1. Reginald "Leo" McKern was an Australian actor who appeared in numerous British, Australian and American television programmes and films, and in more than 200 stage roles.
20 Facts About Leo McKern
1. 2.
Leo McKern portrayed Carl Bugenhagen in the first and second instalments of The Omen series and Number Two in the TV series The Prisoner.
3.
Reginald McKern was born 16 March 1920 in Sydney, New South Wales, the son of Vera and Norman Walton McKern.
4.
Leo McKern first worked as an engineering apprentice, then as an artist, followed by service as a sapper with the Australian Army's Royal Australian Engineers during World War II.
5.
Leo McKern fell in love with Australian actress Jane Holland, moved to the United Kingdom to be with her, and married her in 1946.
6.
Leo McKern played Big Daddy in Peter Hall's production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at the Comedy Theatre in 1958, and went on to play the German ambassador in another Peter Hall production, Brouhaha starring Peter Sellers at the Aldwych Theatre.
7.
Leo McKern originated the role of Common Man in Robert Bolt's A Man for All Seasons in the West End in 1960, but for the show's Broadway production appeared as Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex, a role he would reprise for the 1966 film version.
8.
Leo McKern portrayed Subtle in Ben Jonson's The Alchemist in 1962.
9.
Leo McKern appeared at the Royal Exchange, Manchester in Uncle Vanya in 1977 and in Crime and Punishment in 1978.
10.
Leo McKern was presented with the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for Travelling North.
11.
Leo McKern co-starred as Sancho Zancas opposite Alec Guinness as Father Quixote, in Monsignor Quixote.
12.
In 1976, Leo McKern narrated and presented The Battle of the Somme, a British Broadcasting Corporation documentary marking the 60th anniversary of the World War I battle.
13.
Leo McKern played the Earl of Gloucester in Granada Television's production of King Lear.
14.
In 1975, Leo McKern made his first appearance in the role that would make him a household name as an actor, Horace Rumpole, whom he played in Rumpole of the Bailey, originally an episode of the BBC's Play for Today.
15.
In 1987, investment firm Smith Barney selected Leo McKern to succeed John Houseman as its spokesman.
16.
Leo McKern wrote one radio play, London Story, which became the film Chain of Events.
17.
Leo McKern provided the voice of Captain Haddock in the 1992 and 1993 BBC Radio adaptation of Herge's The Adventures of Tintin.
18.
In 1983, Leo McKern was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for his services to the performing arts.
19.
Leo McKern frequently travelled between England and Australia, both to visit family and friends and to appear in various films and plays.
20.
Worried that his stout frame would not appeal to audiences, Leo McKern suffered from stage fright, which became harder to control with age.