Barbara Hale | |
|---|---|
 Hale in 1953 | |
| Born | (1922-04-18)April 18, 1922 DeKalb, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | January 26, 2017(2017-01-26) (aged 94) Sherman Oaks, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1943–2000 |
| Known for | Perry Mason |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3, includingWilliam Katt |
Barbara Hale (April 18, 1922 – January 26, 2017) was an American actress who portrayed legal secretaryDella Street in the dramatic television seriesPerry Mason (1957–1966), earning her a 1959Emmy Award forOutstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. She reprised the role in 30Perry Mason made-for-television movies (1985–1995).
Barbara Hale was born inDeKalb, Illinois, to Wilma (née Colvin) and Luther Ezra Hale, a landscape gardener. She had one sister, Juanita, for whom Hale's younger daughter was named.[1][2] The family was of Scottish and Irish ancestry.[3] In 1940, Hale was a member of the final graduating class[1] fromRockford High School[4] inRockford, Illinois. She then attended theChicago Academy of Fine Arts, planning to be an artist. Her performing career began in Chicago, when she started modeling to pay for her education.[5]
Hale moved toHollywood in 1943, and under contract toRKO Radio Pictures, made her first screen appearance (uncredited) inGildersleeve's Bad Day.[5] She continued to make small, uncredited appearances in films, until her first credited role as a glamorous debutante alongsideFrank Sinatra inHigher and Higher (1943) (even singing with him in the film).[6] Hale had leading roles in RKO features includingWest of the Pecos (1945) withRobert Mitchum in his second star vehicle,Lady Luck (1946) — oppositeRobert Young in what she described as her first "full stardom" and "her fifth A picture" —[5][4] andThe Window (1949).
Hale left RKO in 1949 and was signed byColumbia Pictures. She received excellent notices for her co-starring performance oppositeLarry Parks in the musical biographyJolson Sings Again (1949). She and Parks were teamed for subsequent films.
Hale's run of successful movies continued during the 1950s: the adventureLorna Doone (1951); the comedyThe Jackpot (withJames Stewart) (also 1951); the dramaA Lion Is in the Streets (1953) withJames Cagney, and the WesternsSeminole (also 1953) andThe Oklahoman (1957). The latter film, co-starringJoel McCrea, would mark Hale's last leading role in a motion picture.
She seldom appeared in motion pictures thereafter, but was part of an all-star cast in the 1970 movieAirport, playing the wife of an airline pilot (played byDean Martin). Hale's final appearance in a feature film was in the 1978 dramaBig Wednesday as Mrs. Barlow, the mother of the character played by Hale's real-life sonWilliam Katt.
Hale was considering retirement from acting when she accepted her best known role, as legal secretaryDella Street in the television seriesPerry Mason, starringRaymond Burr as the titular character.[7] The show ran for nine seasons from 1957 to 1966, with 271 episodes produced. The role won Hale aPrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.
In 1985, Hale and Burr (by then the only surviving cast members from the original series) reprised their roles for the TV moviePerry Mason Returns. The film was such a ratings hit[8] that a further 29 movies were produced until 1995. Hale continued her role as Della in the four telefilms produced after Burr's death in 1993, subtitledA Perry Mason Mystery (and starringPaul Sorvino as Anthony Caruso in the first film andHal Holbrook as "Wild" Bill McKenzie in the remaining three). Hale is thus the only actor to be featured in all 30 films.
Hale's sonWilliam Katt played detective Paul Drake, Jr., alongside Hale in nine of thePerry Mason TV movies from 1985 to 1988. Hale in turn guest-starred on Katt's series,The Greatest American Hero in which Katt played the title role, aka Ralph Hinkley; Hale played Hinkley's mother in the 1982 episode, "Who's Woo in America". She also played his mother in the 1978 movieBig Wednesday.
Hale guest-starred in "Murder Impromptu", a 1971 episode ofIronside, Burr's first post-Perry Mason series.
Her last on-screen appearance was a TV biographical documentary about Burr that aired in 2000.
