fall Out" is the seventeenth and final episode of the allegorical British science fiction series The Prisoner, which starred Patrick McGoohan as the incarcerated Number Six...
". Filming "Once Upon a Time" was a particularly intense experience for McKern. According to one biographer, the strain of filming this episode caused McKern to suffer either a nervous breakdown
Nervous breakdown
Mental breakdown is a non-medical term used to describe an acute, time-limited phase of a specific disorder that presents primarily with features of depression or anxiety.-Definition:...
or a heart attack (accounts differ), forcing production to stop for a time.
Rumpole
In 1975, he made his first appearance as his most famous character, Horace Rumpole, whom he played in Rumpole of the BaileyRumpole of the Bailey
Rumpole of the Bailey is a British television series created and written by the British writer and barrister John Mortimer which starred Leo McKern as Horace Rumpole, an ageing London barrister who defends any and all clients...
a BBC Play for Today. Thames TV then produced a series of the same title of forty-four episodes for seven series for ITV between 1978 and 1992. John Mortimer
John Mortimer
Sir John Clifford Mortimer, CBE, QC was a British barrister, dramatist, screenwriter and author.-Early life:...
, the writer and creator of the show, created the part with Alastair Sim
Alastair Sim
Alastair George Bell Sim, CBE was a Scottish character actor who appeared in a string of classic British films. He is best remembered in the role of Ebenezer Scrooge in the 1951 film Scrooge, and for his portrayal of Miss Fritton, the headmistress in two St. Trinian's films...
in mind, but revised his opinion after seeing McKern in the part. Mortimer was to say, "He not only played the character Rumpole, he added to it, brightened it and brought it fully to life."
McKern enjoyed the role but had shown concern regarding the fame and how much 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
Peer Gynt
Peer Gynt is a five-act play in verse by the Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen, loosely based on the fairy tale Per Gynt. It is the most widely performed Norwegian play. According to Klaus Van Den Berg, the "cinematic script blends poetry with social satire and realistic scenes with surreal ones"...
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
Abigail McKern
Abigail McKern is an English actress who appeared, alongside her father Leo, in the last three series of Rumpole of the Bailey, as his younger colleague Liz Probert. She has played many other roles on stage and screen.-Notes:...
joined the cast as Liz Probert.
Commercials
In 1987, the investment firm Smith BarneySmith Barney
Morgan Stanley Smith Barney is a retail brokerage joint venture between Morgan Stanley and Citigroup.On January 13, 2009, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup announced that Citigroup would sell 51% of Smith Barney to Morgan Stanley, creating Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, which was formerly a division of...
chose McKern to succeed John Houseman
John Houseman
John Houseman was a Romanian-born British-American actor and film producer who became known for his highly publicized collaboration with director Orson Welles from their days in the Federal Theatre Project through to the production of Citizen Kane...
as its spokesman. In addition to the change in spokesman, Smith Barney's corporate advertising department decided to tweak the format of the new commercials, the first of which aired in September 1987. However, the public did not like the new commercials nearly as much as they did the famous Houseman ones, and in 1989, Smith Barney switched to a campaign featuring the voice of American actor George C. Scott
George C. Scott
George Campbell Scott was an American stage and film actor, director and producer. He was best known for his stage work, as well as his portrayal of General George S. Patton in the film Patton, and as General Buck Turgidson in Stanley Kubrick's Dr...
.
In the last decade of his life, McKern starred in a series of commercials for Lloyds Bank
Lloyds Bank
Lloyds Bank Plc was a British retail bank which operated in England and Wales from 1765 until its merger into Lloyds TSB in 1995; it remains a registered company but is currently dormant. It expanded during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and took over a number of smaller banking companies...
, widely shown on British television, in which he portrayed a character very like Rumpole.
Personal life
McKern told his daughter Abigail that he suffered from stage frightGlossophobia
Glossophobia or speech anxiety is the fear of public speaking. The word glossophobia comes from the Greek glōssa, meaning tongue, and φόβος phobos, fear or dread...
