Raymond Burr | |
|---|---|
 Burr in 1968 | |
| Born | Raymond William Stacy Burr (1917-05-21)May 21, 1917 New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada |
| Died | September 12, 1993(1993-09-12) (aged 76) Healdsburg, California, U.S. |
| Resting place | Fraser Cemetery |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1934–1993 |
| Spouse | |
| Partner | Robert Benevides (1960–1993) |
Raymond William Stacy Burr (May 21, 1917 – September 12, 1993) was a Canadian actor who had a lengthy Hollywood film career and portrayed the title roles in the television dramasPerry Mason andIronside.
Burr's early acting career included roles on Broadway, radio, television, and film, usually as the villain. He portrayed the suspected murderer in theAlfred Hitchcock thrillerRear Window (1954), and he also had a role in the 1956 filmGodzilla, King of the Monsters!, which he reprised in the 1985 filmGodzilla 1985. He won Emmy Awards for acting in 1959 and 1961 for the role ofPerry Mason, which he played for nine seasons (1957–1966) and reprised in a series of 26Perry Mason TV movies (1985–1993). His second TV series,Ironside, earned him sixEmmy and twoGolden Globe nominations.
Burr died from liver cancer in 1993, and his personal life came into question, as many details of his biography appeared to be unverifiable.[1] He was ranked number 44 of the 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time byTV Guide magazine in 1996.
Raymond William Stacy Burr[1][2][3]: 1 was born May 21, 1917, inNew Westminster, British Columbia.[4] His father, William Johnston Burr (1889–1985), was a hardware salesman;[5] his mother, Minerva Annette (née Smith, 1892–1974), was a pianist and music teacher.[6]: 4–5, 13
When Burr was six, his parents divorced. He moved toVallejo, California, with his mother and younger siblings Geraldine and James,[4] while his father remained in New Westminster. Burr briefly attended San Rafael Military Academy inSan Rafael, California, and graduated fromBerkeley High School.[6]: 10–13
In 1986, he told journalist Jane Ardmore that, when he was 12 years old, his mother sent him toNew Mexico for a year to work as a ranch hand. (As with many of Burr's self-reported autobiographical details about his early life, this is unverified and open to question). According to Burr's story, he was already his full adult height and rather large and "had fallen in with a group of college-aged kids who didn't realize how young Raymond was, and they let him tag along with them in activities and situations far too sophisticated for him to handle." In the same article, Burr also stated he developed a passion for growing things and joined theCivilian Conservation Corps for a year in his teens.[7] He did some acting in his teen years, making his stage debut at age 12 in aVancouver stock company.[4] The experiences Burr described when he was the age of 12 (working in radio in San Francisco, spending a year in New Mexico, appearing in Vancouver theatre, working for the Civilian Conservation Corps) are sometimes mutually contradictory; this would be a pattern that would recur in Burr's autobiographical reminiscences about his pre-Perry Mason personal life.[citation needed]
Burr grew up during theGreat Depression and hoped to study acting at thePasadena Playhouse, but he was unable to afford the tuition.[8] By his own account, in 1934 he joined arepertory theatre company in Toronto that toured throughout Canada, then joined another company that toured India, Australia, and England. He briefly attendedLong Beach Junior College and taught for a semester atSan Jose Junior College, working nights as a radio actor and singer. Burr began his association with the Pasadena Playhouse[3]: 9 in 1937.[9][10][11][12]
Burr moved to New York in 1940 and made his first Broadway appearance inCrazy With the Heat, a two-act musical revue produced byKurt Kasznar. Despite the veteran cast of starsWillie Howard,Luella Gear, and Gracie Barrie, the show folded after three months.[13] Burr's first starring role on the stage came in November 1942 when he was an emergency replacement in a Pasadena Playhouse production ofQuiet Wedding. He became a member of the Pasadena Playhouse drama faculty for 18 months, and he performed in some 30 plays over the years.[8][14] He returned to Broadway forPatrick Hamilton'sThe Duke in Darkness (1944), a psychological drama set during theFrench Wars of Religion. His performance as the loyal friend of the imprisoned protagonist led to a contract withRKO Radio Pictures.[3]: 21–22 In 1944, he performed in multiple plays during his summer residency at Elitch Gardens Theater in Denver Colorado.[15]
Burr appeared in more than 50 feature films between 1946 and 1957,[17] creating an array of villains that established him as an icon offilm noir.[6]: 34 Film historianAlain Silver concluded that Burr's most significant work in the genre is in ten films:Desperate (1947),Sleep, My Love (1948),Raw Deal (1948),Pitfall (1948),Abandoned (1949),Red Light (1949),M (1951),His Kind of Woman (1951),The Blue Gardenia (1953), andCrime of Passion (1957).[18]: 357 Silver described Burr's private detective inPitfall as "both reprehensible and pathetic,"[18]: 228 a characterization also cited by film historianRichard Schickel as a prototype of film noir, in contrast with the appealing television characters for which Burr later became famous.[19]: 43 "He tried to make you see the psychosis below the surface, even when the parts weren't huge," said film historianJames Ursini. "He was able to bring such complexity and different levels to those characters, and create sympathy for his characters even though they were doing reprehensible things."[6]: 36
Other titles in Burr's film noir legacy includeWalk a Crooked Mile (1948),Borderline (1950),Unmasked (1950),The Whip Hand (1951),FBI Girl (1951),Meet Danny Wilson (1952),Rear Window (1954),They Were So Young (1954),A Cry in the Night (1956), andAffair in Havana (1957). His villains were also seen in Westerns, period dramas, horror films, and adventure films.[20]
"I was just a fat heavy," Burr told journalist James Bawden. "I split the heavy parts withBill Conrad. We were both in our twenties playing much older men. I never got the girl but I once got the gorilla in a3-D picture calledGorilla at Large. I menacedClaudette Colbert,Lizabeth Scott,Paulette Goddard,Anne Baxter,Barbara Stanwyck. Those girls would take one look at me and scream and can you blame them? I was drowned, beaten, stabbed and all for my art. But I knew I was horribly overweight. I lacked any kind of self esteem. At 25 I was playing the fathers of people older than me."[21]
Burr's occasional roles on the right side of the law include the aggressive prosecutor inA Place in the Sun (1951).[20] His courtroom performance in that film made an impression onGail Patrick[22] and her husband Cornwell Jackson, who had Burr in mind when they began casting the role of Los Angeles district attorneyHamilton Burger in the CBS-TV seriesPerry Mason.[23]: 8399
By the age of 12, Burr was appearing in national radio dramas broadcasting in nearby San Francisco.[24]
