Barbara Hale
{{Short description|American actress (1922–2017)}}{{For|the New Zealand/Australian librarian|Barbara Hale (librarian)}}
{{Use American English|date=September 2019}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Barbara Hale
| image = Barbara Hale Seminole.jpg
| imagesize =
| caption = Hale in 1953
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1922|04|18}}
| birth_place = DeKalb, Illinois, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|2017|01|26|1922|04|18}}
| death_place = Sherman Oaks, California, U.S.
| resting_place =
| known_for = Perry Mason
| occupation = Actress
| yearsactive = 1943–2000
| spouse = {{marriage|Bill Williams
|1946|1992|end={{abbr|died}}}}
| children = 3, including William Katt
}}
Barbara Hale (April 18, 1922 – January 26, 2017) was an American actress who portrayed legal secretary Della Street in the dramatic television series Perry Mason (1957–1966), earning her a 1959 Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. She reprised the role in 30 Perry Mason made-for-television movies (1985–1995).
Early life
Barbara Hale was born in DeKalb, 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.[http://members.aol.com/haleroots/familytree.html Descendants of John Hale Sr. (Frontiersman) – Hale Roots] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070308032107/http://members.aol.com/haleroots/familytree.html|date=March 8, 2007}} The family was of Scottish and Irish ancestry.{{cite web|url=http://www.glamourgirlsofthesilverscreen.com/show/113/Barbara+Hale/index.html|title=Barbara Hale – The Private Life and Times of Barbara Hale. Barbara Hale Pictures|publisher=Glamourgirlsofthesilverscreen.com|access-date=March 12, 2014}} In 1940, Hale was a member of the final graduating class{{cite news|last1=Wright|first1=Gilson|title=Barbara Hale is "my kind of people" says writer|newspaper=The Journal News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3158862/the_journal_news/|agency=The Journal News|date=April 15, 1973|page=12|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=September 4, 2015}} {{Open access}} from Rockford High School{{cite journal|journal=Life|title=Barbara Hale|date=April 22, 1946|volume=20|issue=16|pages=111–14}} in Rockford, Illinois. She then attended the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts, planning to be an artist. Her performing career began in Chicago, when she started modeling to pay for her education.{{cite news|last1=Gunson|first1=Victor|title=Barbara Hale Attaining Film Stardom, Happiest over Obtaining a New House!|newspaper=The Morning Herald |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3158767/the_morning_herald/|agency=The Morning Herald|date=March 16, 1946|page=16|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=September 4, 2015}} {{Open access}}
Career
=Film=
File:Barbara Hale in Jolson Sings Again trailer.jpg
Hale moved to Hollywood in 1943, and under contract to RKO Radio Pictures, made her first screen appearance (uncredited) in Gildersleeve's Bad Day. She continued to make small, uncredited appearances in films, until her first credited role as a glamorous debutante alongside Frank Sinatra in Higher and Higher (1943) (even singing with him in the film).{{cite news|last1=King|first1=Susan|title=Retro: Barbara Hale's Success Is No Mystery|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-12-12-tv-923-story.html|access-date=September 5, 2015|agency=Los Angeles Times|date=December 12, 1993}} Hale had leading roles in RKO features including West of the Pecos (1945) with Robert Mitchum in his second star vehicle, Lady Luck (1946) — opposite Robert Young in what she described as her first "full stardom" and "her fifth A picture" — and The Window (1949).
Hale left RKO in 1949 and was signed by Columbia Pictures. She received excellent notices for her co-starring performance opposite Larry Parks in the musical biography Jolson Sings Again (1949). She and Parks were teamed for subsequent films.
Hale's run of successful movies continued during the 1950s: the adventure Lorna Doone (1951); the comedy The Jackpot (with James Stewart) (also 1951); the drama A Lion Is in the Streets (1953) with James Cagney, and the Westerns Seminole (also 1953) and The Oklahoman (1957). The latter film, co-starring Joel 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 movie Airport, playing the wife of an airline pilot (played by Dean Martin). Hale's final appearance in a feature film was in the 1978 drama Big Wednesday as Mrs. Barlow, the mother of the character played by Hale's real-life son William Katt.
