Reginald "Leo" McKern (16 March 1920 – 23 July 2002) was an Australian actor who appeared in numerous British, Australian and American television programmes and films, and in more than 200 stage roles. His notable roles include Clang in Help! (1965), Thomas Cromwell in A Man for All Seasons (1966), Tom Ryan in Ryan's Daughter (1970), Harry Bundage in Candleshoe (1977), Paddy Button in The Blue Lagoon (1980), Dr. Grogan in The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981), Father Imperius in Ladyhawke (1985), and the role that made him a household name as an actor, Horace Rumpole, whom he played in the British television series Rumpole of the Bailey. He also portrayed Carl Bugenhagen in the first and second installments of The Omen series and Number Two in the TV series The Prisoner.
Early life Reginald McKern was born 16 March 1920 in Sydney, New South Wales, the son of Vera (née Martin) and Norman Walton McKern. Known as "Leo" from a young age, he attended Sydney Technical High School."Leo McKern Biography (1920–2002)". Film Reference. Retrieved 18 November 2024. On leaving school, he initially worked in a factory, where at the age of 15, he suffered an accident which resulted in the removal of his left eye. He first worked as an engineering apprentice, then as an artist, followed by service as a sapper with the Australian Army's Royal Australian Engineers during World War II. In 1944, in Sydney, he performed in his first stage role.
Career
Theatre McKern fell in love with Australian actress Jane Holland, moved to the United Kingdom to be with her, and married her in 1946. Despite the difficulties posed by his glass eye and Australian accent, 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.
McKern's most notable Shakespearean role was as Iago in Othello, in 1952. In 1955 he appeared in The Burnt Flower Bed by Ugo Betti directed by Peter Hall at the Arts Theatre Club in London. He played Big Daddy in Peter Hall's production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at the Comedy Theatre in 1958, and went on to play the German ambassador in another Peter Hall production, Brouhaha starring Peter Sellers at the Aldwych Theatre. He also starred opposite him in the film The Mouse That Roared, though like with most of the other actors, he did not reprise his role in the sequel The Mouse on the Moon. 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 lead in Bolt's The Thwarting of Baron Bolligrew, and Disson in Harold Pinter's Tea Party.
He appeared at the Royal Exchange, Manchester in Uncle Vanya in 1977 and in Crime and Punishment in 1978.
In 1989-90, he played James Boswell in the one-man show, Boswell for the Defence in theatres in Melbourne, Sydney, Hong Kong and London.
Film McKern's film debut was in Murder in the Cathedral (1952). His more notable film appearances included the science-fiction classics X the Unknown (1956), The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961), the World War I drama King and Country (1964), 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). He co-starred as Sancho Zancas opposite Alec Guinness as Father Quixote, in Monsignor Quixote (1985).
Television Two of McKern's earliest television roles were Sir Roger DeLisle (usurper of the Locksley manor and lands) and Herbert of Doncaster (a corrupt moneylender) in the 1950s black-and-white series The Adventures of Robin Hood.
During the 1960s, he was one of several Number Twos in the 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 reprised the role in the final episode, "Fall Out". The filming of "Once Upon a Time" was 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."'Battle of the Somme' television documentary, BBC (1976)". British Film Institute (2020). Retrieved 18 November 2024.] He played the Earl of Gloucester in Granada Television's production of King Lear (1983). Also in 1983, he starred in episodes of the mini-series Reilly, Ace of Spies as Zaharov, director of Vickers.
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, originally an episode of the BBC's Play for Today. A series of the same name, comprising 44 episodes, was produced for ITV between 1978 and 1992. According to Rumpole's creator, author John Mortimer, McKern "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 Liz Probert.
Commercial work Starting in 1985, McKern appeared in a series of advertisements for Lloyds Bank, playing the upholder of quality standards. In 1987, investment firm Smith Barney selected McKern to succeed John Houseman as its spokesman. The move was part of a broader shift in their TV commercials, including hiring Dinah Sheridan to play McKern's wife.Smith Barney In Ad Change – The New York Times, 16 September 1987 In 1989, Smith Barney again changed spokesmen, dropping McKern for American actor George C. Scott.
Radio McKern wrote one radio play, London Story, which became the film Chain of Events (1958). He also provided the voice of Captain Haddock in the 1992 and 1993 BBC Radio adaptation of Hergé's The Adventures of Tintin.
Personal life and death In 1983, McKern was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for his services to the performing arts.
He frequently travelled between England and Australia, both to visit family and friends and to appear in various films and plays. As he was frightened of flying, he booked tickets to travel on cargo ships. This gave him time and peace to read scripts and contracts, with the added benefit of feeling he was on holiday.
Worried that his stout frame would not appeal to audiences, McKern suffered from stage fright, which became harder to control with age.
In 1997 he appeared in a party political broadcast for the United Kingdom Independence Party.
McKern and his wife, fellow Australian actor Jane Holland (A Son Is Born, 1946), had two daughters, Abigail and Harriet.
