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 Sheffield Alhambra (1927), the Learned Judge (1928), the Sergeant of Police (1929) and Wilfred Shadbolt (1929). He participated in a 1926 BBC radio broadcast of "The Mikado", and as Pooh-Bah in a four-minute promotional silent film made to publicise the new production of "The Mikado". A 1924 photograph of Sheffield and D'Oyly Carte colleagues with the huge recording horn used in the acoustic recording process can be seen here. Later, Sheffield made recordings of comic songs with Cicely Courtneidge. Leo Sheffield Leo Sheffield (15 November 1873 – 3 September 1951), born Arthur Leo Wilson, was an English singer and actor best