=Television=
File:Raymond Burr Barbara Hale Perry Mason 1958.jpg in the CBS-TV series Perry Mason (1958)]]
Hale was considering retirement from acting when she accepted her best known role, as legal secretary Della Street in the television series Perry Mason, starring Raymond Burr as the titular character. The show ran for nine seasons from 1957 to 1966, with 271 episodes produced. The role won Hale a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.
File:Perry-Mason-Hopper-Hale-1958.jpg (left) and Frank Sully in Perry Mason (1958)]]
In 1985, Hale and Burr (by then the only surviving cast members from the original series) reprised their roles for the TV movie Perry Mason Returns. The film was such a ratings hit{{cite news |last=Grimes |first=William |date=September 14, 1993 |title=Raymond Burr, Actor, 76, Dies; Played Perry Mason and Ironside |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/09/14/obituaries/raymond-burr-actor-76-dies-played-perry-mason-and-ironside.html |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=December 26, 2018 }} 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, subtitled A Perry Mason Mystery (and starring Paul Sorvino as Anthony Caruso in the first film and Hal Holbrook as "Wild" Bill McKenzie in the remaining three). Hale is thus the only actor to feature in all 30 films.
Hale's son William Katt played detective Paul Drake, Jr., alongside Hale in nine of the Perry 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 movie Big Wednesday.
Hale guest-starred in "Murder Impromptu", a 1971 episode of Ironside, Burr's first post-Perry Mason series.
Her last on-screen appearance was a TV biographical documentary about Burr that aired in 2000.
=Radio=
Hale's activity in radio was limited; she appeared in one episode each of Voice of the Army (1947), Lux Radio Theatre (1950), and Proudly We Hail (syndicated), as well as five episodes of Family Theater (1950–1954).{{cite web|title=Hale, Barbara|url=http://www.radiogoldindex.com/cgi-local/p4.cgi?ArtistName=Hale,%20Barbara&ArtistNumber=02946|website=radioGOLDINdex|access-date=January 29, 2017|archive-date=February 2, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202073353/http://www.radiogoldindex.com/cgi-local/p4.cgi?ArtistName=Hale,%20Barbara&ArtistNumber=02946|url-status=dead}}
Spokeswoman
When the Amana Corporation wanted a spokeswoman for its new Radarange 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."1973 Radarange TV commercial (first 30 seconds of video) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auSzyKg4bHE
Private life and death
In 1945, during the filming of West of the Pecos, Hale met actor Bill 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, actor William Katt.{{cite journal|last1=York|first1=Cal|title=Raymond Burr Saved My Marriage|journal=TV Radio Mirror|date=September 1962|volume=58|issue=4|pages=62–64|url=https://archive.org/stream/radiotvm00ma#page/n311/mode/1up|access-date=September 5, 2015}}
Hale became a follower of the Baháʼí Faith.{{cite news|title=Bahai faith teaches universal acceptance of God|agency=Associated Press|date=December 30, 2000|url=http://www.uga.edu/bahai/News/123000-1.html|access-date=January 29, 2017|archive-date=August 21, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070821123223/http://www.uga.edu/bahai/News/123000-1.html|url-status=dead}}
