#barbara hale

Barbara Hale - Della Street/Perry Mason (April 18, 1922 – January 26, 2017)

William Hopper, Raymond Burr, and Barbara Hale on the set of “The Case of the Clumsy Clown.”

Raymond Burr as Perry Mason, and Barbara Hale as Della Street in “The Case of the Missing Melody.”

Raymond Burr as Perry Mason and Barbara Hale as Della Street in “The Case of the Sulky Girl.”

Raymond Burr and Barbara Hale on the set of “The Case of the Desperate Daughter.”

Barbara Hale and Raymond Burr on the set of “The Case of the Buried Clock.”

Raymond Burr as Perry Mason and Barbara Hale as Della Street in “The Case of the Malicious Mariner.”

Raymond Burr and Barbara Hale on the set of “Perry Mason: The Case of the Shooting Star.”

Raymond Burr as Perry Mason and Barbara Hale as Della Street in “The Case of the Angry Dead Man.”

From the March 3, 1962 issue of TV Guide:

Barbara’s attitude has made [Raymond] Burr, William Talman, Ray Collins and the rest of her co-workers so aware of her importance to the whole show that they unanimously, one might even say unwittingly, have voted her “The Woman We’d Most Like to Be Cast Away on a Series With.”

Their respect is couched in terms of ordinarily accorded the most actressy of actresses, such as the Misses Hayes, Cornell and Fontanne.

“Barbara is a supporting actress in the finest and truest sense,” says Talman.  "She makes us all seem  much better than we are.“

Burr agrees, and is even more effusive in his praise:  "Barbara, without being ostentatious about it, is a remarkably intuitive actress. She has an instinct for doing exactly the right thing when it is needed.”

Gail Patrick Jackson, the ex-film star who is the show’s executive producer, originally selected Barbara for the part because Miss Hale seemed to understand at once that she would be required to be unobtrusive and yet gently help the story line along.

New directors do not always grasp this function.  One man, directing his first Perry Mason segment, came to a scene in which Della was present but had no lines.  He fussed and fumed and finally came to a momentous decision:  "just stand there and be quiet and act as though you’re thinking.“

Burr leaped instantly to Barbara’s defense.  "She can’t just be there. She’s got to react to what Bill and I are saying.”  Later, watching the rushes of daily shooting, the director admitted his mistake.  "I never realized how important she is,“ he said.

By now, as they approach the end of their fifth year of working together, Barbara and Burr have developed a kind of wordless system of communication that enables the character of Della to be drawn into the action even when she has no lines.  She has learned to point up Burr’s dialog by the simple device of clearing her throat. Burr will emphasize her role by round a chair and absently touching her arm.

Barbara Hale as Della Street, Raymond Burr as Perry Mason, and Karl Held as David Gideon in “The Case of the Left-Handed Liar.”