Barbara Hale
Barbara Hale (April 18, 1922 - January 26, 2017) was 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 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).
Filmography
Perry Mason: The Case of the Jealous Jokester
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Jealous Jokester
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Grimacing Governor
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Grimacing Governor
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Lethal Lifestyle
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Lethal Lifestyle
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Wicked Wives
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Wicked Wives
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Killer Kiss
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Killer Kiss
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Telltale Talk Show Host
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Telltale Talk Show Host
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Skin-Deep Scandal
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Skin-Deep Scandal
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Heartbroken Bride
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Heartbroken Bride
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Reckless Romeo
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Reckless Romeo
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Fatal Framing
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Fatal Framing
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Fatal Fashion
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Fatal Fashion
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Glass Coffin
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Glass Coffin
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Maligned Mobster
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Maligned Mobster
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Ruthless Reporter
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Ruthless Reporter
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Defiant Daughter
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Defiant Daughter
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Silenced Singer
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Silenced Singer
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Desperate Deception
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Desperate Deception
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Poisoned Pen
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Poisoned Pen
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the All-Star Assassin
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the All-Star Assassin
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Musical Murder
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Musical Murder
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Lethal Lesson
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Lethal Lesson
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Lady in the Lake
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Lady in the Lake
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Avenging Ace
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Avenging Ace
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Scandalous Scoundrel
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Scandalous Scoundrel
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Murdered Madam
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Murdered Madam
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Sinister Spirit
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Sinister Spirit
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Lost Love
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Lost Love
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Shooting Star
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Shooting Star
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Notorious Nun
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Notorious Nun
as Della Street
Perry Mason Returns
as Della Street
Perry Mason Returns
as Della Street
The Young Runaways
as Mrs. Ogle
The Young Runaways
as Mrs. Ogle
Big Wednesday
as Mrs. Barlow
Big Wednesday
as Mrs. Barlow
The Flight of the Grey Wolf
as Mrs Hanson
The Flight of the Grey Wolf
as Mrs Hanson
The Giant Spider Invasion
as Dr. Jenny Langer
The Giant Spider Invasion
as Dr. Jenny Langer
Chester, Yesterday’s Horse
as Mrs. Belle Kincaid
Chester, Yesterday’s Horse
as Mrs. Belle Kincaid
The Red, White, and Black
as Mrs. Alice Grierson
The Red, White, and Black
as Mrs. Alice Grierson
Desert Hell
as Celie Edwards
Desert Hell
as Celie Edwards
7th Cavalry
as Martha Kellogg
7th Cavalry
as Martha Kellogg
The Country Husband
as Mrs. Julia Wiley
The Country Husband
as Mrs. Julia Wiley
The Houston Story
as Zoe Crane
The Houston Story
as Zoe Crane
Meet the Governor
as June Waters
Meet the Governor
as June Waters
Unchained
as Mary Davitt
Unchained
as Mary Davitt
The Far Horizons
as Julia Hancock
The Far Horizons
as Julia Hancock
A Lion Is in the Streets
as Verity Wade Martin
A Lion Is in the Streets
as Verity Wade Martin
Seminole
as Revere
Seminole
as Revere
Last of the Comanches
as Julia Lanning
Last of the Comanches
as Julia Lanning
The First Time
as Betsey Bennett
The First Time
as Betsey Bennett
Lorna Doone
as Lorna Doone
Lorna Doone
as Lorna Doone
Emergency Wedding
as Dr. Helen Hunt
Emergency Wedding
as Dr. Helen Hunt
The Jackpot
as Amy Lawrence
The Jackpot
as Amy Lawrence
And Baby Makes Three
as Jacqueline 'Jackie' Walsh
And Baby Makes Three
as Jacqueline 'Jackie' Walsh
The Window
as Mary Woodry
The Window
as Mary Woodry
The Clay Pigeon
as Martha Gregory
The Clay Pigeon
as Martha Gregory
The Boy with Green Hair
as Miss Brand
The Boy with Green Hair
as Miss Brand
A Likely Story
as Vicki
A Likely Story
as Vicki
Lady Luck
as Mary Audrey
Lady Luck
as Mary Audrey
First Yank into Tokyo
as Abby Drake
First Yank into Tokyo
as Abby Drake
West of the Pecos
as Rill Lambeth
West of the Pecos
as Rill Lambeth
The Falcon in Hollywood
as Peggy Callahan
The Falcon in Hollywood
as Peggy Callahan
Heavenly Days
as Angie
Heavenly Days
as Angie
Goin' to Town
as Patty
Goin' to Town
as Patty
Around the World
as Barbara Hale
Around the World
as Barbara Hale
Government Girl
as Girl in Hotel Lobby (uncredited)
Government Girl
as Girl in Hotel Lobby (uncredited)
The Iron Major
as Sarah Cavanaugh
The Iron Major
as Sarah Cavanaugh
The Seventh Victim
as Subway Passenger (Uncredited)
The Seventh Victim
as Subway Passenger (Uncredited)
Gildersleeve's Bad Day
as Girl seeking donations from Gildersleeve
Gildersleeve's Bad Day
as Girl seeking donations from Gildersleeve