, which became more difficult to cope with as he grew older. He had also worried that his stout frame would not appeal to audiences. Suffering from diabetes and other health problems, he was moved to a nursing home
Nursing home
A nursing home, convalescent home, skilled nursing unit , care home, rest home, or old people's home provides a type of care of residents: it is a place of residence for people who require constant nursing care and have significant deficiencies with activities of daily living...
near Bath, Somerset in 2002. He died there a few weeks later at the age of 82. McKern was survived by his wife Jane, daughters Abigail and Harriet, and a grandchild.
McKern was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia
Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...
in 1983 for his services to the performing arts.
Selected filmography
- All for MaryAll for MaryAll for Mary is a 1955 UK Comedy Film brought to the screen by Paul Soskin Productions for The Rank Organisation. It was based on a play written by the English husband and wife team of Kay Bannerman and Harold Brooke. It was directed by Wendy Toye, produced by Paul Soskin with the screenplay by...
(1955) - The Adventures of Robin Hood (1955) – "The Coming of Robin Hood" - Sir Roger DeLisle, and "The Moneylender" - Herbert of Doncaster.
- X the UnknownX the UnknownX the Unknown is a British science-fiction / horror film made by the Hammer Films company and released in 1956.-Production:The film was originally intended by Hammer to be a sequel to the previous year's successful The Quatermass Xperiment, but writer Nigel Kneale refused permission for the...
(1956) – Police Inspector McGill - Time Without PityTime Without PityTime Without Pity is a thriller about a father trying to save his son from execution for murder.It stars Michael Redgrave, Ann Todd, and Leo McKern.-Plot:David Graham has only 24 hours to save his son, Alec, from hanging...
(1957) - Confess, Killer (1957)
- A Tale of Two CitiesA Tale of Two Cities (1958 film)A Tale of Two Cities is a 1958 British film of the Charles Dickens novel A Tale of Two Cities. It starred Dirk Bogarde and Dorothy Tutin, and was directed by Ralph Thomas.-Cast:*Dirk Bogarde as Sydney Carton*Dorothy Tutin as Lucie Manette...
(1958) – Attorney General - The Mouse That Roared (1958) – The Leader of the Opposition
- Yesterday's EnemyYesterday's EnemyYesterday's Enemy is a 1959 Hammer Films British war film directed by Val Guest and starring Stanley Baker, Guy Rolfe, Leo McKern and Gordon Jackson set in the Burma Campaign during World War II. It is based on a 1958 BBC teleplay by Peter R. Newman who turned it into a three act play in 1960. ...
(1959) – Max - Web of EvidenceWeb of EvidenceWeb of Evidence is a 1959 British film based on the novel, Beyond This Place, by A. J. Cronin. It was directed by Jack Cardiff and stars Van Johnson and Vera Miles. The original title was kept for the film's European release, though it was given an alternate title for the American release...
(1959) – McEvoy - Holiday in SpainHoliday in Spain"Holiday in Spain" is a song originally performed by Counting Crows on the album Hard Candy, and was later recorded as a duet with Dutch pop-group Bløf. A notable aspect of this version is the fact that the parts performed by Bløf are sung in Dutch, whereas the parts performed by Counting Crows are...
(1960) - Saturday Playhouse "The Man Who Came to DinnerThe Man Who Came to DinnerThe Man Who Came to Dinner is a comedy in three acts by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. It debuted on October 16, 1939 at the Music Box Theatre in New York City. It then enjoyed a number of New York and London revivals. The first London production was staged at The Savoy Theatre starring Robert...
" (1960) - The Running Jumping & Standing Still FilmThe Running Jumping & Standing Still FilmThe Running Jumping & Standing Still Film is a short film directed by Richard Lester and Peter Sellers, in collaboration with Bruce Lacey. The film was released in 1960....
(1960) - Jazz BoatJazz BoatJazz Boat is a 1960 British musical comedy film directed by Ken Hughes and starring Anthony Newley, Anne Aubrey, Lionel Jeffries and Big band leader Ted Heath and his orchestra.-Cast:* Anthony Newley ... Bert Harris* Anne Aubrey ... The Doll...
