---
name: "John Mortimer"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/john-mortimer"
fi1m_id: "john-mortimer"
imdb_id: "nm0607876"
tmdb_id: 65251
wikidata_id: "Q973713"
roles: ["Writer"]
born: "21 April 1923"
died: "16 January 2009"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
average_as: "writer"
average_over: 1
updated: "2026-10-07T11:16:30.137446+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# John Mortimer

## Identity

John Mortimer

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/john-mortimer
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** john-mortimer
- **IMDb ID:** nm0607876
- **TMDB ID:** 65251
- **Wikidata ID:** Q973713
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Mortimer, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q973713, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0607876/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/65251

Writer. Born 21 April 1923 in Hampstead, London, United Kingdom. Died 16 January 2009.

## Details

- **Work:** Writer
- **Born:** 21 April 1923, Hampstead, London, United Kingdom
- **Died:** 16 January 2009
- **Active:** 1970–1989
- **Frequently works with:** [Bill Hays](https://film.one/person/bill-hays.md), [Brian Farnham](https://film.one/person/brian-farnham.md), [Charles Sturridge](https://film.one/person/charles-sturridge.md), [Derek Bennett](https://film.one/person/derek-bennett.md), [Herbert Wise](https://film.one/person/herbert-wise.md), [Jim Goddard](https://film.one/person/jim-goddard.md), [John Gorrie](https://film.one/person/john-gorrie.md), [Michael Lindsay-Hogg](https://film.one/person/michael-lindsay-hogg.md)
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Mortimer, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q973713, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0607876/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/65251

## Streaming the US now

- **Apple TV:** [*Brideshead Revisited*](https://film.one/tv/brideshead-revisited.md) (83)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Biography

Sir John Mortimer was an English barrister, dramatist, screenwriter and author. Born in Hampstead, London, he was educated at Harrow and Brasenose College, Oxford, and was called to the bar in 1948. He began writing during the Second World War, producing scripts for the Crown Film Unit, and later combined a legal career with prolific work for theatre, film, television and radio.

Mortimer is credited with the screenplay for the 1981 Granada Television adaptation of Evelyn Waugh’s *Brideshead Revisited*. Other screen credits include *Bunny Lake Is Missing* (1965), *The Running Man* (1963) and *Tea with Mussolini* (1999). He created the long-running television series *Rumpole of the Bailey* and wrote the autobiographical play *A Voyage Round My Father* (1970). He received a CBE in 1986 and was knighted in 1998.

*Sources: britannica.com, en.wikipedia.org, nytimes.com.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *Brideshead Revisited* (1981), Fi1m 83, Writer — [page](https://film.one/tv/brideshead-revisited.md)

## Complete filmography (55)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Betjeman and Me* (2006), series, Actor
- *Don Quixote* (2000), Writer
- *Tea with Mussolini* (1999), Screenplay
- *Cider with Rosie* (1998), Writer
- *The Garden Party* (1998), series, Actor
- *Under the Hammer* (1994), series, Writer
- *Titmuss Regained* (1991), series, Writer
- *Summer's Lease* (1989), series, Novel, Screenplay, Creator
- *Maschenka* (1987), Writer
- *Paradise Postponed* (1986), Writer
- *A Voyage Round My Father* (1984), Writer
- *Edwin* (1984), Writer
- *Brideshead Revisited* (1981), series, Writer — Fi1m 83, [page](https://film.one/tv/brideshead-revisited.md)
- *Unity* (1981), Script
- *Rumpole's Return* (1980), Writer
- *Will Shakespeare* (1978), series, Writer, Creator
- *Rumpole of the Bailey* (1975), series, Writer, Creator
- *Rumpole of the Bailey* (1975), Writer
- *Shades of Greene* (1975), series, Writer
- *Playhouse* (1974), series, Adaptation
- *Bermondsey* (1972), Writer
- *Knightsbridge* (1972), Writer
- *King's Cross Lunch Hour* (1972), Writer
- *Mill Hill* (1972), Writer
- *Play for Today* (1970), series, Writer
- *John and Mary* (1969), Screenplay
- *Plays of Today* (1969), series, Writer
- *A Flea in Her Ear* (1968), Writer
- *Infidelity Took Place* (1968), Writer
- *ITV Playhouse* (1967), series, Writer
- *One Pair of Eyes* (1967), series, Actor
- *Der Mann aus dem Bootshaus* (1967), Novel
- *Poslední přestávka* (1966), Original Story
- *Thirty-Minute Theatre* (1965), series, Writer
- *Bunny Lake Is Missing* (1965), Screenplay
- *The Wednesday Play* (1964), series, Writer
- *The Running Man* (1963), Screenplay
- *The Dock Brief* (1962), Writer
- *Guns of Darkness* (1962), Screenplay
- *Lunch Hour* (1962), Producer, Screenplay
- *The Innocents* (1961), as Additional Writing
- *The Encyclopaedist* (1961), Writer
- *They Met in a City* (1961), series, Writer
- *24 Hours in a Woman's Life* (1961), Teleplay
- *Back to Back* (1959), Writer
- *Ferry to Hong Kong* (1959), Dialogue
- *Das Pflichtmandat* (1958), Original Story
- *The Dock Brief* (1957), Writer
- *Theatre Night* (1957), series, Writer
- *Armchair Theatre* (1956), series, Writer
- *Alfred Hitchcock Presents* (1955), series, Theatre Play
- *Hallmark Hall of Fame* (1951), series, Writer
- *The Ware Case* (1938), as Youth (uncredited)
- *Me and Marlborough* (1935), as Minor Role
- *Brown on Resolution* (1935), Actor

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/john-mortimer