As a young man Burr weighed more than 300 pounds (140 kg), which limited his on-screen roles. "But in radio this presented no problems, given the magnificent quality of his voice", reportedThe Globe and Mail. "He played romantic leads and menacing villains with equal authority, and he earned a steady and comfortable income."[25]
Working steadily in radio since the 1940s, often uncredited,[3]: 179–85 Burr was a leading player on the West Coast.[26] He had a regular role inJack Webb's first radio show,Pat Novak for Hire (1949),[27]: 534 and inDragnet (1949–50) he played Joe Friday's boss, Ed Backstrand, chief of detectives.[28]: 208 [29] Burr worked on other Los Angeles-based series includingSuspense,[30]Screen Directors Playhouse,[31]Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar,[32]Family Theater,[33]Hallmark Playhouse[34] andHallmark Hall of Fame.[35] He performed in five episodes of the experimental dramatic radio anthology seriesCBS Radio Workshop, and had what is arguably his best radio role in "The Silent Witness" (1957), in which his is the only voice.[3]: 180 [36][37]
From March 1951 through June 1952 Burr used the name of Ray Hartman approximately 30 times when appearing on radio, mostly onDangerous Assignment,The Lineup andYours Truly, Johnny Dollar. This was verified by perusing the scripts for both series.[38]
In 1956, Burr was the star ofCBS Radio'sFort Laramie, an adult Western drama produced, written and directed by the creators ofGunsmoke. He played the role of Lee Quince, captain of the cavalry, in the series set at a post-Civil War military post where disease, boredom, the elements and the uncharted terrain were the greatest enemies of "ordinary men who lived in extraordinary times".[39]: 258–259 [40] The half-hour transcribed program aired Sundays at 5:30 pm. ET January 22 – October 28, 1956.[39]: 258–259 [41] Burr told columnistSheilah Graham that he had received 1,500 fan letters after the first broadcasts,[42] and he continued to receive letters praising the show's authenticity and presentation of human dignity.[43]
In August 1956, CBS announced that Burr would star in the television seriesPerry Mason.[44] Although the network wanted Burr to continue work onFort Laramie as well, the TV series required an extraordinary commitment and the radio show ended.[45]
Known for his loyalty and consciousness of history, Burr went out of his way to employ his radio colleagues in his television programs.[26] Some 180 radio celebrities appeared onPerry Mason during the first season alone.[46]
Burr emerged as a prolific television character actor in the 1950s. He made his television debut in 1951, appearing in episodes ofStars Over Hollywood,[47]The Bigelow Theatre,[48]Family Theater[49] and the debut episode ofDragnet.[50] He went on to appear in such programs asGruen Playhouse,[51]Four Star Playhouse,[52]Ford Theatre,[53]Lux Video Theatre,[54]Mr. and Mrs. North,[55]Schlitz Playhouse of Stars[56] andPlayhouse 90.[57]
In 1956, Burr auditioned forPerry Mason, a new CBS-TV courtroom drama based on the highly successful novels byErle Stanley Gardner.Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. had already been tentatively cast as Perry Mason.[58] Burr told associate producerSam White, "If you don't like me as Perry Mason, then I'll go along and play the part of the district attorney, Hamilton Burger."[59] Executive producerGail Patrick Jackson had been impressed with Burr's courtroom performance inA Place in the Sun (1951), and she told Burr that he was perfect for Perry Mason but at least 60 pounds (27 kg; 4.3 st) overweight. He went on a crash diet over the following month; he then tested as Perry Mason and was cast in the role.[22] While Burr's test was running, Gardner reportedly stood up, pointed at the screen, and said, "That's Perry Mason."[23]: 8403 William Hopper also auditioned as Mason, but he was cast instead as private detectivePaul Drake.[60] The series also starredBarbara Hale asDella Street, Mason's secretary,William Talman as Hamilton Burger, the district attorney who loses nearly every case to Mason, andRay Collins as homicide detective Lieutenant Arthur Tragg.[22]
The series ran from 1957 to 1966 and made Burr a star. In the early 1960s, the show had 30 million viewers every Saturday night and Burr received 3,000 fan letters a week.[61] Burr received three consecutive Emmy Award nominations and won the award in 1959 and 1961[62] for his performance as Perry Mason. The series has been rerun in syndication ever since, and was released on DVD between 2006 and 2013. Burr's character is often said never to have lost a case, although he did lose two murder cases off-screen in early episodes of the series.[63]
Burr moved from CBS toUniversal Studios, where he played the title role in the television dramaIronside, which ran on NBC from 1967 to 1975. In the pilot episode, San Francisco Chief of Detectives Robert T. Ironside is paralyzed by a sniper during an attempt on his life and, after his recovery, uses a wheelchair for mobility, in the firstcrime drama show to star a policeman with a disability. The show earned Burr six Emmy nominations—one for the pilot and five for his work in the series[62][64]—and two Golden Globe nominations.[65]
AfterIronside went off the air, NBC failed in two attempts to launch Burr as the star of a new series. In a two-hour television movie format,Mallory: Circumstantial Evidence aired in February 1976 with Burr again in the role of the lawyer who outwits the district attorney. Despite good reviews for Burr, the critical reception was poor, and NBC decided against developing it into a series.[6]: 177–78
In 1977, Burr starred in the short-lived TV seriesKingston: Confidential as R.B. Kingston, a publishing magnate similar toWilliam Randolph Hearst, owner of numerous newspapers and TV stations, who, in his spare time, solved crimes along with a group of employees. It was a critical failure that was scheduled opposite the extraordinarily popularCharlie's Angels. It was cancelled after 13 weeks.[6]: 178–80
Burr took on a shorter project next, playing an underworld boss in a six-hour miniseries,79 Park Avenue.[66]
One last attempt to launch a series followed on CBS. The two-hour premiere ofThe Jordan Chance aroused little interest.[6]: 183 [67]
On January 20, 1987, Burr hosted the television special that later served as the pilot for the long-running seriesUnsolved Mysteries.[68]
In 1985, Burr was approached by producersDean Hargrove andFred Silverman to star in a made-for-TV movie,Perry Mason Returns.[69] The same week, Burr recalled, he was asked to reprise the role he played inGodzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956),[70] in a low-budget film that would be titledGodzilla 1985.[71]
"When they asked me to do it a second time, I said, 'Certainly,' and everybody thought I was out of my mind," Burr toldTom Shales ofThe Washington Post. "But it wasn't the large sum of money. It was the fact that, first of all, I kind of liked 'Godzilla,' and where do you get the opportunity to play yourself 30 years later? So I said yes to both of them."[71] Although Burr is best remembered for his role as Perry Mason, a devoted following continues to appreciate him as the actor that brought the Godzilla series to America.