(1960) - The Day the Earth Caught FireThe Day the Earth Caught FireThe Day the Earth Caught Fire is a British science fiction disaster film starring Edward Judd, Leo McKern and Janet Munro. It was directed by Val Guest and released in 1961....
(1961) – Bill Maguire - Mr. TopazeMr. TopazeMr. Topaze was Peter Sellers' directorial debut in 1961. Starring Sellers, Nadia Gray, and Leo McKern as well as Herbert Lom who quarreled with Seller's Inspector Clouseau in the Pink Panther movies...
(1961) - The InspectorThe InspectorThe Inspector is a series of 1960s theatrical cartoons produced by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises and released through United Artists. The titular character is based on Jacques Clouseau, a comical French police officer who is the main character in the Pink Panther series of films.-Plot:Although the...
(1962) - The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse (1962)
- Doctor in DistressDoctor in Distress (film)Doctor in Distress is a 1963 British comedy film directed by Ralph Thomas and starring Dirk Bogarde, James Robertson Justice, and Samantha Eggar. It was the fifth film in the Doctor Series...
(1963) - Hot Enough for JuneHot Enough for JuneHot Enough for June is a 1964 British spy comedy film directed by Ralph Thomas and featuring Dirk Bogarde, Sylva Koscina, Robert Morley, Leo McKern, John Le Mesurier and Roger Delgado. It was based on the 1960 novel "The Night of Wenceslas" by Lionel Davidson and directed by Ralph Thomas. It was...
(1964) - A Jolly Bad FellowA Jolly Bad FellowA Jolly Bad Fellow is a 1964 British film directed by Don Chaffey. It stars Leo McKern and Janet Munro.-Cast:* Leo McKern as Prof Bowls-Ottery* Janet Munro as Delia Brooks* Maxine Audley as Clarina Bowls-Ottery* Duncan Macrae as Dr. Brass...
(1964) - King & CountryKing & CountryKing and Country is a 1964 British film, directed by American-born director Joseph Losey, shot in black and white, and starring Dirk Bogarde and Tom Courtenay...
(1964) - The Amorous Adventures of Moll FlandersThe Amorous Adventures of Moll FlandersThe Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders is a 1965 British historical comedy film directed by Terence Young and starring Kim Novak, Richard Johnson and Claire Ufland...
(1965) - Help!Help! (film)Help! is a 1965 film directed by Richard Lester, starring The Beatles—John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr—and featuring Leo McKern, Eleanor Bron, Victor Spinetti, John Bluthal, Roy Kinnear and Patrick Cargill. Help! was the second feature film made by the Beatles and is a...
(1965) – High Priest Clang - Alice In Wonderland – "The Duchess" in Jonathan MillerJonathan MillerSir Jonathan Wolfe Miller CBE is a British theatre and opera director, author, physician, television presenter, humorist and sculptor. Trained as a physician in the late 1950s, he first came to prominence in the 1960s with his role in the comedy revue Beyond the Fringe with fellow writers and...
's 1966 television version - A Man for All SeasonsA Man for All Seasons (1966 film)A Man for All Seasons is a 1966 film based on Robert Bolt's play A Man for All Seasons about Sir Thomas More. It was released on December 12, 1966. Paul Scofield, who had played More in the West End stage premiere, also took the role in the film. It was directed by Fred Zinnemann, who had...
(1966) – Thomas Cromwell (he had played both Cromwell and the Common Man in the stage original) - The PrisonerThe PrisonerThe Prisoner is a 17-episode British television series first broadcast in the UK from 29 September 1967 to 1 February 1968. Starring and co-created by Patrick McGoohan, it combined spy fiction with elements of science fiction, allegory and psychological drama.The series follows a British former...
(1967) "The Chimes of Big BenThe Chimes of Big Ben (The Prisoner)"The Chimes of Big Ben" is the title of the second episode of the British science fiction-allegorical series, The Prisoner. It originally aired in the UK on ITV on 6 October 1967 and was first broadcast in the United States on CBS on 8 June 1968....
