Book review – “Leo McKern” By George Whaley

Leo McKern seemed to have everything going against him for a young actor: short, stumpy, plump, one eye, left school at 15, uninspiring military service, working class, no artistic connections in the family, no training, a dud marriage behind him, etc. Not to mention the fact he started in Sydney of the 1940s, not exactly a hot bed of theatrical activity. But he was interested in a girl who passionately wanted to be an actor, and he found that he enjoyed it. He got some jobs around the traps and ended up following the girl to London.

For a man with no training or connections, McKern’s rise to steady work was astonishingly rapid. Within a few years he was happily ensconced at the Old Vic and was never out of work over the next fifty years.

In hindsight, and only in hindsight, you can understand why. There is always room in actor land for a tubby character player, especially one who is skilled at comedy and conveying menace, as McKern was – you can play jesters, sidekicks, porters, fathers, priests, etc. It also helps to have a wonderful speaking voice, a hard work ethic, and genuine natural talent, and McKern went on to have a great career. In addition to Rumpole, he worked with Olivier, the Beatles, Tyrone Guthrie, David Lean, Williamson, etc – films, theatre, TV, radio… the sort of career English actors can have.

Despite all this McKern still found things to whinge about – fear of typecasting as Rumpole (as if it mattered), too much work, not enough work, etc. Although he married his soul mate he cheated on her, and he clashed at times with his daughters. But in general it was a rich life and he seems to have been a nice person.

Whaley is very strong on acting and the theatre – it’s a shame when discussing McKern’s performances he didn’t concentrate more on analysing his art rather than listing fellow cast members and reviews. (This is excusable for theatre performances which Whaley didn’t see; less so for McKern’s film and TV roles) It’s also annoying that there isn’t a list of credits at the end. McKern deserved a bio and I enjoyed reading it, it’s just a shame Whaley didn’t dig a little deeper.