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Sir John Clifford Mortimer (born 21 April 1923) is an English barrister turned prolific writer and dramatist. His oeuvre includes over fifty books, plays, and scripts. The play, A Voyage Round My Father (1971) is autobiographical, recounting his experiences as a young barrister and his relationship with his blind father.
Mortimer's most famous creation is a character named Horace Rumpole, a barrister whose specialty is defending those accused of crime in London's redoutable hall of justice, the Old Bailey. Mortimer created Rumpole for "Rumpole of the Bailey", a 1975 episode of Play For Today; Played with gusto by Leo McKern, the character proved popular, and was spun off into a Rumpole of the Bailey television series for Thames Television and a series of books (all written by Mortimer). In September - October 2003, BBC Radio 4 broadcast 4 new 45-minute Rumpole dramatizations by Mortimer starring Timothy West in the title role.
In August 2004 he became a surprise father when he discovered that he had a son, Ross Bentley, more than 40 years after a secret affair with Wendy Craig. The son was brought up by Craig and her husband, Jack Bentley, the show business writer and musician. Although Craig told her husband the child was not his, she never told Mortimer nor her son. In Mortimer's memoirs, Clinging to the wreckage he wrote of "enjoying my mid-thirties and all the pleasures which come to a young writer."
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