John Houseman's character is never identified by name, but historically, the Chief Justice at that time (1961) was Earl Warren.
The film cast includes five Oscar winners: Henry Fonda, José Ferrer, John Houseman, Dean Jagger and Edmund H. North; and one Oscar nominee: Sam Jaffe
Henry Fonda played Barney Greenwald on stage in "The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial" in 1954, the same year that José Ferrer played the same role in The Caine Mutiny (1954).
All three of the leads share a role with a cast member from Hamlet (1996). Henry Fonda and Jack Lemmon both played Juror #3 in 12 Angry Men (1957)/12 Angry Men (1997). John Houseman played Aaron Jastrow in The Winds of War (1983), to be replaced in the sequel War and Remembrance (1988) by John Gielgud. José Ferrer shared the role of Cyrano de Bergerac with Gérard Depardieu, and the role of Iago with Kenneth Branagh.