Hale's activity in radio was limited; she appeared in one episode each ofVoice of the Army (1947),Lux Radio Theatre (1950), andProudly We Hail (syndicated), as well as five episodes ofFamily Theater (1950–1954).[9]
When theAmana Corporation wanted a spokeswoman for its newRadarange microwave ovens, Barbara Hale was selected, her friendly personality already familiar to millions of women viewers. In each of Hale's TV commercials, she would mention the company's slogan: "If it doesn't say Amana, it's not a Radarange."[10]
In 1945, during the filming ofWest of the Pecos, Hale met actorBill Williams (birth name Herman August Wilhelm Katt). They were married on June 22, 1946. The couple had two daughters, Jodi and Juanita, and a son, actorWilliam Katt.[11]
Hale became a follower of theBaháʼí Faith.[12]
Hale died at her home inSherman Oaks, California, on January 26, 2017, at age 94 of complications fromchronic obstructive pulmonary disease.[7][13][14][15][16][17] At the time of her death, she was the last surviving originalPerry Mason cast member.
Hale was recognized as a Star of Television (with a marker at 1628 Vine Street) on theHollywood Walk of Fame on February 8, 1960.[18] She won theEmmy Award for Best Supporting Actress (Continuing Character) in a Dramatic Series in 1959 and was nominated for the Emmy for Outstanding Performance in a Supporting Role by an Actor or Actress in a Series in 1961.[19]
She was presented one of theGolden Boot Awards in 2001 for her contributions to western cinema.[20]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1943 | Gildersleeve's Bad Day | Girl at Party Getting Peavey to Donate | Film debut; Uncredited |
| Mexican Spitfire's Blessed Event | Girl at Airport | Uncredited | |
| The Seventh Victim | Subway Passenger | Uncredited | |
| The Iron Major | Sarah Cavanaugh | Uncredited | |
| Gildersleeve on Broadway | Stocking Salesgirl | Uncredited | |
| Government Girl | Girl in Hotel Lobby | Uncredited | |
| Around the World | Barbara Hale | Uncredited | |
| Higher and Higher | Katherine Keating | ||
| 1944 | Prunes and Politics | Short | |
| The Falcon Out West | Marion Colby | ||
| Goin' To Town | Patty | ||
| Heavenly Days | Angie | ||
| The Falcon in Hollywood | Peggy Callahan | ||
| 1945 | West of the Pecos | Rill Lambeth | |
| First Yank into Tokyo | Abby Drake | ||
| 1946 | Lady Luck | Mary Audrey | |
| 1947 | A Likely Story | Vickie North | |
| 1948 | The Boy with Green Hair | Miss Brand | |
| 1949 | The Clay Pigeon | Martha Gregory | |
| The Window | Mrs. Mary Woodry | ||
| Jolson Sings Again | Ellen Clark | ||
| And Baby Makes Three | Jacqueline 'Jackie' Walsh | ||
| 1950 | The Jackpot | Amy Lawrence | |
| Emergency Wedding | Dr. Helen Hunt | ||
| 1951 | Lorna Doone | Lorna Doone | |
| 1952 | The First Time | Betsey Bennet | |
| Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder | Barbara Hale | Uncredited | |
| 1953 | Last of the Comanches | Julia Lanning | |
| Seminole | Revere Muldoon | ||
| The Lone Hand | Sarah Jane Skaggs | ||
| A Lion Is in the Streets | Verity Wade | ||
| 1955 | Unchained | Mary Davitt | |
| The Far Horizons | Julia Hancock | ||
| 1956 | The Houston Story | Zoe Crane | |
| 7th Cavalry | Martha Kellogg | ||
| 1957 | The Oklahoman | Anne Barnes | |
| Slim Carter | Allie Hanneman | ||
| 1958 | Desert Hell | Celie Edwards | |
| 1968 | Buckskin | Sarah Cody | |
| 1970 | Airport | Sarah Demerest | |
| The Red, White and Black | Mrs. Alice Grierson | ||
| 1975 | The Giant Spider Invasion | Dr. Jenny Langer | |
| 1978 | Big Wednesday | Mrs. Barlow | Final film role |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1952–56 | The Ford Television Theatre | Marta Linden, Nora White | Episodes: "The Divided Heart", "Remember to Live", "Behind the Mask" |