He agreed to appear in the Mason movie if Barbara Hale returned to reprise her role as Della Street.[72] Hale agreed, and whenPerry Mason Returns aired in December 1985, her character became the defendant.[69] The rest of the principal cast had died, but Hale's real-life sonWilliam Katt played the role of Paul Drake Jr.[69] The movie was so successful that Burr made a total of 26Perry Mason television movies before his death.[16] Many were filmed in and around Denver, Colorado.[24]
After several of the TV movies, Burr's age and health issues forced him to use a cane onscreen, which was jokingly explained as a "skiing accident." By 1993, when Burr signed with NBC for another season of Mason films, he was using a wheelchair full-time because of his failing health. In his final Perry Mason movie,The Case of the Killer Kiss, he was shown either sitting or standing while leaning on a table, but only once standing unsupported for a few seconds.[73] Twelve more Mason movies were scheduled before Burr's death, including one scheduled to film the month he died.[74]
As he had with thePerry Mason TV movies, Burr decided to do anIronside reunion movie.The Return of Ironside aired in May 1993, reuniting the entire original cast of the 1967–75 series.[75] Like many of the Mason movies, it was set and filmed in Denver.[74]
Burr said that he weighed 12.75 pounds (5.8 kg) at birth, and was chubby throughout his childhood. "When you're a little fat boy in public school, or any kind of school, you're just persecuted something awful," he said.[71] His weight was always an issue for him in getting roles, and it became a public relations problem whenJohnny Carson began making jokes about him during hisTonight Show monologues. Burr refused to appear as Carson's guest from then on, and toldUs Weekly years later: "I have been asked a number of times to do his show and I won't do it. Because I like NBC. He's doing an NBC show. If I went on I'd have some things to say, not just about the bad jokes he's done about me, but bad jokes he does about everybody who can't fight back because they aren't there. And that wouldn't be good for NBC."[6]: 184
Burr married actress Isabella Ward (1919–2004)[76] on January 10, 1948.[77] They met in 1943 while she was a student at the Pasadena Playhouse where Burr was teaching. They met again in 1947 when she was in California with a theater company. They were married shortly before Burr began work on the 1948 film noirPitfall.[78]: 75–76 In May 1948, they appeared on stage together in a Pasadena Playhouse production based on the life ofPaul Gauguin.[3]: 30–31 They lived in the basement apartment of a large house in Hollywood that Burr shared with his mother and grandparents. The marriage ended within months, and Ward returned to her native Delaware.[78]: 77 They divorced in 1952, and neither remarried.[6]: 26–30
In 1960, Burr met actorRobert Benevides on the set ofPerry Mason.[79] Benevides gave up acting in 1963,[6]: 102–03, 120 [79] and became a production consultant for 21 of thePerry Mason TV movies.[80] They owned and operated an orchid business and then a vineyard[81] in California'sDry Creek Valley. They were domestic partners until Burr's death in 1993.[80] Burr bequeathed his entire estate to Benevides,[6]: 216–17 and Benevides renamed the Dry Creek property Raymond Burr Vineyards[82] (reportedly against Burr's wishes) and managed it as a commercial enterprise.[79] In 2017, the property was sold.[83]
Although Burr had not revealed that he was homosexual during his lifetime, it was reported in the press upon his death.[84]
At various times in his career, Burr and his managers and publicists offered spurious or unverifiable biographical details to the press and public. Burr's obituary inThe New York Times states that he entered theU.S. Navy in 1944, afterThe Duke in Darkness, and left in 1946, weighing almost 350 pounds (160 kg).[4] Although Burr may have served in theCoast Guard, reports of his service in the U.S. Navy are false, as apparently are his statements[85] that he sustained battle injuries atOkinawa.[6]: 57–58 [86][a]
Other false biographical details include years of college education at a variety of institutions, being widowed twice, a son who died young, world travel, and success in high school athletics.[6]: 17, 20, 23–24, 40–41 Most of these claims were apparently accepted as fact by the press during Burr's lifetime, up until his death[4][16] and by his first biographer, Ona Hill.[3]: 27 [b]
Burr reportedly was married at the beginning ofWorld War II to an actress named Annette Sutherland[87]—killed, Burr said, in the same1943 plane crash that claimed the life of actorLeslie Howard. However, multiple sources have reported that no one by that name appears on any of the published passenger manifests from the flight.[3]: 19–20 A son supposedly born during this marriage, Michael Evan, was said to have died of leukemia in 1953 at the age of ten.[3][4][16] Another marriage purportedly took place in the early 1950s to a Laura Andrina Morgan—who died of cancer, Burr said, in 1955.[86] Yet no evidence exists of either marriage, nor of a son's birth, other than Burr's own claims.[6]: 44–45 As late as 1991, Burr stood by the account of this son's life and death. He toldParade that when he realized Michael was dying, he took him on a one-year tour of the United States. "Before my boy left, before his time was gone," he said, "I wanted him to see the beauty of his country and its people."[16] After Burr's death, his publicist confirmed that Burr worked steadily in Hollywood throughout 1952, the year that he was supposedly touring the country with his son.[6]: 216
In the late 1950s, Burr was rumored to be romantically involved withNatalie Wood.[1] Wood's agent sent her on public dates so she could be noticed by directors and producers, and so the men she dated could present themselves in public as heterosexuals. The dates helped to disguise Wood's relationship withRobert Wagner, whom she later married.[6]: 64–70 [88]: 205–06 Burr reportedly resentedWarner Bros.' decision to promote her attachment to another gay actor,Tab Hunter, rather than him. Robert Benevides later said, "He was a little bitter about it. He was really in love with her, I guess."[89]: 214 [c]
