Barbara Hale
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- April 18, 1922
- Died
- January 26, 2017
- Birthplace
- DeKalb, Illinois, USA
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
Perry Mason: The Case of the Jealous Jokester 1995
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Grimacing Governor 1994
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Lethal Lifestyle 1994
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Wicked Wives 1993
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Killer Kiss 1993
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Telltale Talk Show Host 1993
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Skin-Deep Scandal 1993
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Heartbroken Bride 1992
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Reckless Romeo 1992
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Fatal Framing 1992
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Fatal Fashion 1991
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Glass Coffin 1991
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Maligned Mobster 1991
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Ruthless Reporter 1991
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Defiant Daughter 1990
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Silenced Singer 1990
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Desperate Deception 1990
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Poisoned Pen 1990
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the All-Star Assassin 1989
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Musical Murder 1989
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Lethal Lesson 1989
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Lady in the Lake 1988
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Avenging Ace 1988
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Scandalous Scoundrel 1987
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Murdered Madam 1987
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Sinister Spirit 1987
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Lost Love 1987
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Shooting Star 1986
as Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Notorious Nun 1986
as Della Street
Perry Mason Returns 1985
as Della Street
The Young Runaways 1978
as Mrs. Ogle
Big Wednesday 1978
as Mrs. Barlow
The Flight of the Grey Wolf 1976
as Mrs Hanson
The Giant Spider Invasion 1975
as Dr. Jenny Langer
Chester, Yesterday’s Horse 1973
as Mrs. Belle Kincaid
The Red, White, and Black 1970
as Mrs. Alice Grierson
Airport 1970
as Sarah Demerest
Buckskin 1968
as Sarah Cody
Desert Hell 1958
as Celie Edwards
Slim Carter 1957
as Allie Hanneman
The Oklahoman 1957
as Anne
7th Cavalry 1956
as Martha Kellogg
The Country Husband 1956
as Mrs. Julia Wiley
The Houston Story 1956
as Zoe Crane
Meet the Governor 1955
as June Waters
Unchained 1955
as Mary Davitt
The Far Horizons 1955
as Julia Hancock
A Lion Is in the Streets 1953
as Verity Wade Martin
The Lone Hand 1953
as Sarah Jane Skaggs
Seminole 1953
as Revere
Last of the Comanches 1953
as Julia Lanning
The First Time 1952
as Betsey Bennett
Lorna Doone 1951
as Lorna Doone
Emergency Wedding 1950
as Dr. Helen Hunt
The Jackpot 1950
as Amy Lawrence
And Baby Makes Three 1949
as Jacqueline 'Jackie' Walsh
Jolson Sings Again 1949
as Ellen Clark
The Window 1949
as Mary Woodry
The Clay Pigeon 1949
as Martha Gregory
The Boy with Green Hair 1948
as Miss Brand
A Likely Story 1947
as Vicki
Lady Luck 1946
as Mary Audrey
First Yank into Tokyo 1945
as Abby Drake
West of the Pecos 1945
as Rill Lambeth
The Falcon in Hollywood 1944
as Peggy Callahan
Heavenly Days 1944
as Angie
Goin' to Town 1944
as Patty
The Falcon Out West 1944
as Marion Colby
Prunes and Politics 1944
as Miss Barlow
Higher and Higher 1943
as Katherine
Around the World 1943
as Barbara Hale
Government Girl 1943
as Girl in Hotel Lobby (uncredited)
The Iron Major 1943
as Sarah Cavanaugh
The Seventh Victim 1943
as Subway Passenger (Uncredited)
Gildersleeve's Bad Day 1943
as Girl seeking donations from Gildersleeve
Credits from TMDB.