Biography
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).
Acted in 90
1990s
- 1995
Perry Mason: The Case of the Jealous Jokester
Della Street
- 1994
Perry Mason: The Case of the Grimacing Governor
Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Lethal Lifestyle
Della Street
- 1993
Perry Mason: The Case of the Wicked Wives
Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Killer Kiss
Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Telltale Talk Show Host
Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Skin-Deep Scandal
Della Street
- 1992
Perry Mason: The Case of the Heartbroken Bride
Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Reckless Romeo
Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Fatal Framing
Della Street
- 1991
Perry Mason: The Case of the Fatal Fashion
Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Glass Coffin
Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Maligned Mobster
Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Ruthless Reporter
Della Street
- 1990
Perry Mason: The Case of the Defiant Daughter
Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Silenced Singer
Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Desperate Deception
Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Poisoned Pen
Della Street
1980s
- 1989
Perry Mason: The Case of the All-Star Assassin
Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Musical Murder
Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Lethal Lesson
Della Street
- 1988
Perry Mason: The Case of the Lady in the Lake
Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Avenging Ace
Della Street
- 1987
Perry Mason: The Case of the Scandalous Scoundrel
Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Murdered Madam
Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Sinister Spirit
Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Lost Love
Della Street
- 1986
Perry Mason: The Case of the Shooting Star
Della Street
- 1985
Perry Mason Returns
Della Street
Perry Mason Returns
Della Street · 30 episodes
1970s
- 1978
The Young Runaways
Mrs. Ogle
Big Wednesday
Mrs. Barlow
- 1976
The Flight of the Grey Wolf
Mrs Hanson
- 1975
- 1973
Chester, Yesterday’s Horse
Mrs. Belle Kincaid
- 1970
The Red, White, and Black
Mrs. Alice Grierson
1960s
- 1969
- 1968
Buckskin
Sarah Cody
1950s
- 1958
Desert Hell
Celie Edwards
- 1957
Slim Carter
Allie Hanneman
- 1956
The Country Husband
Mrs. Julia Wiley
The Houston Story
Zoe Crane
- 1955
Meet the Governor
June Waters
Unchained
Mary Davitt
The Far Horizons
Julia Hancock
- 1954
- 1953
A Lion Is in the Streets
Verity Wade Martin
The Lone Hand
Sarah Jane Skaggs
Last of the Comanches
Julia Lanning
General Electric Theater
Ellen Newman, Lorraine · 1 episode
- 1952
The First Time
Betsey Bennett
- 1951
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
Ginny Morgan · 1 episode
Lorna Doone
Lorna Doone
- 1950
Emergency Wedding
Dr. Helen Hunt
The Jackpot
Amy Lawrence
1940s
- 1949
And Baby Makes Three
Jacqueline 'Jackie' Walsh
Jolson Sings Again
Ellen Clark
The Clay Pigeon
Martha Gregory
- 1948
- 1947
A Likely Story
Vicki
- 1946
Lady Luck
Mary Audrey
- 1945
First Yank into Tokyo
Abby Drake
- 1944
The Falcon in Hollywood
Peggy Callahan
Heavenly Days
Angie
Goin' to Town
Patty
The Falcon Out West
Marion Colby
Prunes and Politics
Miss Barlow
- 1943
Higher and Higher
Katherine
Around the World
Barbara Hale
Government Girl
Girl in Hotel Lobby (uncredited)
The Iron Major
Sarah Cavanaugh
Gildersleeve's Bad Day
Girl seeking donations from Gildersleeve
Appearances1
1970s
- 1974
