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