Most people know Perry Mason through the long-running television series and the subsequent made-for-TV follow-ups, but the character was actually a literary star long before he ever appeared on the small screen.
That led to him dropping out, moving back to California, studying for the bar on his own, and passing it in And while he enjoyed litigation and developing trial strategy, he was ultimately bored by legal practice itself.
Either way we sure would have loved to have him on our side as an accident attorney here in Los Angeles! When his writing took off, he was only too happy to leave it behind. Image source: Wikipedia. Gardner was born in Massachusetts in , but lived much of his life in California, graduating from Palo Alto High School in at age 20 and calling Temecula, California, home for the last 33 years of his life. He died in four months shy of his 81st birthday.
Fittingly enough for his only acting credit, Gardner chose the final episode of the TV series. It was Ken, who served as the basis for what Perry Mason would become, according to biographer Dorothy B. Image source: Amazon. Three years later, the novel was adapted for the big screen. It later appeared as an episode in the long-running TV series season six, episode The actor took on the role for the landmark television series and stayed with it for nine seasons and hour-long episodes.
The show ended in and Burr took a break from the character for 20 years but would later return to it in a series of memorable feature-length made-for-TV films. According to IMDB , there were 30 films in all. Burr starred in 26 of them. After his death in , Paul Sorvino and Hal Holbrook starred in the last four. Total amount of years from start to finish playing the character: 36 years.
Each episode of the to Perry Mason television show ran 52 minutes. Multiply that times episodes, and you get 14, minutes, or just over hours. It would take an additional two days approximately Perry Mason was no exception.
The radio show first appeared in October and had a healthy 3,episode run. Mason was voiced by numerous voice actors. After an infuriating experience with the Perry Mason movies, including one incident where he actually removed the character from a movie that the studio had turned into a western, Gardner was determined to do the TV show right. He was sitting in at the auditions when a man named Raymond Burr read for the lead role after trying out unsuccessfully for prosecutor Hamilton Burger.
In fact, Burr was both preceded and followed by other actors in the role, at least in relation to his successful TV series. Unlike its predecessor, this TV series ditched the iconic music and only made it to episode 15 before its cancellation. The first, Warren William, had a successful four-film run.
However, the second and third stars received one film apiece. Image source: Pinterest. Stuttering Bishop starring Donald Woods was also an adaptation. The original Perry Mason television series boasts one of the longest syndication runs of all time if not THE longest. That was following a tenure of close to half a century 48 years on the station, Oregon Live notes. Matthew Rhys as Perry Mason.
Juliet Rylance as Della Street. Chris Chalk as Paul Drake. Tatiana Maslany as Sister Alice. Shea Whigham as Pete Strickland. Gayle Rankin as Emily Dodson. This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses.
You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano. More From Television. Hopper joined the cast as Mason's personal detective Paul Drake. The part of his secretary, Della Street, went to actress Barbara Hale. Besides the unique format of the investigation followed by the trial, Perry Mason created the DNA of numerous other television shows in the years since. Law, Better Call Saul , and countless others take their cues from the show, which pioneered much of how courtroom drama is depicted on television.
Just a few of the now well-established tropes include the very ideas of investigators and defense attorneys as heroes, the unexpected confession during cross-examination, and the utter invincibility of the main character.
Television shows tend to make their heroes, well, heroic, but Perry Mason went even further. The erstwhile lawyer never lost a case in the entire run of the series, from to He did come close a couple of times. Some shows end up making characters too good or perfect annoying, but Perry was just Perry.
The show had an impact on culture at large that went far beyond just an hour of diversion each week. Proving that life is stranger than fiction, the show was cited in over different judicial opinions. Beyond that, the show was referenced in almost five hundred legal briefs and nearly a thousand law review articles. But I'd never known anyone like him. I couldn't help myself. Katherine Ames: I wrote back publish and go to blazes. I'm proud of my figure. Alyssa Laban: Bruce Jason!
I've read his name in Hollywood gossip columns for years. Burger's office. Why, Mr. Why Bruce Jason? Hillman, my father is still practically a stranger in this country, and I've tried to take care of him and look out for him.
And I don't think Bruce Jason is the lawyer for him! Philip Hillman: Jason is very good. Alyssa Laban: [laughs scornfully] When it comes to nightclubbing or holding hands with some dumb, blond, temperamental starlet — oh, I'll bet he's good, all right. Tragg: Uh, mind if I give you a little advice? Mason: Do I have a choice? Tragg: Suppression of material evidence in a murder might be hard to explain to the Bar Association. And I'd hate to lose my favorite sparring partner.
Hamp Fisher: Say I'm not the kind of guy who jumps to conclusions, but I get the feeling you don't like me. Paul Drake: You know, I'm not the kind of guy that passes out compliments, but you really got me figured. Myra: Karen Lewis could no more steal from this company or sell its formulas than — than she could fall for a goat like you!
Nancy: Because I need the money! Because he was wearing pretty colors! Because he smiled at me. Rhonda Houseman: Mr. Mason, I'm not a thief. Rowena: I'm telling you, the next guy is gonna have assets. And he's gonna let me count 'em, or there'll be no deal.
Tom: Won't he have to have any charm, brains, or muscle?
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