Barbara Hale
Known for: 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).
Filmography
Series
Perry Mason
Della Street
1957
Series
Lassie
1954
Series
Adam-12
Bonnie Jessup
1968
Series
Climax!
Mamie Eunson
1954
Series
Marcus Welby, M.D.
Marjorie Brandon
1969
Series
Dinah!
Self
1974
Series
The Ford Television Theatre
Marta Linden
1952
Series
The Ford Television Theatre
Katherine Charles
1952
Series
The Ford Television Theatre
Nora White
1952
Series
Studio 57
Ruth
1954
Series
The Doris Day Show
Thelma King
1968
Series
The Millionaire
Kathy Munson / Marian Munson
1955
Series
The Wonderful World of Disney
Mrs. Ogle
1954
Series
Screen Director's Playhouse
June Waters
1955
Film
Airport
Sarah Demerest
1970
Series
Perry Mason Returns
Della Street
1985
Film
Big Wednesday
Mrs. Barlow
1978
Series
Letter to Loretta
Mrs. Strawn
1953
Film
The Oklahoman
Anne
1957
Film
The Seventh Victim
Subway Passenger (Uncredited)
1943
Series
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
Ginny Morgan
1951
Series
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
1951
Film
The Far Horizons
Julia Hancock
1955
Series
General Electric Theater
Ellen Newman
1953
Series
General Electric Theater
Lorraine
1953
Film
The Giant Spider Invasion
Dr. Jenny Langer
1975
Film
7th Cavalry
Martha Kellogg
1956
Film
The Window
Mary Woodry
1949
Film
The Boy with Green Hair
Miss Brand
1948
Film
Government Girl
Girl in Hotel Lobby (uncredited)
1943
Film
Seminole
Revere
1953
Film
Perry Mason Returns
Della Street
1985
Film
Perry Mason: The Case of the Silenced Singer
Della Street
1990
Film
Lady Luck
Mary Audrey
1946
Film
Last of the Comanches
Julia Lanning
1953
Film
The Young Runaways
Mrs. Ogle
1978
Film
The Jackpot
Amy Lawrence
1950
Film
A Lion Is in the Streets
Verity Wade Martin
1953
Film
Perry Mason: The Case of the Shooting Star
Della Street
1986
Film
Buckskin
Sarah Cody
1968
Film
Lorna Doone
Lorna Doone
1951
Film
Perry Mason: The Case of the Killer Kiss
Della Street
1993
Film
The Clay Pigeon
Martha Gregory
1949
Film
Perry Mason: The Case of the Fatal Fashion
Della Street
1991
Film
West of the Pecos
Rill Lambeth
1945
Film
Perry Mason: The Case of the Reckless Romeo
Della Street
1992
Film
Perry Mason: The Case of the Glass Coffin
Della Street
1991
Film
Perry Mason: The Case of the Lethal Lesson
Della Street
1989
Film
And Baby Makes Three
Jacqueline 'Jackie' Walsh
1949
Film
Perry Mason: The Case of the Ruthless Reporter
Della Street
1991
Film
The Falcon in Hollywood
Peggy Callahan
1944
Film
Perry Mason: The Case of the Scandalous Scoundrel
Della Street
1987
Film
Perry Mason: The Case of the Fatal Framing
Della Street
1992
Film
Perry Mason: The Case of the Skin-Deep Scandal
Della Street
1993
Film
Perry Mason: The Case of the Avenging Ace
Della Street
1988
Film
Perry Mason: The Case of the Murdered Madam
Della Street
1987
Film
Perry Mason: The Case of the Lethal Lifestyle
Della Street
1994
Film
Perry Mason: The Case of the Jealous Jokester
Della Street
1995
Film
Perry Mason: The Case of the Grimacing Governor
Della Street
1994
Film
Perry Mason: The Case of the Musical Murder
Della Street
1989
Film
The Lone Hand
Sarah Jane Skaggs
1953
Film
The Iron Major
Sarah Cavanaugh
1943
Film
Perry Mason: The Case of the Lady in the Lake
Della Street
1988
Film
Prunes and Politics
Miss Barlow
1944
Film
Perry Mason: The Case of the Notorious Nun
Della Street
1986
Film
Perry Mason: The Case of the All-Star Assassin
Della Street
1989
Film
A Likely Story
Vicki
1947
Film
Perry Mason: The Case of the Defiant Daughter
Della Street
1990
Film
Slim Carter
Allie Hanneman
1957
Film
Higher and Higher
Katherine
1943
Film
Perry Mason: The Case of the Lost Love
Della Street
1987
Film
Unchained
Mary Davitt
1955
Film
Around the World
Barbara Hale
1943
Film
Perry Mason: The Case of the Desperate Deception
Della Street
1990
Film
Perry Mason: The Case of the Heartbroken Bride
Della Street
1992
Film
Perry Mason: The Case of the Maligned Mobster
Della Street
1991
Film
The First Time
Betsey Bennett
1952
Film
The Flight of the Grey Wolf
Mrs Hanson
1976
Film
Perry Mason: The Case of the Sinister Spirit
Della Street
1987
Film
First Yank into Tokyo
Abby Drake
1945
Film
Perry Mason: The Case of the Wicked Wives
Della Street
1993
Film
Gildersleeve's Bad Day
Girl seeking donations from Gildersleeve
1943
Film
Desert Hell
Celie Edwards
1958
Film
Perry Mason: The Case of the Poisoned Pen
Della Street
1990
Film
Emergency Wedding
Dr. Helen Hunt
1950
Film
The Country Husband
Mrs. Julia Wiley
1956
Film
The Red, White, and Black
Mrs. Alice Grierson
1970
Film
Perry Mason: The Case of the Telltale Talk Show Host
Della Street
1993
Film
The Houston Story
Zoe Crane
1956
Film
The Falcon Out West
Marion Colby
1944
Film
Chester, Yesterday’s Horse
Mrs. Belle Kincaid
1973
Film
Jolson Sings Again
Ellen Clark
1949
Film
Goin' to Town
Patty
1944
Film
Heavenly Days
Angie
1944
Meet the Governor
June Waters
1955