A Great Read, But...
"Leo Rumpole McKern" by George Whaley is a welcome addition to Australian film biography; McKern's autobiography is long out of print, and has been fetching absurd prices on amazon.com (!).
George Whaley knew Leo well, and directed him in "On Our Selection"; consequently his humility about getting any of the facts wrong in the preface indicates just how seriously he takes his role as a biographer!
Delightfully chronicling Leo's knockabout early years and ending in his very sad health decline, the book is both sad and funny reflecting the life of this great Aussie actor, and in so doing echoes further that of all humanity; the process of growing old and its consequences for us all is written about with touching candour. The respect with which he was held by his fellow thespians is touchingly reflected in Simon Burke's recollections of his sadly failing last acting performance in Sydney, when without a memory for his lines, his performance fell far short of even his own expectations, so that the experience of getting to act with his daughter Abigail was a paltry compensation...
Interesting for this reader as a benchmark of the full measure of this man was the account of his last film performance in Paul Cox's ill-faited biography about the famous Leper priest, Damien of Molokai; Leo hated flying to the point of paranoia, was old and sick, yet committed himself to the work throughout its troubled production course, delivering a moving persuasive performance which is a lasting legacy worth cherishing....
and his praise for Cox as the director beseiged by Belgian producers who wanted a 'Superman" style movie about this simple saintly priest, stands as further testimony for Leo, as well as his generous support of David Wenham in the title role.
Recommended, but be warned of the sad ending as our belovedly defiant Rumpole - always for the defence! - ultimately found himself defeated by the same mortality which will sadly get us all in the end as well.
Available at: http://docs.google.com
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