Hale died at her home in Sherman Oaks, California, on January 26, 2017, at age 94 of complications from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.{{cite web|url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/barbara-hale-dead-perry-mason-893891|title=Barbara Hale, the Loyal Della Street on 'Perry Mason', Dies at 94|first1=Mike|last1=Barnes|first2=Duane|last2=Byrge|date=January 27, 2017|work=The Hollywood Reporter|access-date=January 29, 2017}}{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/tv/barbara-hale-who-played-della-street-on-perry-mason-dies-at-94/2017/01/27/a18c6b20-e4d3-11e6-a547-5fb9411d332c_story.html|title=Barbara Hale, who played Della Street on 'Perry Mason', dies at 94|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=January 27, 2017|date=January 29, 2017|author=Bernstein, Adam}}{{cite news |last1=Barnes |first1=Mike |title=Barbara Hale, the Loyal Della Street on 'Perry Mason,' Dies at 94 |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/barbara-hale-dead-perry-mason-893891/ |access-date=26 March 2023 |work=The Hollywood Reporter |date=27 January 2017}}{{cite news |title=Olson: When Barbara Hale became 'DeKalb's own' |url=https://www.shawlocal.com/2017/02/01/olson-when-barbara-hale-became-dekalbs-own/al7txgj/ |access-date=26 March 2023 |work=Shaw Local |language=en}}{{cite news |last1=Carlson |first1=Michael |title=Barbara Hale obituary |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2017/jan/31/barbara-hale-obituary |access-date=26 March 2023 |work=The Guardian |date=31 January 2017}}{{cite news |title=Emmy-winner Barbara Hale, who played Perry Mason's secretary, has died at 94 |url=https://www.courant.com/2017/01/28/emmy-winner-barbara-hale-who-played-perry-masons-secretary-has-died-at-94/ |access-date=26 March 2023 |work=Hartford Courant |date=28 January 2017}}
Accolades
Hale was recognized as a Star of Television (with a marker at 1628 Vine Street) on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on February 8, 1960.{{cite web|title=Barbara Hale|url=http://www.walkoffame.com/barbara-hale|website=Hollywood Walk of Fame|access-date=September 7, 2015}} She won the Emmy 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.{{cite web|title=Awards Search: Barbara Hale|url=http://www.emmys.com/awards/nominations/award-search?search_api_views_fulltext=Barbara+Hale&submit=Search&field_celebrity_details_field_display_name=&field_show_details_field_nominee_show_nr_title=&field_show_details_field_network=All&field_show_details_field_production_company=All&field_nominations_year=1949-01-01+00%3A00%3A00&field_nominations_year_1=2015-01-01+00%3A00%3A00&field_nomination_category=All|website=Television Academy: Emmys|access-date=January 29, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202063550/http://www.emmys.com/awards/nominations/award-search?search_api_views_fulltext=Barbara+Hale&submit=Search&field_celebrity_details_field_display_name=&field_show_details_field_nominee_show_nr_title=&field_show_details_field_network=All&field_show_details_field_production_company=All&field_nominations_year=1949-01-01+00%3A00%3A00&field_nominations_year_1=2015-01-01+00%3A00%3A00&field_nomination_category=All|archive-date=February 2, 2017|url-status=dead}}
She was presented one of the Golden Boot Awards in 2001 for her contributions to western cinema.{{cite web|title=Golden Boot Awards 2001|url=http://www.goldenbootawards.com/gba2001.html|access-date=January 29, 2017}}
Filmography
=Films=
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |
|---|
| rowspan="8"| 1943
| 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 | |
| rowspan="5"| 1944
| Prunes and Politics | | Short |
| The Falcon Out West
| Marion Colby | |
| Goin' To Town
| Patty | |
| Heavenly Days
| Angie | |
| The Falcon in Hollywood
| Peggy Callahan | |
| rowspan="2"| 1945
| Rill Lambeth | |
| First Yank into Tokyo
| Abby Drake | |
| 1946
| Mary Audrey | |
| 1947
| Vickie North | |
| 1948
| Miss Brand | |
| rowspan="4"| 1949
| Martha Gregory | |
| The Window
| Mrs. Mary Woodry | |
| Jolson Sings Again
| Ellen Clark | |
| And Baby Makes Three
| Jacqueline 'Jackie' Walsh | |
| rowspan="2"| 1950
| Amy Lawrence | |
| Emergency Wedding
| Dr. Helen Hunt | |
| 1951
| Lorna Doone | |
| rowspan="2"| 1952
