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
Leo Grillo Leo Grillo Leo Francis Grillo, Jr. (born 1948) is an American film actor, producer and animal welfare activist. He is best known for founding Dedication and Everlasting Love to Animals Rescue (D.E.L.T.A. Rescue), an animal welfare organization based in Acton, California. The not-for-profit organization was incorporated in 1981. The refuge has grown to become the largest care-for-life animal sanctuary of its type in the world. Grillo was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, to Carmela de Lucia and Leo Francis Grillo, Sr., both Italian-Americans. Grillo appeared in the 1972 television series "Banacek". Grillo majored in theatre at Emerson College in Boston, MA.