Later accounts of Burr's life say that he hid his homosexuality to protect his career.[79] "That was a time in Hollywood history when homosexuality was not countenanced",Associated Press reporterBob Thomas recalled in a 2000 episode ofBiography. "Ray was not a romantic star by any means, but he was a very popular figure ... If it was revealed at that time in Hollywood history it would have been very difficult for him to continue."[6]: 119 [d]
Arthur Marks, a producer ofPerry Mason, recalled Burr's talk of wives and children: "I know he was just putting on a show. ... That was my gut feeling. I think the wives and the loving women, the Natalie Wood thing, were a bit of a cover."[6]: 100 Dean Hargrove, executive producer of the Perry Mason TV films, said in 2006, "I had always assumed that Raymond was gay, because he had a relationship with Robert Benevides for a very long time. Whether or not he had relationships with women, I had no idea. I did know that I had trouble keeping track of whether he was married or not in these stories. Raymond had the ability to mythologize himself, to some extent, and some of his stories about his past ... tended to grow as time went by."[6]: 214
Burr had many hobbies over the course of his life: cultivating orchids and collecting wine, art, stamps, andseashells. He was very fond of cooking.[4] He was interested in flying, sailing, and fishing. According toA&E Biography, Burr was an avid reader with a retentive memory. He was also among the earliest importers and breeders ofPortuguese water dogs in the United States.[91]
Burr developed his interest in cultivating and hybridizing orchids into a business with Benevides. Over 20 years, their company, Sea God Nurseries, had nurseries inFiji, Hawaii, theAzores, and California, and was responsible for adding more than 1,500 new orchids to the worldwide catalog.[citation needed] Burr named one of them the "Barbara Hale Orchid" after hisPerry Mason costar.[92] Burr and Benevides cultivatedCabernet Sauvignon,Chardonnay, and grapes forPort wine, as well as orchids, at Burr's farm/estate inSonoma County, California.[93]
In 1965, Burr purchasedNaitauba, a 4,000-acre (16 km2) island in Fiji, rich in seashells. There, he and Benevides oversaw the raising ofcopra (coconut meat) and cattle, as well as orchids.[79][93] Burr planned to retire there permanently. However, medical problems made that impossible and he sold the property in 1983.[94]
Burr was a well-known philanthropist.[3]: 149 [95] He gave enormous sums of money, including his salaries from the Perry Mason movies, to charity. He was also known for sharing his wealth with friends. He sponsored 26 foster children through theFoster Parents' Plan orSave the Children, many with the greatest medical needs.[7] He gave money and some of hisPerry Mason scripts to theMcGeorge School of Law inSacramento, California.[96]
Burr was an early supporter of theBailey-Matthews National Shell Museum inSanibel, Florida, raising funds and chairing its first capital campaign.[97] He also donated to the museum a large collection of Fijian cowries and cones from his island in Fiji.[98]
In 1993,Sonoma State University awarded Burr an honorary doctorate.[99] He supported medical and educational institutions in Denver, and in 1993, theUniversity of Colorado awarded him an honorary doctorate for his acting work.[6]: 197–98 Burr also founded and financed the American Fijian Foundation that funded academic research, including efforts to develop a dictionary of the language.[100]
Burr made repeated trips on behalf of theUnited Service Organizations (USO). He toured bothKorea andVietnam during wartime and once spent six months touring Korea, Japan, and thePhilippines. He sometimes organized his own troupe and toured bases both in the U.S. and overseas, often small installations that the USO did not serve, like one tour ofGreenland,Baffin Island, Newfoundland and Labrador.[6]: 53–57 Returning from Vietnam in 1965, he made a speaking tour of the U.S. to advocate an intensified war effort. As the war became more controversial, he modified his tone, called for more attention to the sacrifice of the troops, and said, "My only position on the war is that I wish it were over." In October 1967, NBC airedRaymond Burr Visits Vietnam, a documentary of one of his visits. The reception was mixed. "The impressions he came up with are neither weighty nor particularly revealing", wrote theChicago Tribune; theLos Angeles Times said Burr's questions were "intelligent and elicited some interesting replies".[6]: 160–61
Burr had a reputation in Hollywood as a thoughtful, generous man years before much of his more-visible philanthropic work. In 1960, Ray Collins, who portrayed Lt. Arthur Tragg on the originalPerry Mason series, and who was by that time often ill and unable to remember all the lines he was supposed to speak, stated, "There is nothing but kindness from our star, Ray Burr. Part of his life is dedicated to us, and that's no bull. If there's anything the matter with any of us, he comes around before anyone else and does what he can to help. He's a great star—in the old tradition."[101]
During the filming of his lastPerry Mason movie in the spring of 1993, Burr became ill. A Viacom spokesman told the media that the illness might have been related to therenal cell carcinoma (malignant kidney tumor) that had been removed from Burr that February.[74] It was later determined that the cancer had spread to his liver and was, by that point inoperable.[102] Burr held several "goodbye parties" before his death on September 12, 1993, at his Sonoma County ranch nearHealdsburg. He was 76 years old.[4]
The day after Burr's death,American Bar Association President R. William Ide III released a statement: "Raymond Burr's portrayals of Perry Mason represented lawyers in a professional and dignified manner. ... Mr. Burr strove for such authenticity in his courtroom characterizations that we regard his passing as though we lost one of our own."[103]The New York Times reported that Perry Mason had been named second—afterF. Lee Bailey, and beforeAbraham Lincoln,Thurgood Marshall,Janet Reno,Ben Matlock andHillary Clinton—in a 1993National Law Journal poll that asked Americans to name the attorney, fictional or not, they most admired.[63]
