Barbara Hale

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).

Known For

Perry Mason

Adam-12

Lassie

Climax!

Marcus Welby, M.D.

Dinah!

The Millionaire

The Ford Television Theatre

All Movies (75)

• Perry Mason: The Case of the Jealous Jokester1995 · as Della Street
• Perry Mason: The Case of the Grimacing Governor1994 · as Della Street
• Perry Mason: The Case of the Lethal Lifestyle1994 · as Della Street
• Perry Mason: The Case of the Wicked Wives1993 · as Della Street
• Perry Mason: The Case of the Killer Kiss1993 · as Della Street
• Perry Mason: The Case of the Telltale Talk Show Host1993 · as Della Street
• Perry Mason: The Case of the Skin-Deep Scandal1993 · as Della Street
• Perry Mason: The Case of the Heartbroken Bride1992 · as Della Street
• Perry Mason: The Case of the Reckless Romeo1992 · as Della Street
• Perry Mason: The Case of the Fatal Framing1992 · as Della Street
• Perry Mason: The Case of the Fatal Fashion1991 · as Della Street
• Perry Mason: The Case of the Glass Coffin1991 · as Della Street
• Perry Mason: The Case of the Maligned Mobster1991 · as Della Street
• Perry Mason: The Case of the Ruthless Reporter1991 · as Della Street
• Perry Mason: The Case of the Defiant Daughter1990 · as Della Street
• Perry Mason: The Case of the Silenced Singer1990 · as Della Street
• Perry Mason: The Case of the Desperate Deception1990 · as Della Street
• Perry Mason: The Case of the Poisoned Pen1990 · as Della Street
• Perry Mason: The Case of the All-Star Assassin1989 · as Della Street
• Perry Mason: The Case of the Musical Murder1989 · as Della Street
• Perry Mason: The Case of the Lethal Lesson1989 · as Della Street
• Perry Mason: The Case of the Lady in the Lake1988 · as Della Street
• Perry Mason: The Case of the Avenging Ace1988 · as Della Street
• Perry Mason: The Case of the Scandalous Scoundrel1987 · as Della Street
• Perry Mason: The Case of the Murdered Madam1987 · as Della Street
• Perry Mason: The Case of the Sinister Spirit1987 · as Della Street
• Perry Mason: The Case of the Lost Love1987 · as Della Street
• Perry Mason: The Case of the Shooting Star1986 · as Della Street
• Perry Mason: The Case of the Notorious Nun1986 · as Della Street
• Perry Mason Returns1985 · as Della Street
• The Young Runaways1978 · as Mrs. Ogle
• Big Wednesday1978 · as Mrs. Barlow
• The Flight of the Grey Wolf1976 · as Mrs Hanson
• The Giant Spider Invasion1975 · as Dr. Jenny Langer
• Chester, Yesterday’s Horse1973 · as Mrs. Belle Kincaid
• The Red, White, and Black1970 · as Mrs. Alice Grierson
• Airport1970 · as Sarah Demerest
• Buckskin1968 · as Sarah Cody
• Desert Hell1958 · as Celie Edwards
• Slim Carter1957 · as Allie Hanneman
• The Oklahoman1957 · as Anne
• 7th Cavalry1956 · as Martha Kellogg
• The Country Husband1956 · as Mrs. Julia Wiley
• The Houston Story1956 · as Zoe Crane
• Meet the Governor1955 · as June Waters
• Unchained1955 · as Mary Davitt
• The Far Horizons1955 · as Julia Hancock
• A Lion Is in the Streets1953 · as Verity Wade Martin
• The Lone Hand1953 · as Sarah Jane Skaggs
• Seminole1953 · as Revere
• Last of the Comanches1953 · as Julia Lanning
• The First Time1952 · as Betsey Bennett
• Lorna Doone1951 · as Lorna Doone
• Emergency Wedding1950 · as Dr. Helen Hunt
• The Jackpot1950 · as Amy Lawrence
• And Baby Makes Three1949 · as Jacqueline 'Jackie' Walsh
• Jolson Sings Again1949 · as Ellen Clark
• The Window1949 · as Mary Woodry
• The Clay Pigeon1949 · as Martha Gregory
• The Boy with Green Hair1948 · as Miss Brand
• A Likely Story1947 · as Vicki
• Lady Luck1946 · as Mary Audrey
• First Yank into Tokyo1945 · as Abby Drake
• West of the Pecos1945 · as Rill Lambeth
• The Falcon in Hollywood1944 · as Peggy Callahan
• Heavenly Days1944 · as Angie
• Goin' to Town1944 · as Patty
• The Falcon Out West1944 · as Marion Colby
• Prunes and Politics1944 · as Miss Barlow
• Higher and Higher1943 · as Katherine
• Around the World1943 · as Barbara Hale
• Government Girl1943 · as Girl in Hotel Lobby (uncredited)
• The Iron Major1943 · as Sarah Cavanaugh
• The Seventh Victim1943 · as Subway Passenger (Uncredited)
• Gildersleeve's Bad Day1943 · as Girl seeking donations from Gildersleeve

All TV Shows (19)

• Perry Mason Returns1985 · as Della Street
• Dinah!1974 · as Self
• Marcus Welby, M.D.1969 · as Marjorie Brandon
• The Doris Day Show1968 · as Thelma King
• Adam-121968 · as Bonnie Jessup
• Perry Mason1957 · as Della Street
• Screen Director's Playhouse1955 · as June Waters
• The Millionaire1955 · as Kathy Munson / Marian Munson
• The Wonderful World of Disney1954 · as Mrs. Ogle
• Climax!1954 · as Mamie Eunson
• Studio 571954 · as Ruth
• Lassie1954
• Letter to Loretta1953 · as Mrs. Strawn
• General Electric Theater1953 · as Ellen Newman
• General Electric Theater1953 · as Lorraine
• The Ford Television Theatre1952 · as Marta Linden
• The Ford Television Theatre1952 · as Katherine Charles
• Schlitz Playhouse of Stars1951 · as Ginny Morgan
• Schlitz Playhouse of Stars1951