John Clifford Mortimer, the only child of Clifford and Kathleen May Smith Mortimer, was born in Hampstead, London, on April 21, 1923. He was educated at Harrow School (1937-40) and Brasenose College, Oxford (1940-42, BA 1947), and, like his father, he became a barrister in 1948 after serving as a scriptwriter and assistant director for the Crown Film Units during World War II. Mortimer's first novel,
Unlike his playwright contemporaries, the “angry young men” of the 1950s, Mortimer came from an upper-class background, wrote about the middle classes in decline, and followed established theatrical traditions. He is better known for his one-act plays than his full-length ones, and he is perhaps best known for his
Mortimer continued to work as a lawyer and became a Queen's Counsel (1966) and Master of the Bench, Inner Temple (1975). In a celebrated case in 1970 he successfully defended the publishers of
Mortimer married twice, first to author Penelope Fletcher Dimont (1949, divorced 1971), and second to Penelope Gollop (1972-), and he had two children with each.
More information about John Mortimer and his work may be found in the following sources:
The John Mortimer papers include typescript and holograph drafts of his plays, teleplays, and radio plays, as well as correspondence about the papers and Mortimer's list of his manuscripts, all dating from 1957-1967. Among noteworthy items are a holograph and a typescript draft of his Feydeau translation
Purchase, 1968 (Reg #4352)
Open for research
Katherine Mosley, 1999