Burr wasinterred with his parents and sister Geraldine (1920-2001)[104] at Fraser Cemetery,New Westminster, British Columbia.[105] On October 1, about 600 family members and friends paid tribute to Burr at a private memorial service at thePasadena Playhouse.[106]
Burr bequeathed his estate to Robert Benevides, and excluded all relatives, including a sister, nieces, and nephews. His will was challenged, without success, by the two children of his late brother, James E. Burr.[6]: 216–18 Benevides' attorney said that tabloid reports of an estate worth $32 million were an overestimate.[107][108]
For his work in the TV seriesPerry Mason, Burr received the Emmy Award forBest Actor in a Leading Role (Continuing Character) in a Dramatic Series at the11th Primetime Emmy Awards in 1959. Nominated again in1960, he received his second Emmy Award for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Series (Lead) at the13th Primetime Emmy Awards in 1961.[62] Burr was named Favorite Male Performer, forPerry Mason, inTV Guide magazine's inauguralTV Guide Award readers poll in 1960.[109] He also received the second annual award in 1961.[110][111]
In 1960, Burr was awarded a star on theHollywood Walk of Fame at 6656Hollywood Boulevard.[112] Burr received six Emmy nominations (1968–72) for his work in the TV seriesIronside.[62] He was nominated twice, in1969 and1972, for theGolden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama.[65] A benefactor of legal education, Burr was principal speaker at the founders' banquet of theThomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan, in June 1973. The Raymond Burr Award for Excellence in Criminal Law was established in his honor.[63][113]
Burr was ranked No. 44 onTV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time in 1996.[114] Completed in 1996, a circular garden at the entrance to theBailey-Matthews National Shell Museum inSanibel, Florida, honored Burr for his role in establishing the museum. Burr was a trustee and an early supporter who chaired the museum's first capital campaign, and made direct contributions from his own shell collection.[97][115] A display about Burr as an actor, benefactor and collector opened in the museum's Great Hall of Shells in 2012.[116]
From 2000 to 2006, the Raymond Burr Performing Arts Society leased thehistoric Columbia Theatre from the city of New Westminster, and renamed it the Raymond Burr Performing Arts Centre. Although the nonprofit organization hoped to raise funds to renovate and expand the venue, its contract was not renewed. The group was a failed bidder when the theater was sold in 2011.[117][118][119][120]
In 2008,Canada Post issued a postage stamp in its "Canadians in Hollywood" series featuring Burr.[121] Burr received the 2009 Canadian Legends Award and a star onCanada's Walk of Fame in Toronto. The induction ceremony was held on September 12, 2009.[122] A 2014 article inThe Atlantic that examined howNetflix categorized nearly 77,000 different personalized genres found that Burr was rated as the favorite actor by Netflix users,[123][124] with the greatest number of dedicated microgenres.[125]
| Date | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| December 26, 1940 | Crazy With the Heat | Boston[3]: 12 | |
| January 14–18, 1941 | Crazy With the Heat | 44th Street Theatre, New York City[13] | |
| November 11–22, 1942 | Quiet Wedding | Dallas Chaytor | Pasadena Playhouse, directed by Lenore Shanewise[3]: 14 [14] |
| December 23, 1942 – January 3, 1943 | Charley's Aunt | Pasadena Playhouse[126] | |
| February – February 21, 1943 | Arsenic and Old Lace | Jonathan Brewster | Pasadena Playhouse[3]: 14 [127] |
| March–April 1943 | Jason | Mike Ambler | Pasadena Playhouse, directed byOnslow Stevens[128] |
| July 1943 | The Intimate Strangers | Mr. Ames | Pasadena Playhouse, directed by Lenore Shanewise[129][130] |
| July–August 1943 | Monsieur Beaucaire | Pasadena Playhouse[131] | |
| January 24 – February 12, 1944 | The Duke in Darkness | Voulain | Playhouse Theatre, New York City[132] |
| May - August 1944 | Multiple productions | Various | Elitch Gardens Theater, Denver, Colorado,[133] Additional Citation:[134] |
| June 12–23, 1946 | While the Sun Shines | Pasadena Playhouse[135] | |
| December 1, 1946 – | Murder Without Crime | Pasadena Playhouse, directed by Raymond Burr (also actor)[3]: 23 | |
| January 21 – February 15, 1947 | Miss Julie | Jean | Forrest Theatre,Philadelphia;Plymouth Theatre,Boston;Shubert Theatre,New Haven, Connecticut[136][137] |
| May 26, 1948 – | Gauguin | Paul Gauguin | Pasadena Playhouse, directed byCatherine Turney[3]: 30–31 [138] |
| June 11 – July 15, 1962 | Critic's Choice | Suburbs of Detroit and Chicago[139] | |
| 1983 | Underground | Tour includingRoyal Alexandra Theatre, Toronto,Theatre Royal,York andPrince of Wales Theatre, London[140] |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1940 | Earl of Puddlestone | Mrs. Millicent Potter's chauffeur | Uncredited[3]: 11 |
| 1946 | Without Reservations | Paul Gill | Uncredited[17] |
| 1946 | San Quentin | Jeff Torrance | [17] |
| 1947 | Code of the West | Boyd Carter | [17] |
| 1947 | Desperate | Walt Radak | [17] |
| 1948 | I Love Trouble | Herb | [17] |
| 1948 | Sleep, My Love | Sgt. Strake | [17] |
| 1948 | Ruthless | Peter Vendig | [17] |
| 1948 | Fighting Father Dunne | Prosecuting attorney | Uncredited[17] |
| 1948 | Raw Deal | Rick Coyle | [17] |
| 1948 | Pitfall | J. B. MacDonald | [17] |
| 1948 | Station West | Mark Bristow | [17] |
| 1948 | Walk a Crooked Mile | Krebs | [17] |
| 1948 | Adventures of Don Juan | Captain Alvarez | [17] |
| 1949 | Bride of Vengeance | Michelotto | [17] |
| 1949 | Black Magic | Dumas, Jr. | [17] |
| 1949 | Red Light | Nick Cherney | [17] |
| 1949 | Abandoned | Kerric | [17] |
| 1949 | Love Happy | Alphonse Zoto | [17] |
| 1950 | Unmasked | Roger Lewis | [17] |
| 1950 | Key to the City | Les Taggart | [17] |
| 1950 | Borderline | Pete Richie | [17] |
| 1951 | M | Pottsy | [17] |
| 1951 | A Place in the Sun | District Attorney R. Frank Marlowe | [17] |
| 1951 | New Mexico | Pvt. Anderson | [17] |