| 1953 | Footlights Theater | Katherine Charles | Episode: "Change of Heart" |
| 1953–55 | Schlitz Playhouse of Stars | Episodes: "Vacation for Ginny", "Tourists-Overnight" | |
| 1955 | Studio 57 | Ruth | Episode: "Young Couples Only" |
| General Electric Theater | Ellen Newman | Episode: "The Windmill" | |
| Screen Director's Playhouse | June Waters | Episode: "Meet the Governor" | |
| Celebrity Playhouse | Episode: "He Knew All About Women" | ||
| Climax! | Mamie Eunson | Episode: "The Day They Gave Babies Away" | |
| Science Fiction Theatre | Nancy Stanton, Pat Hastings | Episodes: "Conversations With an Ape", "The Hastings Secret" | |
| 1956 | The Loretta Young Show | Bill's Wife | Episode: "The Challenge" |
| Damon Runyon Theater | Wendy Longfield | Episode: "The Good Luck Kid" | |
| Crossroads | Jane Sherman | Episode: "Lifeline" | |
| The Millionaire | Kathy Munson and Marian Munson | Episode: "The Kathy Munson Story" | |
| 1956–57 | Playhouse 90 | Mrs. Julia Wiley, Ann Barnes, Allie Hanneman | Episodes: "The Country Husband", "The Blackwell Story" |
| 1957–66 | Perry Mason | Della Street | Credited in all 271 episodes Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (1959) Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (1961) |
| 1959 | General Electric Theater | Lorraine | Episode: "Night Club" |
| 1960 | Here's Hollywood | Herself | |
| 1963 | Stump the Stars | Herself | 2 episodes |
| 1967 | Custer | Melinda Terry | Episode: "Death Hunt" |
| 1969 | Insight | Mom | Episode: "A Thousand Red Flowers" |
| Lassie | Sarah Caldwell | Episode: "Lassie and the Water Bottles" | |
| 1970 | The Most Deadly Game | Episode: "Model for Murder" | |
| 1971 | Ironside | Marsha Connell | Episode: "Murder Impromptu" |
| Adam-12 | Bonnie Jessup | Episode: "Pick-up"; Hale's husbandBill Williams also appears | |
| 1972 | The Doris Day Show | Thelma King | Episode: "Doris' House Guest" |
| 1973–78 | Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color | Mrs. Belle Kincaid, Mrs. Hanson, Mrs. Ogle, Mrs. Barlow | Episodes: "Chester, Yesterday's Horse", "Flight of the Grey Wolf, Parts 1 and 2", "The Young Runaways", "Big Wednesday" |
| 1974 | Marcus Welby, M.D. | Marjorie | Episode: "The Faith of Childish Things" |
| 1976 | Dinah! | Herself | |
| 1982 | The Greatest American Hero | Paula Hinkley | Episode: "Who's Woo in America" |
| 1985 | Perry Mason Returns | Della Street | Perry Mason TV movie |
| 1986 | The Case of the Notorious Nun | ||
| The Case of the Shooting Star | |||
| 1987 | The Case of the Lost Love | ||
| The Case of the Sinister Spirit | |||
| The Case of the Murdered Madam | |||
| The Case of the Scandalous Scoundrel | |||
| 1988 | The Case of the Avenging Ace | ||
| The Case of the Lady in the Lake | |||
| 1989 | The Case of the Lethal Lesson | ||
| The Case of the Musical Murder | |||
| The Case of the All-Star Assassin | |||
| 1990 | The Case of the Poisoned Pen | ||
| The Case of the Desperate Deception | |||
| The Case of the Silenced Singer | |||
| The Case of the Defiant Daughter | |||
| 1991 | The Case of the Ruthless Reporter | ||
| The Case of the Maligned Mobster | |||
| The Case of the Glass Coffin | |||
| The Case of the Fatal Fashion | |||
| 1992 | The Case of the Fatal Framing | ||
| The Case of the Reckless Romeo | |||
| The Case of the Heartbroken Bride | |||
| 1993 | The Case of the Skin-Deep Scandal | ||
| The Case of the Telltale Talk Show Host | |||
| The Case of the Killer Kiss | |||
| The Case of the Wicked Wives | A Perry Mason Mystery TV movie | ||
| 1994 | The Case of the Lethal Lifestyle | ||
| The Case of the Grimacing Governor | |||
| 1995 | The Case of the Jealous Jokester | ||
| 2000 | Biography | Herself | Episode: "Raymond Burr, The Case of the TV Legend" |
