When Perry Mason premiered on CBS in 1957, the show’s entire cast was made up of acting veterans, and they all loved their work.
But there was one cast member who found great enjoyment from being there. Of course, Raymond Burr starred as Perry Mason, a lawyer who nearly won all his cases. William Hopper played private investigator Paul Drake, always willing to help Perry in a pinch. William Talman played District Attorney Hamilton Burger, who tangled more times than not with Mason in the courtroom. Ray Collins appeared as Detective Arthur Tragg, doing his best to get one over on the show’s lead attorney.
Who, though, are we leaving out? Of course! Della Street, Perry’s trustworthy secretary, played expertly by Barbara Hale. By the time she started playing Street, Hale had a wealth of movie experience. Keeping up with a growing family while also being a working actress sometimes took its toll.
A Structured Lifestyle Suited This ‘Perry Mason’ Star
Yet Perry Mason allowed Hale to have a more structured lifestyle. Gone were the shuffling of times to be on a movie set. Thanks to filming a regular television series, Hale could pour more attention toward her children. She talked about the situation in a 1962 interview with The Buffalo News.
“With any other series, it would be almost impossible,” Hale said. “There’s no temperament on this one, all the way down from the star, Ray Burr, to the lowliest prop boy. There’s no woman alive who could stand the double strain of problems at home and problems at her office.
“I was adjusting and re-adjusting my home life like a yo-yo, a most nerve-wracking experience very much like that of a traveling salesman who keeps his bags packed because he doesn’t know how long he’ll stay in one town,” Hale said, according to MeTV. “With this series, I’m settled into a rock-like routine where I know exactly how much time I give to work and how much time I give to my family.”
Barbara Hale considered it “lucky” in regard to how things broke down for her to work on Perry Mason. With her schedule, Hale could take care of her three children.
“I don’t believe any child completely accepts a working mother, but a child also never completely accepts the fact that he can’t have three ice cream cones before dinner,” Hale said.
TV Movies Let Raymond Burr, Barbara Hale Team Again
After Perry Mason ended its network run in 1966, the show eventually found its way into the world of syndication. New generations grew up watching the hour-long dramas. Over time, the show’s main cast became well-known. Sadly, Collins died before the series ended. Talman (in 1968) and Hopper (in 1970) in the ensuing years, too.
Burr moved along after the TV series closed shop. He moved on to play Chief Robert Ironside in Ironside, which ran from 1967 through 1975. Yet he couldn’t separate himself from Mason as much as he’d like. In fact, in 1985, he was approached to do a TV film, Perry Mason Returns.
When he said yes to coming back as Mason, Burr had one request: Barbara Hale must return to play Della Street. She agreed to do so. The TV movie was such a hit that Burr and Hale went on to make 26 Perry Mason television movies before Burr died in 1993. Burr’s health was failing at the time his final TV movie was being filmed. He was seated in his scenes, only standing up briefly once.
After Burr died, Hale had an integral part in an NBC special titled The Defense Rests: A Tribute to Raymond Burr. She was a host here along with Bill Cosby, but fans tuned in to see Burr and Hale share the screen. Fans over the years have found this to be a wonderful send-off to Burr.
Barbara Hale lived to be 94 years old, dying in 2017. As we said, she did movie work in her career. A unique film showcase of her talents came in Jolson Sings Again. It was a Columbia Pictures sequel to The Jolson Story, starring Larry Parks as the vaudeville and Broadway star Al Jolson.
One more thing before leaving the subject here. Hale worked with her real-life son William Katt (best known for his time on The Greatest American Hero). Katt played Paul Drake Jr. in the Perry Mason TV movies. What a great way for mother and son to work together. The TV movies hold up well, just like the TV series does all these years later.
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