| 1951 | His Kind of Woman | Nick Ferraro | [17] |
| 1951 | The Whip Hand | Steve Loomis | [17] |
| 1951 | Bride of the Gorilla | Barney Chavez | [17] |
| 1951 | The Magic Carpet | Grand Vizier Boreg al Buzzar | [17] |
| 1951 | FBI Girl | Blake | [17] |
| 1952 | Meet Danny Wilson | Nick Driscoll | [17] |
| 1952 | Mara Maru | Brock Benedict | [17] |
| 1952 | Horizons West | Cord Hardin | [17] |
| 1953 | The Bandits of Corsica | Baron Cesare Jonatto | [17] |
| 1953 | The Blue Gardenia | Harry Prebble | [17] |
| 1953 | Serpent of the Nile | Marc Antony | [17] |
| 1953 | Tarzan and the She-Devil | Vargo | [17] |
| 1953 | Fort Algiers | Amir | [17] |
| 1954 | Casanova's Big Night | Minister Bragadin | [17] |
| 1954 | The Immortal City | Narrator | Documentary[17] |
| 1954 | Gorilla at Large | Cyrus Miller | [17] |
| 1954 | Rear Window | Lars Thorwald | [17] |
| 1954 | Khyber Patrol | Capt. Ahmed Shir | [17] |
| 1954 | Thunder Pass | Tulsa | [17] |
| 1954 | Passion | Capt. Rodriguez | [17] |
| 1954 | They Were So Young | Jaime Coltos | [17] |
| 1955 | You're Never Too Young | Noonan | Martin and Lewis comedy[17] |
| 1955 | Count Three and Pray | Yancy Huggins | [17] |
| 1955 | A Man Alone | Stanley | [17] |
| 1956 | Please Murder Me | Craig Carlson | Attorney successfully defends the woman he loves, charged with murder, then finds out that she is guilty. Courtroom scenes foreshadowPerry Mason. |
| 1956 | Godzilla, King of the Monsters! | Steve Martin | [17] |
| 1956 | Great Day in the Morning | Jumbo Means | [17] |
| 1956 | Secret of Treasure Mountain | Cash Larsen | [17] |
| 1956 | A Cry in the Night | Harold Loftus | [17] |
| 1956 | Ride the High Iron | Ziggy Moline | Pilot for proposed ABC-TV seriesCommand Performance, released as a feature film[17][141]: 56 |
| 1956 | The Brass Legend | Tris Hatten | [17] |
| 1957 | Crime of Passion | Tony Pope | [17] |
| 1957 | Affair in Havana | Mal Mallabee | [17] |
| 1960 | Desire in the Dust | Col. Ben Marquand | [17] |
| 1961 | "Interrupted Morning" | Himself (introduction) | Short film on traffic safety for theU.S. Public Health Service[142][143] |
| 1962 | "When Sally Fell" | Himself (introduction, conclusion) | Short film on home safety[143][144] |
| 1962 | "Look Alive" | Himself | Short film on pedestrian safety[143] |
| 1962 | "Midsummer's Nightmare" | Himself | Short film on water safety[143] |
| 1962 | "Giant Steps" | Himself | Short film on child safety[143] |
| 1962 | "Why Daddy?" | Himself | Short film on fire prevention[143] |
| 1962 | "No Defense" | Himself | Short film on community organization for accident prevention[143] |
| 1968 | P. J. | William Orbison | [17] |
| 1968 | "The small boat Navy" | Presenter | Navy film MN-10387 is a short 1968 film from the U.S. Navy that offers viewers a look at how the U.S. Navy uses small boats to create trade and travel stability in Vietnam. Available on YouTube,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GXFuM4ZfYU |
| 1978 | Tomorrow Never Comes | Burke | |
| 1980 | Out of the Blue | Dr. Brean | [145] |
| 1980 | The Return | Dr. Kramer | [146] |
| 1982 | Airplane II: The Sequel | The Judge | [17] |
| 1985 | Godzilla 1985 | Steve Martin | Nominee,Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actor[6]: 71, 226 [147] |
| 1991 | The Legend of Kootenai Brown | Judge Webster | [148] |
| 1991 | Delirious | Carter Hedison | [17] |
| Date | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 14, 1934-August 10, 1934 | Tarzan and the Diamond Of Asher | Akaru | approximately 15 of 39 episodes |
| December 30, 1947 | Favorite Story | "The Suicide Club"[149] | |
| October 18, 1948 | The New Adventures of Michael Shayne | "The Case of the Eager Victim"[150] | |
| October 26, 1948 | Favorite Story | "The Jest of Hahalaba"[149] | |
| November 4, 1948 | Suspense | "Death Sentence"[30] | |
| December 25, 1948 | Wrigley Christmas Party | [151] | |
| January 23, 1949 | Screen Directors Playhouse | "The Exile"[31] | |
| February 13 – June 26, 1949 | Pat Novak, for Hire | Inspector Hellman | [27]: 534 [152] |
| February 17, 1949 | Suspense | "Catch Me If You Can"[30] | |
| April 21, 1949 | Suspense | "The Copper Tea Strainer"[30] | |
| May 15, 1949 | Screen Directors Playhouse | "Hold Back the Dawn"[31] | |
| June 17, 1949 – August 24, 1950 | Dragnet | Ed Backstrand | [28]: 208 [29] |
| July 16, 1949 | Dangerous Assignment | "Sunken Ships"[153][154] | |
| August 24, 1949 | Family Theater | "Robert of Sicily"[33] | |
| September 21, 1949 | The Amazing Mr. Malone | Paul Conrad | "The Paul Conrad Case"[155] |
| September 27, 1949 – | Dr. Kildare | Repertory cast | Eight transcribed episodes[156]: 205 [157] |
| October 17, 1949 | Screen Directors Playhouse | MacDonald | "Pitfall"[3]: 179 [31] |
| November 23, 1949 | Family Theater | "The Courtship of Miles Standish"[33] | |
| January 25, 1950 | Family Theater | "Lodging for the Night"[33] | |
| February 19, 1950 | The Amazing Mr. Malone | Alan Walsh | "When the Cat's Away the Mice Will Play"[155] |
| March 8, 1950 | Family Theater | "The Prince and the Pauper"[33] | |
| March 24, 1950 | Screen Directors Playhouse | "Chicago Deadline"[31] | |
| April 7, 1950 | Screen Directors Playhouse | "The Fighting O'Flynn"[31] | |
| April 11, 1950 | Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar | "The Dead First Helpers"[32] | |
| May 9, 1950 | Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar | "The Harold Trandem Matter"[32] | |
| June 28, 1950 | Family Theater | "Lancelot of the Lake"[33] | |
| July 20, 1950 | Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar | "The Henry J. Unger Matter"[32] | |
| July 26, 1950 | Family Theater | "Julius Caesar"[33] | |
| August 10, 1950 | Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar | "The Hartford Alliance Matter"[32] | |
| September 21, 1950 | Presenting Charles Boyer | "The Adventure of Painting 137"[158] | |
| October 7, 1950 | Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar | "The Richard Splain Matter"[32] | |
| October 16, 1950 | Lux Radio Theatre | "House of Strangers"[159] | |
| October 28, 1950 | Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar | "The Joan Sebastian Matter"[32] | |