", "Once Upon a TimeOnce Upon a Time (The Prisoner)"Once Upon a Time" is the title of the 16th episode of the British science fiction-allegorical series, The Prisoner, starring Patrick McGoohan as Number Six...
" and "Fall OutFall Out (The Prisoner)"Fall Out" is the seventeenth and final episode of the allegorical British science fiction series The Prisoner, which starred Patrick McGoohan as the incarcerated Number Six...
" – One of the versions of Number TwoNumber Two (The Prisoner)Number Two was the title of the chief administrator of The Village in the 1967-68 British television series The Prisoner. More than 17 different actors appeared as holders of the office during the 17-episode series .The first... - Assignment KAssignment KAssignment K is a 1968 British thriller film directed by Val Guest, and starring Stephen Boyd, Camilla Sparv, Michael Redgrave and Leo McKern...
(1968) - Nobody Runs ForeverNobody Runs ForeverNobody Runs Forever also called The High Commissioner is a 1968 film directed by Ralph Thomas based on Jon Cleary's 1966 novel The High Commissioner. It stars Rod Taylor as Australian policeman Scobie Malone and Christopher Plummer as the Australian High Commissioner in England caught up in...
(1968) - Decline and Fall... of a BirdwatcherDecline and Fall... of a BirdwatcherDecline and Fall... of a Birdwatcher is a 1968 British comedy film directed by John Krish and starring Robin Phillips, Geneviève Page and Donald Wolfit...
(1968) - The Shoes of the FishermanThe Shoes of the FishermanThe Shoes of the Fisherman is a 1963 novel by the Australian author Morris West, as well as a 1968 film based on the novel.The book reached #1 on the New York Times bestseller list for adult fiction on 30 June 1963, and became the #1 bestselling novel in the United States for that year, according...
(1968) – Cardinal Leone - Ryan's DaughterRyan's DaughterRyan's Daughter is a 1970 film directed by David Lean. The film, set in 1916, tells the story of a married Irish woman who has an affair with a British officer during World War I, despite opposition from her nationalist neighbours...
(1970) – Thomas Ryan - Massacre in RomeMassacre in RomeMassacre in Rome is a 1973 film directed by George Pan Cosmatos about the Ardeatine massacre which occurred at the Ardeatine caves in Rome, 24 March 1944, committed by the Germans as a reprisal for a partisan attack.-Summary:...
(1973) – Gen. Kurt Mälzer - The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter BrotherThe Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter BrotherThe Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother is a 1975 English/American comedy film with Gene Wilder, Marty Feldman, Madeline Kahn, Dom DeLuise, Roy Kinnear and Leo McKern. The film was Wilder's directorial debut....
(1975) – Professor MoriartyProfessor MoriartyProfessor James Moriarty is a fictional character and the archenemy of the detective Sherlock Holmes in the fiction of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Moriarty is a criminal mastermind, described by Holmes as the "Napoleon of Crime". Doyle lifted the phrase from a real Scotland Yard inspector who was... - Play For TodayPlay for TodayPlay for Today is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage plays and novels, were transmitted...
:"Rumpole of The Bailey" (1975) - Horace Rumpole - Space: 1999Space: 1999Space: 1999 is a British science-fiction television series that ran for two seasons and originally aired from 1975 to 1977. In the opening episode, nuclear waste from Earth stored on the Moon's far side explodes in a catastrophic accident on 13 September 1999, knocking the Moon out of orbit and...
: "The Infernal Machine" (1976) – Companion/Voice of Gwent - The OmenThe OmenAn original score for the film, including the movie's theme song Ave Satani, was composed by Jerry Goldsmith, for which he received the only Oscar of his long career. The score features a strong choral segment, with a foreboding Latin chant...
(1976) – Carl Bugenhagen - CandleshoeCandleshoeCandleshoe is a 1977 Walt Disney Productions live action family film and heist film based on the Michael Innes novel Christmas at Candleshoe and starring Jodie Foster, Helen Hayes in her last big screen appearance, David Niven and Leo McKern.-Plot:...
