Barbara Hale
Barbara Hale is an American actress best known for her role as legal secretary Della Street on more than 250 episodes of the long-running Perry Mason television series and later reprising the role in 30 made-for-TV movies. Hale was born in DeKalb, Illinois, to Luther Ezra Hale, a landscape gardener, and his wife, Wilma Colvin. She is of Scots-Irish ancestry. Hale graduated from high school in Rockford, Illinois, then attended the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts, planning to become an artist. Her performing career began in Chicago when she started modeling to pay for her education. She moved to Hollywood in 1943, and made her first screen appearances playing small parts (often uncredited). Hale was under contract to RKO Radio Pictures through the late 1940s. She appeared in Higher and Higher (1943) with Frank Sinatra; played leading lady to Robert Mitchum in West of the Pecos (1945); enjoyed top billing in both Lady Luck (1946) opposite Robert Young and The Window (1949) with Arthur Kennedy; and co-starred in Jolson Sings Again (1949), with Larry Parks playing Al Jolson and Hale as Jolson's wife, Ellen Clark. She played the top-billed title role in Lorna Doone (1951) and portrayed Julia Hancock in The Far Horizons (1955) with Fred MacMurray and Charlton Heston. Her flourishing movie career more or less ended when Hale accepted her best known role, Della Street, secretary to attorney Perry Mason, in the TV series with Raymond Burr. The show ran from 1957 to 1966, and she reprised the role in several television movies. Her last performance to date was in 2000 at age 78. In 1967 she guest starred on the ABC series Custer. Hale also had a featured role in the 1970 ensemble film Airport, playing the wife of a jetliner pilot (Dean Martin).
Known For
Credits
- 1995 · Perry Mason: The Case of the Jealous Jokester as Della Street
- 1994 · Perry Mason: The Case of the Grimacing Governor as Della Street
- 1994 · Perry Mason: The Case of the Lethal Lifestyle as Della Street
- 1993 · Perry Mason: The Case of the Wicked Wives as Della Street
- 1993 · Perry Mason: The Case of the Killer Kiss as Della Street
- 1993 · Perry Mason: The Case of the Telltale Talk Show Host as Della Street
- 1993 · Perry Mason: The Case of the Skin-Deep Scandal as Della Street
- 1992 · Perry Mason: The Case of the Heartbroken Bride as Della Street
- 1992 · Perry Mason: The Case of the Reckless Romeo as Della Street
- 1992 · Perry Mason: The Case of the Fatal Framing as Della Street
- 1991 · Perry Mason: The Case of the Fatal Fashion as Della Street
- 1991 · Perry Mason: The Case of the Glass Coffin as Della Street
- 1991 · Perry Mason: The Case of the Maligned Mobster as Della Street
- 1991 · Perry Mason: The Case of the Ruthless Reporter as Della Street
- 1990 · Perry Mason: The Case of the Defiant Daughter as Della Street
- 1990 · Perry Mason: The Case of the Silenced Singer as Della Street
- 1990 · Perry Mason: The Case of the Desperate Deception as Della Street
- 1990 · Perry Mason: The Case of the Poisoned Pen as Della Street
- 1989 · Perry Mason: The Case of the All-Star Assassin as Della Street
- 1989 · Perry Mason: The Case of the Musical Murder as Della Street
- 1989 · Perry Mason: The Case of the Lethal Lesson as Della Street
- 1988 · Perry Mason: The Case of the Lady in the Lake as Della Street
- 1988 · Perry Mason: The Case of the Avenging Ace as Della Street
- 1987 · Perry Mason: The Case of the Scandalous Scoundrel as Della Street
- 1987 · Perry Mason: The Case of the Murdered Madam as Della Street
- 1987 · Perry Mason: The Case of the Sinister Spirit as Della Street
- 1987 · Perry Mason: The Case of the Lost Love as Della Street
- 1986 · Perry Mason: The Case of the Shooting Star as Della Street
- 1986 · Perry Mason: The Case of the Notorious Nun as Della Street
- 1985 · Perry Mason Returns as Della Street
- 1978 · The Young Runaways as Mrs. Ogle
- 1978 · Big Wednesday as Mrs. Barlow
- 1976 · The Flight of the Grey Wolf as Mrs Hanson
- 1975 · The Giant Spider Invasion as Dr. Jenny Langer
- 1974 · Dinah! as Self
- 1973 · Chester, Yesterday’s Horse as Mrs. Belle Kincaid
- 1970 · The Red, White, and Black as Mrs. Alice Grierson
- 1970 · Airport as Sarah Demerest
- 1969 · Marcus Welby, M.D. as Marjorie Brandon
- 1968 · The Doris Day Show as Thelma King
- 1968 · Adam-12 as Bonnie Jessup
- 1968 · Buckskin as Sarah Cody
- 1958 · Desert Hell as Celie Edwards
- 1957 · Slim Carter as Allie Hanneman
- 1957 · Perry Mason as Della Street
- 1957 · The Oklahoman as Anne
- 1956 · 7th Cavalry as Martha Kellogg
- 1956 · The Houston Story as Zoe Crane
- 1955 · Screen Director's Playhouse as June Waters
- 1955 · Meet the Governor as June Waters
- 1955 · Unchained as Mary Davitt
- 1955 · The Far Horizons as Julia Hancock
- 1955 · The Millionaire as Kathy Munson / Marian Munson
- 1954 · The Wonderful World of Disney as Mrs. Ogle
- 1954 · Climax! as Mamie Eunson
- 1954 · Studio 57 as Ruth
- 1954 · Lassie as
- 1953 · A Lion Is in the Streets as Verity Wade
- 1953 · Letter to Loretta as Mrs. Strawn
- 1953 · The Lone Hand as Sarah Jane Skaggs
- 1953 · Seminole as Revere
- 1953 · Last of the Comanches as Julia Lanning
- 1953 · General Electric Theater as Ellen Newman
- 1953 · General Electric Theater as Lorraine
- 1952 · The Ford Television Theatre as Marta Linden
- 1952 · The Ford Television Theatre as Katherine Charles
- 1952 · The First Time as Betsey Bennett
- 1951 · Schlitz Playhouse of Stars as Ginny Morgan
- 1951 · Schlitz Playhouse of Stars as
- 1951 · Lorna Doone as Lorna Doone
- 1950 · Emergency Wedding as Dr. Helen Hunt
- 1950 · The Jackpot as Amy Lawrence
- 1949 · And Baby Makes Three as Jacqueline 'Jackie' Walsh
- 1949 · Jolson Sings Again as Ellen Clark
- 1949 · The Window as Mary Woodry
- 1949 · The Clay Pigeon as Martha Gregory
- 1948 · The Boy with Green Hair as Miss Brand
- 1947 · A Likely Story as Vicki
- 1946 · Lady Luck as Mary Audrey
- 1945 · First Yank into Tokyo as Abby Drake
- 1945 · West of the Pecos as Rill Lambeth
- 1944 · The Falcon in Hollywood as Peggy Callahan
- 1944 · Heavenly Days as Angie
- 1944 · Goin' to Town as Patty
- 1944 · The Falcon Out West as Marion Colby
- 1944 · Prunes and Politics as Miss Barlow
- 1943 · Higher and Higher as Katherine
- 1943 · Around the World as Barbara Hale
- 1943 · Government Girl as Girl in Hotel Lobby (uncredited)
- 1943 · The Iron Major as Sarah Cavanaugh
- 1943 · The Seventh Victim as Subway Passenger (Uncredited)
- 1943 · Gildersleeve's Bad Day as Girl seeking donations from Gildersleeve