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 de Berardinis 2001, de Berardinis went into a coma after a plastic surgery, due to the error of an anesthesiologist. After seven years in a coma, he died in Rome on 18 September 2008. Plays: Leo de Berardinis Leo de Berardinis (3 January 1940 in Gioi – 18 September 2008 in Rome) was an Italian stage actor and theatre director. He was an important exponent of the Italian "avant-garde" theatre. Born in Gioi, a village in southern Campania, de Berardinis grew up in the Apulian city of Foggia. After his first experiences as stage actor in the company of Carlo Quartucci, he