(1977) – Harry Bundage - Damien: Omen IIDamien: Omen IIDamien: Omen II, is a 1978 American horror film directed by Don Taylor, starring William Holden, Lee Grant, and Jonathan Scott-Taylor. The film was the second installment in The Omen series, set seven years after the first film, and was followed by a third installment, Omen III: The Final Conflict,...
(1978) – Carl Bugenhagen - Rumpole of the BaileyRumpole of the BaileyRumpole of the Bailey is a British television series created and written by the British writer and barrister John Mortimer which starred Leo McKern as Horace Rumpole, an ageing London barrister who defends any and all clients...
(1978–92) – Horace Rumpole - The NativityThe Nativity (television film)The Nativity is a 98-minute long 1978 television film set around the Nativity of Jesus and based on the accounts in the canonical Gospels of Matthew and Luke, in the apocryphal gospels of Pseudo-Matthew and James, and in the Golden Legend. It was directed by Bernard L. Kowalski, written by Morton S...
(TV 1978) – Herod the GreatHerod the GreatHerod , also known as Herod the Great , was a Roman client king of Judea. His epithet of "the Great" is widely disputed as he is described as "a madman who murdered his own family and a great many rabbis." He is also known for his colossal building projects in Jerusalem and elsewhere, including his... - The Blue LagoonThe Blue Lagoon (1980 film)The Blue Lagoon is a 1980 American romance and adventure film directed by Randal Kleiser. The screenplay by Douglas Day Stewart was based on the novel The Blue Lagoon by Henry De Vere Stacpoole. The film stars Brooke Shields and Christopher Atkins...
(1980) – Paddy Button - The French Lieutenant's Woman (film)The French Lieutenant's Woman (film)The French Lieutenant's Woman is a 1981 film directed by Karel Reisz and adapted by playwright Harold Pinter. It is based on the novel of the same title by John Fowles...
(1981) – Dr. Grogan - Reilly, Ace of SpiesReilly, Ace of SpiesReilly, Ace of Spies is a 1983 television miniseries dramatizing the life of Sidney Reilly, a Russian Jew who became one of the greatest spies to ever work for the British. Among his exploits in the early 20th century were the infiltration of the German General Staff in 1917 and a near-overthrow of...
(1983) – Basil ZaharoffBasil ZaharoffBasil Zaharoff, GCB, GBE , born Zacharias Basileios Zacharoff, was an arms dealer and financier... - King Lear (1983) – Gloucester
- The Chain (1984)
- LadyhawkeLadyhawkeLadyhawke is a 1985 fantasy film directed by Richard Donner, starring Matthew Broderick, Rutger Hauer and Michelle Pfeiffer. The film marked the second 20th Century Fox film to be co-produced and co-released by Warner Bros.. The first was The Towering Inferno; this time Warner got the U.S...
(1985) – Imperius, the reclusive priest - Travelling NorthTravelling NorthTravelling North is a 1987 film directed by Carl Schultz.An aged couple decide to move from Melbourne to Queensland.-Play:The David Williamson play Travelling North premiered in 1979, the year that Williamson moved from Melbourne to Sydney...
(1987) - A Foreign FieldA Foreign FieldA Foreign Field is a motion picture about British and American World War II veterans returning to the beaches of Normandy as old men. It is more a drama than a comedy, although it combines aspects of both...
(1993) – Cyril - Dad and Dave: On Our SelectionDad and Dave: On Our Selection (1995 film)Dad and Dave: On Our Selection is an Australian comedy film, based on the characters and writings of author Steele Rudd. It is set in late nineteenth century colonial Queensland, but largely filmed in Braidwood, New South Wales...
(1995) – Dad (Joseph) Rudd - Scrooge Koala's Christmas (a.k.a. as Scrooge and Comet's Christmas Adventure) (1997) voice of Scrooge Koala, 30 minute animated pilot, Australia, Energee Entertainment.
- Molokai: The Story of Father DamienMolokai: The Story of Father DamienMolokai: The Story of Father Damien is a 1999 biopic of Father Damien, who was a Belgian priest working at the Kalaupapa Leprosy Settlement on the Hawaiian island of Molokai...
(1999) – the Bishop