Barbara Hale
Acting
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).
Known for
Acting91
moviePerry Mason: The Case of the Lost Love
1987
Della Street
moviePerry Mason Returns
1985
Della Street
tvPerry Mason Returns
1985
Della Street
movieThe Young Runaways
1978
Mrs. Ogle
movieBig Wednesday
1978
Mrs. Barlow
movieThe Flight of the Grey Wolf
1976
Mrs Hanson
movieThe Giant Spider Invasion
1975
Dr. Jenny Langer
tvDinah!
1974
Self
movieChester, Yesterday’s Horse
1973
Mrs. Belle Kincaid
movieThe Red, White, and Black
1970
Mrs. Alice Grierson
movieAirport
1970
Sarah Demerest
tvMarcus Welby, M.D.
1969
Marjorie Brandon
tvThe Doris Day Show
1968
Thelma King
tvAdam-12
1968
Bonnie Jessup
movieBuckskin
1968
Sarah Cody
movieDesert Hell
1958
Celie Edwards
movieSlim Carter
1957
Allie Hanneman
tvPerry Mason
1957
Della Street
movie7th Cavalry
1956
Martha Kellogg
movieThe Country Husband
1956
Mrs. Julia Wiley
movieThe Houston Story
1956
Zoe Crane
Meet the Governor
1955
June Waters
tvScreen Director's Playhouse
1955
June Waters
movieUnchained
1955
Mary Davitt
movieThe Far Horizons
1955
Julia Hancock
tvThe Millionaire
1955
Kathy Munson / Marian Munson
tvThe Wonderful World of Disney
1954
Mrs. Ogle
tvClimax!
1954
Mamie Eunson
tvStudio 57
1954
Ruth
movieA Lion Is in the Streets
1953
Verity Wade Martin
tvLetter to Loretta
1953
Mrs. Strawn
movieThe Lone Hand
1953
Sarah Jane Skaggs
movieSeminole
1953
Revere
movieLast of the Comanches
1953
Julia Lanning
tvGeneral Electric Theater
1953
Ellen Newman / Lorraine
tvThe Ford Television Theatre
1952
Marta Linden / Katherine Charles
movieThe First Time
1952
Betsey Bennett
tvSchlitz Playhouse of Stars
1951
Ginny Morgan
movieLorna Doone
1951
Lorna Doone
movieEmergency Wedding
1950
Dr. Helen Hunt
movieThe Jackpot
1950
Amy Lawrence
movieAnd Baby Makes Three
1949
Jacqueline 'Jackie' Walsh
movieJolson Sings Again
1949
Ellen Clark
movieThe Window
1949
Mary Woodry
movieThe Clay Pigeon
1949
Martha Gregory
movieThe Boy with Green Hair
1948
Miss Brand
movieLady Luck
1946
Mary Audrey
movieFirst Yank into Tokyo
1945
Abby Drake
movieWest of the Pecos
1945
Rill Lambeth
movieThe Falcon in Hollywood
1944
Peggy Callahan
movieThe Falcon Out West
1944
Marion Colby
moviePrunes and Politics
1944
Miss Barlow
movieHigher and Higher
1943
Katherine
movieAround the World
1943
Barbara Hale
movieGovernment Girl
1943
Girl in Hotel Lobby (uncredited)
movieThe Iron Major
1943
Sarah Cavanaugh
movieThe Seventh Victim
1943
Subway Passenger (Uncredited)
movieGildersleeve's Bad Day
1943
Girl seeking donations from Gildersleeve