Barbara Hale

Known for ActingBorn 1922-04-18Died 2017-01-26DeKalb, Illinois, USA

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).Read more

Movies & web series

The Red, White, and Black

Desert Hell

Goin' to Town

Perry Mason: The Case of the Heartbroken Bride

Slim Carter

Studio 57

Perry Mason: The Case of the Sinister Spirit

Perry Mason: The Case of the Silenced Singer

Heavenly Days

The Wonderful World of Disney

Perry Mason: The Case of the Lethal Lifestyle

Perry Mason: The Case of the Jealous Jokester

Perry Mason: The Case of the Killer Kiss

Perry Mason Returns

Perry Mason: The Case of the Lost Love

Perry Mason

Perry Mason: The Case of the Scandalous Scoundrel

The Ford Television Theatre

The Flight of the Grey Wolf

Perry Mason: The Case of the Glass Coffin

Perry Mason: The Case of the Fatal Fashion

Perry Mason: The Case of the Telltale Talk Show Host

Perry Mason: The Case of the Reckless Romeo

Perry Mason: The Case of the Skin-Deep Scandal

Perry Mason: The Case of the Poisoned Pen

Perry Mason Returns

Perry Mason: The Case of the Defiant Daughter

The First Time

Perry Mason: The Case of the Avenging Ace

Perry Mason: The Case of the Shooting Star

Prunes and Politics

Perry Mason: The Case of the Lethal Lesson

Perry Mason: The Case of the Notorious Nun

Perry Mason: The Case of the Fatal Framing

The Young Runaways

Adam-12

Dinah!

Perry Mason: The Case of the Lady in the Lake

Schlitz Playhouse of Stars

Perry Mason: The Case of the Murdered Madam

Perry Mason: The Case of the Wicked Wives

Big Wednesday

Perry Mason: The Case of the Desperate Deception

Perry Mason: The Case of the Maligned Mobster

The Jackpot

Unchained

Screen Director's Playhouse

Perry Mason: The Case of the All-Star Assassin