Leo McKern

Born: March 16, 1920
Where: Sydney, Australia
Died: July 23, 2002

McKern was best known for playing curmudgeonly barrister Horace Rumpole in the Rumpole of the Bailey series for British TV, which began production in 1977 with episodes produced on and off into the 90s.

He started life as an engineering apprentice, and as an Australian citizen was called to serve his country Down Under, where he made his stage debut.

The London stage called, and eventually so did film and TV.

In 1968 he garnered critical praise and countless awards for The Shoes of the Fisherman, and his film career drew to an almost final close there except for some TV movie roles and Molokai: The Story of Father Damien in 1999.