Título: John Mortimer
Seção: Early writing career
Background: Mortimer was born in Hampstead, London, the only child of Kathleen May (nee Smith) and Clifford Mortimer, a barrister who became blind in 1936 when he hit his head on the door frame of a London taxi but still pursued his career. Clifford's loss of sight was not acknowledged openly by the family. John Mortimer was educated at the Dragon School in Oxford and Harrow School, where he joined the Communist Party, forming a one-member cell. Originally Mortimer intended to be an actor (his lead role in the Dragon's 1937 production of Richard II gained glowing reviews in The Draconian) and then a writer, but his father persuaded him against it, advising: "My dear boy, have some consideration for your unfortunate wife...

Conteúdo: With weak eyes and doubtful lungs, Mortimer was classified as medically unfit for military service in World War II. He worked for the Crown Film Unit under Laurie Lee, writing scripts for propaganda documentaries.  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.  He based his first novel, Charade, on his experiences with the Crown Film Unit.  Mortimer made his radio debut as a dramatist in 1955 with his adaptation of his own novel Like Men Betrayed for the BBC Light Programme. But he made his debut as an original playwright with The Dock Brief starring Michael Hordern as a hapless barrister, first broadcast in 1957 on BBC Radio's Third Programme, later televised with the same cast and subsequently presented in a double bill with What Shall We Tell Caroline? at the Lyric Hammersmith in April 1958 before transferring to the Garrick Theatre. It was revived by Christopher Morahan in 2007 as part of a touring double bill, Legal Fictions.  His play A Voyage Round My Father, given its first radio broadcast in 1963, is autobiographical, recounting hi

user: When did Mortimer start writing?

assistant: World War II.

user: What type of works did he write?

assistant: He worked for the Crown Film Unit under Laurie Lee, writing scripts for propaganda documentaries.

user: Did he write any novels?

assistant: Charade,

user: When did he write Charade?

assistant: CANNOTANSWER

user: Did he write any other novels besides Charade?

assistant: Mortimer made his radio debut as a dramatist in 1955 with his adaptation of his own novel Like Men Betrayed for the BBC Light Programme.

user: How did he adapt it?

assistant: play

user: Did he do any other plays?

assistant: His play A Voyage Round My Father,

user: When did he write that play?

assistant: its first radio broadcast in 1963,

user: What was the play about?

assistant: autobiographical, recounting his experiences as a young barrister and his relationship with his blind father.

user: Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?

assistant: But he made his debut as an original playwright with The Dock Brief

user: When did that happen?

assistant: first broadcast in 1957