Vale: John Mortimer

Barrister, author and creator of UK legal drama Rumpole Of The Bailey, Sir John Mortimer has died. He was 85.

Mortimer combined successful careers in both the legal and literary worlds.

He was a hugely prolific author of plays, novels and TV and film scripts.

He managed to fit his writing around his work as a barrister. Mortimer was an outspoken supporter of Britain’s Labour Party and a vigorous critic of Margaret Thatcher’s government.

But he will be best remembered for the Rumpole books, about an Old Bailey criminal defence barrister, made into a hit series starring Australian-born actor Leo McKern.

Source: Press Association