| November 11, 1950 | Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar | "The Adam Kegg Matter"[32] | |
| November 15, 1950 | Family Theater | "The Story of Peter Zenger"[33] | |
| November 16, 1950 | The Lineup | "The Candy Store Murder"[160] | |
| December 6, 1950 | Family Theater | "Robert of Sicily"[33] | |
| December 21, 1950 | The Lineup | "The Holstedter Case"[160] | |
| December 28, 1950 | Screen Directors Playhouse | "Alias Nick Beal"[31] | |
| 1950 | This Is the Story | "Hometown U.S.A.: Seattle, Washington"[161] | |
| January 4, 1951 | Screen Directors Playhouse | "Prince of Foxes"[31] | |
| January 11, 1951 | The Lineup | "The Mad Bomber"[160] | |
| March 24, 1951 | Dangerous Assignment | "Loaded Dynamite with a Lit Fuse"[153][154] | |
| April 19, 1951 | The Pendleton Story | "The Declaration"[162] | |
| April 24, 1951 | The Lineup | "The Brommel and Bellows Bloody Bullet Case"[160] | |
| June 15, 1951 | The Pendleton Story | "The Warning"[162] | |
| July 18, 1951 | Escape | "Macao"[163] | |
| October 28, 1951 | The Silent Men | "The Case of the Rubber Gloves"[164] | |
| November 8, 1951 | Hallmark Playhouse | "Twenty-Thousand Leagues Under the Sea"[34] | |
| 1951 | The Pendleton Story | "The Mischianza"[162] | |
| February 24, 1952 | The Whistler | "A Matter of Time"[165] | |
| March 9, 1952 | The Whistler | "Breakaway"[165] | |
| April 4, 1952 | Richard Diamond, Private Detective | "The Enigma of Big Ed"[166] | |
| April 7, 1952 | The Pendleton Story | "The Homecoming"[162] | |
| April 16, 1952 | The Pendleton Story | "The Child"[162] | |
| May 1, 1952 | Hallmark Playhouse | "Lorna Doone"[34] | |
| May 15, 1952 | Hallmark Playhouse | "The Marquis de Lafayette"[34] | |
| May 22, 1952 | Hallmark Playhouse | "Marcia Burns"[34] | |
| May 26, 1952 | The Railroad Hour | "My Maryland"[167] | |
| June 10, 1952 | The Lineup | "Lobdell's Poodle-Cut Tomato Case"[160] | |
| July 17, 1952 | Night Beat | "Taste of Peaches"[168][169] | |
| July 22, 1952 | The Lineup | "The Drinkler Kidnapping Case"[160] | |
| August 25, 1952 | Dangerous Assignment | "Port Said"[153][154] | |
| September 7, 1952 | The Whistler | "The Secret of Chalk Point"[165] | |
| October 8, 1952 | The Lineup | "The Teacher's Pet"[160] | |
| November 23, 1952 | Errand of Mercy | "Jimmy is for Luck"[170] | |
| January 30, 1953 | Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar | "The Kay Bellamy Matter"[32] | |
| August 10, 1953 | The Railroad Hour | "Trilby"[167] | |
| August 23, 1953 | Richard Diamond, Private Detective | "The Hollywood Story"[166] | |
| September 20, 1953 | Hallmark Hall of Fame | "George Gershwin"[35] | |
| September 26, 1953 | Romance | "Treadmill"[171] | |
| September 30, 1953 | Family Theater | "Journey of the Pegasus"[33] | |
| October 18, 1953 | Hallmark Hall of Fame | "Joseph McCoy"[35] | |
| November 22, 1953 | Hallmark Hall of Fame | "Squanto, The Cockney Indian"[35] | |
| December 6, 1953 | Hallmark Hall of Fame | "MajorCharles Yeager"[35] | |
| March 2, 1954 | Rocky Fortune | "Honor Among Thieves"[172] | |
| March 24, 1954 | Family Theater | "Night Caller"[33] | |
| October 27, 1954 | Family Theater | Narrator | "The Hound of Heaven"[33] |
| January 12, 1955 | Family Theater | "Stranger in Town"[33] | |
| January 22 – October 28, 1956 | Fort Laramie | Lee Quince | [39]: 258–259 [173] |
| March 9, 1956 | CBS Radio Workshop | "Report on ESP"[174] | |
| May 25, 1956 | CBS Radio Workshop | Narrator | "The Little Prince"[36][174] |
| December 30, 1956 | Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar | "The Ellen Deer Matter"[32] | |
| March 10, 1957 | Suspense | "The Paralta Map"[30] | |
| April 21, 1957 | CBS Radio Workshop | Narrator | "The Son of Man"[36][174] |
| June 30, 1957 | CBS Radio Workshop | "Battle of Gettysburg"[174] | |
| July 14, 1957 | CBS Radio Workshop | "The Silent Witness"[174] | |
| July 28, 1957 | Suspense | "Murder On Mike"[30] | |
| August 28, 1957 | Family Theater | Host | "Sylvia"[33] |
| October 27, 1957 | Suspense | "The Country of the Blind"[30] | |
| October 12, 1958 | Suspense | "The Treasure Chest of Don Jose"[30] | |
| December 21, 1958 | Suspense | "Out for Christmas"[30] | |
| June 7, 1959 | Suspense | "The Pit and the Pendulum"[30] | |
| 1968 | An American Gallery | Narrator | "Portrait of a Photographer"[175] |
| August 24, 1969 | Special Delivery: Vietnam | "History's First Nationwide Radiothon"[176] |
| Date | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| March 14, 1951 | Stars Over Hollywood | "Prison Doctor"[47] | |
| April 4, 1951 | Stars Over Hollywood | "Pearls from Paris"[47] | |
| April 23, 1951 | The Bigelow Theatre | "The Big Hello"[48] | |
| December 16, 1951 | Dragnet | "The Human Bomb" (series debut)[50][177] | |
| November 21, 1951[178] | Family Theater | Simon the Cyrenean[178] | "That I May See"[49] |
| March 21, 1952 | Rebound | "Joker's Wild"[179] | |
| April 11, 1952 | Rebound | Gomez | "The Wreck"[179] |
| April 24, 1952 | Gruen Playhouse | "The Tiger"[51] | |
| July 2, 1952 | The Unexpected | Doctor | "The Magnificent Lie"[180] |
| September 9, 1952 | Gruen Playhouse | "The Leather Coat"[51] | |
| September 23, 1952 | Gruen Playhouse | "Face Value"[51] | |
| 1952 | Family Theater | Balthazar | "A Star Shall Rise"[181][182] |
| January 2, 1953 | Tales of Tomorrow | "The Mask of Medusa"[183] | |
| January 16, 1953 | Your Favorite Story | "How Much Land Does a Man Need?"[184][185] | |
| April 28, 1953 | Chevron Theatre | "No Escape"[186] | |
| December 10, 1953 | Four Star Playhouse | "The Room"[52] | |
| January 7, 1954 | Ford Theatre | Red Letwick | "The Fugitives"[187][188] |
| January 28, 1954 | Lux Video Theatre | "A Place in the Sun"[54] | |
| February 11, 1954 | Lux Video Theatre | Major Blakestone | "Shall Not Perish"[54] |
| April 20, 1954 | Mr. and Mrs. North | "Murder for Sale"[55] | |
| July 1, 1955 | Schlitz Playhouse of Stars | Dr. Sutton | "The Ordeal of Dr. Sutton"[56] |
| October 7, 1955 | The Star and the Story | "The Force of Circumstance"[189] | |
| November 2, 1955 | The 20th Century Fox Hour | Major Tetley | "The Ox-Bow Incident"[190] |
| December 1, 1955 | Lux Video Theatre | "The Web"[191] | |
| March 1, 1956 | Climax! | Lieutenant Shea | "The Sound of Silence"[192] |
