Rumpole of the Bailey interest in nineteenth-century anarchists, especially the Russian Peter Kropotkin from whom the title of the play was drawn. The character's name was later changed to Horace Rumpole when it was discovered that there was a real barrister called Horace Rumbold. The title of the play was briefly changed to "Jolly Old Jean Jacques Rousseau" before settling on the less esoteric "Rumpole of the Bailey". Mortimer was keen on Michael Hordern for the role of Rumpole. When Hordern proved unavailable, the part went to Australian-born actor Leo McKern. Mortimer was initially unenthusiastic about McKern's casting but changed his opinion upon seeing
John Randolph (actor) George Costanza's father. He was later replaced by Jerry Stiller. In 1995, the scenes in which Randolph appeared were re-shot with Stiller. The re-shot version is shown in syndication in the United States (but can also be seen on the DVD as well). The original version, with Randolph, can be seen outside the U.S. and on DVD and Hulu and Crackle. He also appeared in a Season 2 episode of" Matlock" as the head of a crime family in "The Investigation". He costarred with Alec Guinness, Leo McKern, Jeanne Moreau and Lauren Bacall, in the BBC production of "A Foreign