John Mortimer was a promising barrister who married a successful novelist (Penelope Mortimer) and then started writing himself. At first he wrote plays, most famously the autobiographical A VOYAGE ROUND MY FATHER, about his blind barrister father. Alec Guinness, Laurence Olivier and Michael Redgrave were among those who played the role. But it was Mortimer's creation of Rumpole of the Bailey, the irrascible barrister created on TV by Leo McKern, which catapulted him to wider fame and fortune, as his career as a novelist and screenwriter took off. He is credited with the hugely successful TV adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited (Olivier, Jeremy Irons, Anthony Andrews, Toyah Wilcox) and then Summers Lease (John Gielgud), based on his own story. Meanwhile he had become increasingly well-known as a lawyer. His most famous case was his (initially unsuccessful) defence of two of the three editors of the underground magazine Oz on a charge of obscenity in 1971. In a profession dominated by conservatives, he became everyone's first thought when a barrister with liberal principles and left-wing political beliefs was required. He increasingly moved in (old) Labour circles. The phrase 'champagne socialist' might have been invented for him. He divorced his first wife and married a second Penelope (Penny 2, as she became known). Their daughter is the actor Emily Mortimer. Graham Lord's biography is all the better for being unauthorised. Good stories abound; there are revelations aplenty. The disclosure that he fathered Wendy Craig's love-child only reached the press as a result of Graham Lord's research. There is much more. This biography will provide the full, unvarnished story.
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Editorial Reviews
Review
MAIL ON SUNDAY ran serial on 7th August. Graham was in the UK for interviews the week of 22 August and the press date for the book was 25 August. The revelations in the book have generated a huge amount of publicity in the press, including: THE SUNDAY TIMES - news story on 14 August INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY - news story & diary on 14 August & 21 August EVENING STANDARD - Londoner's Diary 12 August & 18 August DAILY MAIL - diary story 15, 16 & 18 August, 29 August INDEPENDENT - diary story 16 August & 2 September THE TIMES - diary story 18 August & 6 September DAILY TELEGRAPH - diary story 18 August GUARDIAN - 29 August DAILY EXPRESS - diary story 18 August PRIVATE EYE - story & cartoon 19 August, story 14 Sept DAILY MAIL - basis of a feature 3 September We also anticipate widespread review coverage, with the following already confirmed: DAILY MAIL 19 August SUNDAY TIMES 21 August DAILY TELEGRAPH 20 August SUNDAY TELEGRAPH 21 August THE OBSERVER 28 September THE TIMES 10 September HERALD 3 September LITERARY REVIEW September issue THEFIRSTPOST.COM review 19-25 August Local media includes interviews with Graham on: BBC RADIO HUMBERSIDE BBC RADIO LANCASHIRE BBC BRISTOL BBC RADIO SHEFFIELD BBC SWINDON & WILTS BBC RADIO KENT BBC RADIO LINCOLNSHIRE BBC COVENTRY & WARWICK BBC MERSEYSIDE BBC HEREFORD & WORCESTER BBC ESSEX BBC CAMBRIDGE
About the Author
Graham Lord is a biographer who has also published novels. For nearly 20 years he was the influential book columnist of the Sunday Express. He lives mainly in France.
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