| March 1, 1956 | Ford Theatre | Robert Drayton | "Man Without a Fear"[53][193] |
| May 24, 1956 | Climax! | Philip Moran | "The Shadow of Evil"[192] |
| October 18, 1956 | Lux Video Theatre | Dan Reynolds | "Tobacco Road"[194] |
| December 6, 1956 | Climax! | Sergeant Ben Gurnick | "Savage Portrait"[195] |
| 1956 | Chevron Hall of Stars | Jud | "The Lone Hand"[196] |
| January 31, 1957 | Playhouse 90 | Lester Friedman | "The Greer Case"[57] |
| March 12, 1957 | Celebrity Playhouse | George | "No Escape"[197] |
| September 21, 1957 – May 22, 1966 | Perry Mason | Perry Mason | 271 episodes[23]: 8903, 32188 Winner,Primetime Emmy Award,Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series,1959 and1961; nominee in1960[62] |
| December 26, 1957 | Playhouse 90 | Charles Bent | "The Lone Woman"[198] |
| June 5, 1958 | Playhouse 90 | Host | "The Innocent Sleep"[199] |
| May 6, 1959 | 11th Emmy Awards | Host | [200] |
| November 5, 1961 | The Jack Benny Program | Perry Mason | "Jack On Trial for Murder"[201] |
| June 3, 1962 | What's My Line? | Mystery guest | [202] |
| March 28, 1967 | Ironside | Robert T. Ironside | World premiere television film[203][204] Nominee, Primetime Emmy Award, Outstanding Single Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Drama (1968)[62][64] |
| September 14, 1967 – January 16, 1975 | Ironside | Robert T. Ironside | 194 episodes[203][205] Nominee, Primetime Emmy Award, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series,1968,1969,1970,1971 and1972[62] Nominee,Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama,1969 and1972[65] |
| October 6, 1967 | Raymond Burr in Vietnam | Himself | One-hourNBC News documentary[206] |
| January 9, 1968 | It Takes a Thief | "A Thief Is a Thief" (series premiere)[207] | |
| September 19, 1972 | The Bold Ones: The New Doctors | Robert T. Ironside | "Five Days in the Death of Sgt. Brown"[3]: 191 |
| April 22, 1973 | A Man Whose Name Was John | Pope John XXIII | [208] |
| February 8, 1976 | Mallory | Arthur Mallory | [3]: 191 [209] |
| July 3, 1976 | The Inventing of America | Co-host | NBC–BBC co-production for theU.S. Bicentennial, co-hosted byJames Burke[3]: 191 [210][211] |
| September 15, 1976 | Kingston: The Power Play | R. B. Kingston | [141]: 157 |
| March 23 – August 10, 1977 | Kingston: Confidential | R. B. Kingston | 13 episodes[212][213]: 741 |
| October 16–18, 1977 | 79 Park Avenue | Armand Perfido | Miniseries[214] |
| December 12, 1978 | The Jordan Chance | Frank Jordan | [141]: 150 |
| October 1, 1978 – | Centennial | Herman Bockweiss | Miniseries[3]: 192 |
| February 3, 1979 | The Love Boat | Malcolm Dwyer | "Alas, Poor Dwyer"[3]: 192 |
| May 20, 1979 | Love's Savage Fury | [3]: 192 | |
| September 21 + 28, 1979 | Eischied | Police Commissioner | "Only the Pretty Girls Die"[215] |
| October 23, 1979 | The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo | [3]: 192 | |
| October 28, 1979 | Disaster on the Coastliner | Estes Hill | [3]: 192 |
| November 18, 1979 | The 13th Day: The Story of Esther | Narrator | [141]: 296 |
| May 8 + 9, 1980 | The Curse of King Tut's Tomb | Jonash Sebastian | [3]: 192 [216] |
| December 18, 1980 | The Night the City Screamed | Mayor | [217] |
| April 12 + 14, 1981 | Peter and Paul | Herod Agrippa | [3]: 192 |
| December 1, 1985 | Perry Mason Returns | Perry Mason | First of 26television films[218][219]: 39603 |
| May 25, 1986 | Perry Mason: The Case of the Notorious Nun | Perry Mason | [218][219]: 39678 |
| November 9, 1986 | Perry Mason: The Case of the Shooting Star | Perry Mason | [218][219]: 39730 |
| January 20, 1987 | Unsolved Mysteries | Host | Special that launched the series[68] |
| February 23, 1987 | Perry Mason: The Case of the Lost Love | Perry Mason | [218][219]: 39783 |
| May 24, 1987 | Perry Mason: The Case of the Sinister Spirit | Perry Mason | [218][219]: 39844 |
| October 4, 1987 | Perry Mason: The Case of the Murdered Madam | Perry Mason | [218][219]: 39903 |
| November 15, 1987 | Perry Mason: The Case of the Scandalous Scoundrel | Perry Mason | [218][219]: 39952 |
| February 28, 1988 | Perry Mason: The Case of the Avenging Ace | Perry Mason | [218][219]: 40008 |
| May 15, 1988 | Perry Mason: The Case of the Lady in the Lake | Perry Mason | [218][219]: 40068 |
| February 12, 1989 | Perry Mason: The Case of the Lethal Lesson | Perry Mason | [218][219]: 40119 |
| April 9, 1989 | Perry Mason: The Case of the Musical Murder | Perry Mason | [218][219]: 40168 |
| November 19, 1989 | Perry Mason: The Case of the All-Star Assassin | Perry Mason | [218][219]: 40237 |
| 1989–91 | Trial by Jury | Judge Gordon Duane | Syndicated series[220] |
| January 21, 1990 | Perry Mason: The Case of the Poisoned Pen | Perry Mason | [218][219]: 40296 |
| March 11, 1990 | Perry Mason: The Case of the Desperate Deception | Perry Mason | [218][219]: 40354 |
| May 20, 1990 | Perry Mason: The Case of the Silenced Singer | Perry Mason | [218][219]: 40422 |
| September 30, 1990 | Perry Mason: The Case of the Defiant Daughter | Perry Mason | [218][219]: 40504 |
| January 6, 1991 | Perry Mason: The Case of the Ruthless Reporter | Perry Mason | [218][219]: 40575 |
| February 11, 1991 | Perry Mason: The Case of the Maligned Mobster | Perry Mason | [218][219]: 40658 |
| May 14, 1991 | Perry Mason: The Case of the Glass Coffin | Perry Mason | [218][219]: 40721 |
| September 24, 1991 | Perry Mason: The Case of the Fatal Fashion | Perry Mason | [218][219]: 40792 |
| March 1, 1992 | Perry Mason: The Case of the Fatal Framing | Perry Mason | [218][219]: 40860 |
| May 5, 1992 | Perry Mason: The Case of the Reckless Romeo | Perry Mason | [218][219]: 40920 |
| October 30, 1992 | Perry Mason: The Case of the Heartbroken Bride | Perry Mason | [218][219]: 40920 |
| February 19, 1993 | Perry Mason: The Case of the Skin-Deep Scandal | Perry Mason | [218][219]: 41071 |
| May 4, 1993 | The Return of Ironside | Robert T. Ironside | [221] |
| May 21, 1993 | Perry Mason: The Case of the Telltale Talk Show Host | Perry Mason | [218][219]: 41146 |
| November 29, 1993 | Perry Mason: The Case of the Killer Kiss | Perry Mason | [218][219]: 41218 Released posthumously; features an in-memory notice at the end of film. |