| Betsey Bennet | |
| Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder
| Barbara Hale | Uncredited |
| rowspan="4"| 1953
| Julia Lanning | |
| Seminole
| Revere Muldoon | |
| The Lone Hand
| Sarah Jane Skaggs | |
| A Lion Is in the Streets
| Verity Wade | |
| rowspan="2"| 1955
| Mary Davitt | |
| The Far Horizons
| Julia Hancock | |
| rowspan="2"| 1956
| Zoe Crane | |
| 7th Cavalry
| Martha Kellogg | |
| rowspan="2"| 1957
| Anne Barnes | |
| Slim Carter
| Allie Hanneman | |
| 1958
| Celie Edwards | |
| 1968
| Buckskin | Sarah Cody | |
| rowspan="2"| 1970
| Airport | Sarah Demerest | |
| The Red, White and Black
| Mrs. Alice Grierson | |
| 1975
| Dr. Jenny Langer | |
| 1978
| Mrs. Barlow | Final film role |
=Television=
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |
|---|
| 1952–56
| Marta Linden, Nora White | Episodes: "The Divided Heart", "Remember to Live", "Behind the Mask" |
| 1953
| Katherine Charles | Episode: "Change of Heart" |
| 1953–55
| | Episodes: "Vacation for Ginny", "Tourists-Overnight" |
| rowspan="6"| 1955
| 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" |
| rowspan="4"| 1956
| 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
| Mrs. Julia Wiley, Ann Barnes, Allie Hanneman | Episodes: "The Country Husband", "The Blackwell Story" |
| 1957–66
| Credited in all 271 episodes |
| 1959
| General Electric Theater | Lorraine | Episode: "Night Club" |
| 1960
| Herself | |
| 1963
| Herself | 2 episodes |
| 1967
| Custer | Melinda Terry | Episode: "Death Hunt" |
| rowspan="2"| 1969
| Insight | Mom | Episode: "A Thousand Red Flowers" |
| Lassie
| Sarah Caldwell | Episode: "Lassie and the Water Bottles" |
| 1970
| | Episode: "Model for Murder" |
| rowspan="2"| 1971
| Ironside | Marsha Connell | Episode: "Murder Impromptu" |
| Adam-12
| Bonnie Jessup | Episode: "Pick-up"; Hale's husband Bill Williams also appears |
| 1972
| 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
| Marjorie | Episode: "The Faith of Childish Things" |
| 1976
| Dinah! | Herself | |
| 1982
| Paula Hinkley | Episode: "Who's Woo in America" |
| 1985
| rowspan="30"| Della Street | rowspan="26"| Perry Mason TV movie |
| rowspan="2"| 1986
| The Case of the Notorious Nun |
| The Case of the Shooting Star |
| rowspan="4"| 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 |
| rowspan="2"| 1988
| The Case of the Avenging Ace |
| The Case of the Lady in the Lake |
| rowspan="3"| 1989
| The Case of the Lethal Lesson |
| The Case of the Musical Murder |
| The Case of the All-Star Assassin |
| rowspan="4"| 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 |
| rowspan="4"| 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 |
| rowspan="3"| 1992
| The Case of the Fatal Framing |
| The Case of the Reckless Romeo |
| The Case of the Heartbroken Bride |
| rowspan="4"| 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
| rowspan="4"| A Perry Mason Mystery TV movie |
| rowspan="2"| 1994
| The Case of the Lethal Lifestyle |
| The Case of the Grimacing Governor |
| 1995
| The Case of the Jealous Jokester |
| 2000
| Herself | Episode: "Raymond Burr, The Case of the TV Legend" |
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{commons}}
- {{IMDb name|0354853}}
- {{TCMDb name}}
- [http://www.aveleyman.com/ActorCredit.aspx?ActorID=7240 Barbara Hale] (Aveleyman)
{{EmmyAward DramaSupportingActress 1959–1975}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hale, Barbara}}
Category:People from DeKalb, Illinois
Category:Actresses from Illinois
Category:American radio actresses
Category:American film actresses
Category:American television actresses
Category:Columbia Pictures contract players
Category:American people of Scotch-Irish descent
Category:20th-century American actresses
Category:21st-century American women
Category:Respiratory disease deaths in California