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 McKern McKern appeared in a series of advertisements for Lloyds Bank, widely shown on British television, in which he portrayed a character reminiscent of Rumpole. McKern wrote one radio play, which became the film "Chain of Events" (1958). He also provided the voice of Captain Haddock in the 1992 and 1993 BBC Radio adaptation of "Hergé's The Adventures of Tintin". Suffering in his final years from ill health McKern moved into a nursing home near Bath in Somerset in 2002, where he died a few weeks later at the age of 82. His body was cremated at Haycombe Cemetery in Bath.