Editing John Mortimer (section)

==Early writing career==
With weak eyes and doubtful lungs, Mortimer was classified as medically unfit for military service in [[World War II]].<ref name="Telegraph"/> He worked for the [[Crown Film Unit]] under [[Laurie Lee]], writing scripts for propaganda documentaries.

<blockquote>I lived in London and went on journeys in blacked-out trains to factories and coal-mines and military and air force installations. For the first and, in fact, the only time in my life I was, thanks to Laurie Lee, earning my living entirely as a writer. If I have knocked the documentary ideal, I would not wish to sound ungrateful to the Crown Film Unit. I was given great and welcome opportunities to write dialogue, construct scenes and try and turn ideas into some kind of visual drama.<ref>John Mortimer ''Clinging to the Wreckage: A Part of Life'', 1982, p. 71.</ref></blockquote>

He based his first novel, ''Charade'', on his experiences with the [[Crown Film Unit]].{{citation needed|date=January 2016}}

Mortimer made his radio debut as a dramatist in 1955, adapting his own novel ''[[Like Men Betrayed]]'' for the [[BBC]] [[Light Programme]]. His debut as an original playwright came with ''[[The Dock Brief]]'' starring [[Michael Hordern]] as a hapless [[barrister]], first broadcast in 1957 on [[BBC Radio]]'s [[Third Programme]], and later televised with the same cast. It later appeared in a double bill with ''[[What Shall We Tell Caroline?]]'' at the [[Lyric Hammersmith]] in April 1958, before transferring to the [[Garrick Theatre]]. ''[[The Dock Brief]]'' was revived by [[Christopher Morahan]] in 2007 for a touring double bill with ''Legal Fictions''.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2007/11/19/btlegal119.xml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071120052002/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2007/11/19/btlegal119.xml |url-status=dead |archive-date=20 November 2007 |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London, UK |title=Legal Fiction: Wit, humanity and nostalgic English melancholy |date=19 November 2007 |access-date=7 May 2010}}</ref> It won the [[Prix Italia]] in 1957, and its success on radio, stage, and television led Mortimer to prefer writing for performance rather than writing novels.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.suttonelms.org.uk/jmortimer.html |work=Diversity Website Radio Drama |author=Pain, Nesta |title=John Mortimer Radio Plays |date=1961 |access-date=20 October 2021}}</ref>

Mortimer's play ''[[A Voyage Round My Father]]'', first broadcast on radio in 1963, is autobiographical, recounting his experiences as a young barrister and his relations with his blind father. It was televised by [[BBC Television]] in 1969 with [[Mark Dignam]] in the title role. In a lengthier version, the play became a stage success – first at [[Greenwich Theatre]] with Dignam, then in 1971 at the [[Theatre Royal Haymarket]] with [[Alec Guinness]]). In 1981 it was remade by [[Thames Television]] with [[Laurence Olivier]] as the father and [[Alan Bates]] as young Mortimer. In 1965, he and his wife wrote the screenplay for the [[Otto Preminger]] film ''[[Bunny Lake is Missing]]'', which also starred Olivier.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bunny Lake Is Missing (1965) |url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/film/4c5bac64-e967-5eb3-a19c-616340d5312f/bunny-lake-is-missing |access-date=2025-05-19 |website=BFI |language=en}}</ref>