Suffering in his final years from ill health, McKern moved into a nursing home near Bath in Somerset in 2002, where he died a few weeks later, on 23 July, at the age of 82; his body was cremated at Haycombe Cemetery in Bath.
Filmography +YearTitleRoleNotes1951Murder in the Cathedral Third Knight1955All for Mary Gaston Nikopopoulos1956X the Unknown Police Inspector McGill1957Time Without PityRobert StanfordConfess, Killer Lt. Kolski 1958A Tale of Two CitiesAttorney General1959Web of Evidence McEvoyYesterday's Enemy MaxThe Mouse That RoaredBenter, Leader of the OppositionThe Running Jumping & Standing Still Film Short, uncredited1960Scent of Mystery Tommy KennedyJazz Boat Inspector1961Mr. Topaze MucheThe Day the Earth Caught Fire Bill Maguire1962The Inspector Brandt1963Doctor in Distress Harry Heilbronn1964Children of the DamnedInspectorUncreditedHot Enough for June SimonevaA Jolly Bad Fellow Professor Kerris Bowles-OtteryKing and Country Captain O'Sullivan1965The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders SquintHelp! High Priest Clang1966A Man for All Seasons Thomas Cromwell1968Assignment K SmithNobody Runs Forever Flannery UncreditedDecline and Fall... of a Birdwatcher Captain GrimesThe Shoes of the FishermanCardinal Leone1970Ryan's Daughter Thomas Ryan1973Massacre in Rome General Kurt Mälzer1975The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter BrotherProfessor Moriarty1976The Omen Carl BugenhagenUncreditedThe Battle of the Somme Narrator1977Candleshoe Harry Bundage1978Damien - Omen II Carl BugenhagenUncredited1980The Blue Lagoon Paddy Button1981The French Lieutenant's WomanDr. Grogan1984The Chain Thomas1985LadyhawkeImperius1987Travelling North Frank1995Dad and Dave: On Our Selection Dad (Joseph) Rudd1999Molokai: The Story of Father DamienBishop Maigret
Television +YearTitleRoleNotes1955The Adventures of Robin Hood Herbert of Doncaster/Sir Roger de Lisle2 episodes1956-58BBC Sunday Night TheatreKostlyov/Zdarov2 episodes1957-61ITV Play of the WeekVarious3 episodes1959-67Armchair Theatre4 episodes1960Saturday Playhouse Sheridan WhitesideEpisode: "The Man Who Came to Dinner"1962Drama 61-67Billy DriscollEpisode: "Drama '62: No Decision"1963The Magical World of DisneyRoublot2 episodes1965Love Story Theo SandmanEpisode: "A Cure for Tin Ear"1966Thirty-Minute TheatreMarkEpisode: "Case Suspended"Alice in Wonderland DuchessTV movie1967-68The Prisoner Number TwoEpisodes: "The Chimes of Big Ben", "Once Upon a Time" and "Fall Out"1968The Wednesday PlayRobert KelvinEpisode: "On the Eve of Publication"1973ITV Saturday Night TheatreLeoEpisode: "Afternoon at the Festival"BBC Play of the MonthAzdakEpisode: "Caucasian Chalk Circle"1975Churchill's PeopleKing PendaEpisode: "The Coming of the Cross"Shades of GreeneHenryEpisode: "Cheap in August"1975-81Play for Today Horace Rumpole/Sir Frederic Charlton2 episodes1976Space: 1999Companion GwentEpisode: "The Infernal Machine"Our Mutual Friend Mr. Boffin6 episodes1978–1992Rumpole of the BaileyHorace Rumpole1978OmnibusPaul GaughinEpisode: "Paul Gaughin: The Savage and the Construction of Paradise"The NativityHerod the GreatTV movie1982ITV PlayhouseEdwin CooteEpisode: "The Boxwallah"1983Reilly, Ace of SpiesBasil Zaharoff4 episodesKing Lear Earl of GloucesterTV movie1985Murder with Mirrors Inspector CurryMonsignor QuixoteSancho Zancas1992Screen TwoSir Arthur Quiller-CouchEpisode: "The Last Romantic"1993Screen OneCyrilEpisode: A Foreign Field
Theatre +YearTitleRoleNotes1948–49The MiserOld Master SimonNew Theatre (London)She Stoops to ConquerLittle Aminadab; T/O Tony Lumpkin1949–50HamletGuildensternThe MiserThe Old VicA Month in the CountryMatveyNew TheatreLove's Labour's LostA Forester; T/O Dull1950-51Bartholomew FairThe Old VicThe WeddingElectraHenry V Nym/Sir Thomas ErpinghamThe Merry Wives of WindsorTwelfth NightFeste1951The Clandestine MarriageBrush1951-52Timon of AthensTamburlaineKing LearFool1952 (press night)OthelloIagoShakespeare Memorial TheatreAs You Like ItTouchstone1953 (press night)OthelloIagoTour - Royal Shakespeare CompanyAs You Like ItTouchstoneHenry IV, Part 1Northumberland / Owen Glendower1954