Leo McKern

Reginald "Leo" McKern, AO (16 March 1920 – 23 July 2002) was an Australian actor who appeared in numerous British and Australian television programmes and films, and in more than 200 stage roles. Notable roles he portrayed include Clang in Help! (1965), Thomas Cromwell in A Man for All Seasons (1966), Tom Ryan in Ryan's Daughter (1970), Paddy Button in The Blue Lagoon (1980), Father Imperius in Ladyhawke (1985) and, in the role that made him a household name as an actor, Horace Rumpole, whom he played in Rumpole of the Bailey. He also portrayed Carl Bugenhagen in the first and second installment of the The Omen trilogy.

Early life

McKern was born in Sydney, New South Wales, the son of Vera (née Martin) and Norman Walton McKern. He attended Sydney Technical High School. After an accident at the age of 15, he lost his left eye. He first worked as an engineering apprentice, then as an artist, followed by service in the Australian Army during World War II. In 1944, in Sydney, he performed in his first stage role.

Career

Theatre

Having fallen in love with actress Jane Holland, McKern moved to the United Kingdom to be with her; they married in 1946. 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, despite the difficulties posed by his glass eye and Australian accent.

McKern's most notable Shakespearean role was as Iago in Othello, in 1952. 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 eponymous villain in Bolt's The Thwarting of Baron Bolligrew, and Disson in Harold Pinter's Tea Party.

Film

McKern's film debut was in Murder in the Cathedral (1952). His other notable film appearances included the science-fiction classic The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961), the World War I drama King and Country (1964) 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), The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981) and Ladyhawke (1985). He was presented with the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for Travelling North (1987). In Monsignor Quixote (1985), he co-starred as Sancho Zancas opposite Alec Guinness as Father Quixote.

Television

One of McKern's earliest television roles was in the 1950s black-and-white series The Adventures of Robin Hood (as Sir Roger DeLisle, usurper of the Locksley manor and lands, and Herbert of Doncaster, a corrupt moneylender). During the 1960s, he was one of several Number Twos in the groundbreaking and critically acclaimed 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 later reprised the role in the final episode, "Fall Out". The filming of "Once Upon a Time" proved to be 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.

Rumpole of the Bailey

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, a BBC Play for Today. A series of the same name, comprising 44 episodes, was produced for ITV between 1978 and 1992. John Mortimer, series creator and writer, wrote the part with actor Alastair Sim in mind, but, as Sim was unavailable due to his sad demise in 1976, McKern was chosen for the part. According to Mortimer, "he 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 Mizz Liz Probert.

Commercial work

In 1987, investment firm Smith Barney selected McKern to succeed John Houseman as its spokesman. At the same time, Smith Barney's corporate advertising department decided to change the format of its television advertisements, the first of which featuring McKern airing in September 1987. McKern's advertisements were not as popular with the viewing public as Houseman's, and in 1989, Smith Barney switched to a campaign featuring the voice of American actor George C. Scott.

In the 1990s, McKern appeared in a series of advertisements for Lloyds Bank, widely shown on British television, in which he portrayed a character reminiscent of Rumpole.

Radio

McKern provided the voice of Captain Haddock in the 1992 and 1993 BBC Radio adaptation of Hergé's The Adventures of Tintin.

Personal life

In 1983, McKern was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for his services to the performing arts.

McKern informed his daughter Abigail that he suffered from stage fright, which became harder to control with age. He also worried that his stout frame would not appeal to audiences.

In 1997 he appeared in a party political broadcast for the UK Independence Party.

Suffering from diabetes and other health problems, he moved to a nursing home near Bath in Somerset in 2002. He died a few weeks later at the age of 82. His body was cremated at Haycombe Cemetery in Bath.

McKern was survived by his wife Jane, his daughters Abigail and Harriet, and a grandchild.

Selected filmography

• Murder in the Cathedral (1952)
• All for Mary (1955)
• The Adventures of Robin Hood (1955): "The Coming of Robin Hood" as Sir Roger DeLisle, and "The Moneylender" as Herbert of Doncaster.
• X the Unknown (1956) – Police Inspector McGill
• Time Without Pity (1957)
• Confess, Killer (1957)
• A Tale of Two Cities (1958) – Attorney General
• The Mouse That Roared (1958) – Leader of the Opposition
• Yesterday's Enemy (1959) – Max
• Web of Evidence (1959) – McEvoy
• Scent of Mystery (1960)
• Saturday Playhouse "The Man Who Came to Dinner" (1960)
• The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film (1960)
• Jazz Boat (1960)
• The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961) – Bill Maguire
• Mr. Topaze (1961)
• The Inspector (1962)
• The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse (1962)
• Doctor in Distress (1963)
• Hot Enough for June (1964)
• A Jolly Bad Fellow (1964)
• King & Country (1964)
• The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders (1965)
• Help! (1965) – High Priest Clang
• Alice In Wonderland – "The Duchess" in Jonathan Miller's 1966 television adaptation
• A Man for All Seasons (1966) – Thomas Cromwell (both Cromwell and Common Man in original play)
• The Prisoner (1967): "The Chimes of Big Ben", "Once Upon a Time" and "Fall Out" – Number Two
• Assignment K (1968)
• Nobody Runs Forever (1968)
• Decline and Fall... of a Birdwatcher (1968)
• The Shoes of the Fisherman (1968) – Cardinal Leone
• Ryan's Daughter (1970) – Thomas Ryan
• Massacre in Rome (1973) – General Kurt Mälzer
• The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother (1975) – Professor Moriarty
• Play For Today :"Rumpole of The Bailey" (1975) – Horace Rumpole
• Space: 1999: "The Infernal Machine" (1976) – Companion/Voice of Gwent
• The Omen (1976) – Carl Bugenhagen
• Candleshoe (1977) – Harry Bundage
• Damien: Omen II (1978) – Carl Bugenhagen
• Rumpole of the Bailey (1978–92) – Horace Rumpole
• The Nativity (TV 1978) – Herod the Great
• The Sun is God, The Life of J M W Turner (1979) - J M W Turner
• The Blue Lagoon (1980) – Paddy Button
• The French Lieutenant's Woman (film) (1981) – Dr Grogan
• Reilly, Ace of Spies (1983) – Basil Zaharoff
• King Lear (1983) – Earl of Gloucester
• The Chain (1984)
• Ladyhawke (1985) – Imperius
• Monsignor Quixote (1987)
• Travelling North (1987)
• A Foreign Field (1993) – Cyril
• Dad and Dave: On Our Selection (1995) – Dad (Joseph) Rudd
• Scrooge Koala's Christmas (a.k.a. Scrooge and Comet's Christmas Adventure, 1997) – Voice of Scrooge Koala
• Molokai: The Story of Father Damien (1999) – Bishop