Photo from the iconic television show-Perry Mason (Submitted Photo)

If I hadn’t been so busy reading every book I could get my hands when I was in high school, I might have watched Perry Mason on TV. My attention, however, was riveted at the time to Cyrano de Bergerac (my first love) and O.Henry (my first writing teacher).

My role models were Joan of Arc ... but one who leads a happy life and doesn’t get burned at the stake; and photojournalist Margaret Bourke-White, who immortalized combat on the front lines ... and everything else with her camera ... during World War II.

However, had I been been lucky enough to be watching Perry Mason during my formative years, I surely would have been equally inspired by his confidential secretary, Della Street,.

Played by Barbara Hale with sexy dignity, impeccable savvy, and subtle humor (you could see her eyes rolling with disbelief sometimes at what Mason asked her to do), Della was the perfect foil to Raymond Burr’s often inscrutable defense attorney. Since starring in the 1950s-60s series, and again in TV movies made in the 1980s-90s, other actors have tried to duplicate Burr’s performances. But to no avail. There was only one Perry Mason: Raymond Burr. There was only one Della Street: Barbara Hale.

In his younger years – and even after his enormous weight gain (Hey. He was Perry Mason. He could do whatever he wanted to!) – Burr was a handsome guy with what my friend Mary says were “THE most beautiful eyes of any actor I’ve ever seen.” They were pools of concentrated intensity, so penetrating, I kept expecting his long, long eyelashes to burst into flame.

Not to be outdone, Barbara Hale also acted with her eyes, using them to convey admiration, scorn, disbelief, frustration, and other emotions clanging around like ball bearings in her bottomless bag of tricks. In an interview she gave to Herbie J. Pilato, Hale said that not long after she was hired to play Della Street, she “approached the producers with a suggestion: she did not want more lines or more ‘business’ (character interaction and action) ... ‘I just want Della to have reaction shots in response to Perry’s dialogue’ … so that she could be looked upon as the silent partner.”

Which brings me to what I love so much about the show: that Perry and Della did not have an employer / employee relationship. They were partners, each an expert in his or her area of expertise. Equally professional and equally respectful. But Oh So Different.

Perry Mason: blood hound with a gleaming eye, hot on the scent of the real killer. Remorseless, imaginative. Law abiding (if barely), and indefatigable. An alpha-male but also a protector.

Della Street: slim and stylish. The confidential secretary who never sits across from the attorney, but always at his desk, side by side.

In show after show, I got a kick out of Della, delicately stepping around piles of bricks or fallen branches at a crime scene, wearing dainty open-toe high heels, close behind (or directly in front of) Perry, in search of a clue. I equally enjoyed scenes in which he returns to his office in the dead of the night to find Della asleep on the sofa, but instead of waking her up, he removes his coat and gently spreads it over her shoulders to keep her warm while she sleeps.

Other touches bring smiles to my face. Perry stepping around the front of his car to open a door for Della, or (one of my favorites) his hand gently cupping her elbow as he guides her around a puddle or up a curb.

One striking thing about Barbara Hale’s portrayal of Della is that – in vivid contrast to the empty headed, vindictive, wimpy, or manipulative females she played opposite in the series – Della was always a grown-up woman. Comparing her to actresses of today, most of whom seem to be clutching desperately to their youth (face and boob lifts, adolescent clothing, and idiotic references to “baby bumps,” “baby daddies” and BFFs ), she was a beacon of intelligence and poise.

In an interview with Herbie J Pilato given long after she retired, Barbara Hale explained that Gail Patrick Jackson, the show’s executive producer “did not seek so much to represent the fashions of the day ... Della was fashionable, but always just a step ahead of the times. If women were wearing their skirts long, Della would wear them a little longer. When they were wearing them shorter, Della would wear them shorter still ... which essentially meant that my wardrobe never changed. And that was because we knew the show was going to run for a long time ...and we wanted to give (it) a timeless look.”

Speaking of Gail Patrick Jackson, she was another of those women I wish we had more of today. She began her career as an actress, later became a game show host, and then moved on to create the Perry Mason television series. Gail’s husband, Cornwell Jackson, was literary agent to Erle Stanley Gardner. Although Gardner was cynical about licensing his Perry Mason character for other media, Gail earned his trust, and together with Cornwell, and Gardner, created Paisano Productions, thus giving the world the eternal gift of our favorite defense attorney. Well ... maybe not “eternal,” but undeniably with “long legs.”

Gail Patrick Jackson, her co-producer husband, and Erle Stanley Gardner were all dead when NBC producer Dean Hargrove conceived the idea of bringing Perry Mason back as a television movie in 1985. Although Hargrove was able to talk Raymond Burr into recreating his original role, Burr said he would do it only if NBC hired Barbara Hale to return as Della Street, too.

So, Perry Mason was back! But this time, without others of the original cast who had also died: William Hopper (Paul Drake), William Talman (Hamilton Burger), and Ray Collins (Lt. Arthur Tragg). “They were my boys,” Barbara Hale recalled wistfully. “I loved each of them dearly. They were like four of my brothers … my loves – and to this day, along with Raymond, of course, I miss them terribly.”

For sentimental reasons, and also in order to establish continuity, Paul Drake was kept alive in the new series through the character of Paul Drake, Jr., Perry Mason’s private investigator. Also apt is that Paul, Jr. was played by Barbara Hale’s real-life son, actor William Katt.

The new Perry Mason Movies became so popular that after the first was filmed, another 29 were produced, and the series continued until Burr’s death in 1993. Which is great for us all, as the black and white series and the TV movies are widely available today, both as DVDs and on television, and anyone can watch them pretty much anywhere.

The only downside is ... oh, wait. There IS no downside. Just intelligent entertainment that doesn’t require us to check our brains (like umbrellas) at the door before we tune in.

Copyright © Shelly Reuben, 2023. Shelly Reuben’s books have been nominated for Edgar, Prometheus, and Falcon awards. For more about her writing, visit www.shellyreuben.com