The name Barbara Hale is one that many won’t quickly want to forget, especially those who grew up watching her TV series in the mid 50s and 60s. Hale was one of the actresses who graced the big screen with their performances on the era. She is best known for playing Secretary Della Street in Perry Mason – a legal drama series that aired on CBS from 1957 to 1966. Her role in the television series won her an Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series at the Emmy Awards. from 1959. Between 1985 and 1995, Barabra Hale reprized her role as Della Street in thirty Perry Mason films for television. She also starred in the 1949 black and white thriller The Window .and in several other films and television series in his career spanning over four decades.
Here’s everything you need to know about the legendary actress, including her career, husband, kids, life and death.
Barbara Hale Bio, Age
Hale was born in DeKalb, Illinois on April 18, 1922, to Wilma and Luther Ezra Hale. His family is of Irish and Scottish descent. His father was a landscaper. She had a sister named Juanita.
Hale attended Rockford High School,Rockford, Illinois, where she graduated in 1940. After high school, she went to the Academy of Fine Arts in Chicago where she created a model to support herself in school.
In 1943, Barbara Hale moved to Hollywood. she soon landed a contract with RKO Radio Pictures and made her first screen appearance in Gildersleeve’s Bad Day, although it was uncredited. She didn’t stop there but continued to make uncredited appearances in films until she landed her first credited role later that year. Higher and higher alongside Frank Sinatra.
Hale soon landed starring roles in West of the Pecos, Lady Luck, and The Window. Her other films in the 1950s include the role of Lorna Doone in The Jackpot alongside James Stewart, A Lion in the Street, Seminole, and The Oklahoman.
After starring in The Oklahoman , Barbara took a break from acting in feature films and focused on the Perry Mason television series through which she rose to prominence. The next time she appeared in a feature film was in the 1970s; first in the 1970 film Airport, where she played a pilot’s wife and in the 1978 drama Big Wednesday playing Mrs. Barlow, alongside her real-life son William Katt.
Barbara Hale was contemplating retirement when she landed the best role of her acting career, being legal secretary Della Street alongside Raymond Burr, lead character in the television series Perry Mason. . The series aired on CBS from 1957 to 1966. The role not only earned Hale a name in the industry, it also earned her the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.
She also reprized the character in thirty PerryFilms Mason for television alongside Burr, who was the only original cast member after Hale beginning in 1985. Even after Burr’s death in 1993, Barbara Hale continued to star in the film until 1995, becoming the only actor from the original cast to appear in the film. all thirty films.
Hale ended her acting career in 2000 by appearing in a television biographical documentary about Burr. She was successful not only on screen but also on radio, as heard in a 1947 episode of Voice of the Army. 1950s Theater Lux Radio, five episodes of Family Theater which aired from 1950 to 1954 and also in an episode of Proudly We Salute Each Other.
Apart from winning Emmys in 1959 for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, in 1961 Barbara Hale was nominated for Emmys for Outstanding Performance in a Supporting Role by an Actor or Actress in a Series. In February 1960, she earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and in 2001 she received a Golden Boot Award for Outstanding Contributions to Western Cinema.
Her husband and children
Hale was married to actor Herman August WilhelmKatt, popularly known as Bill William, from June 22, 1946 until his death in September 1992. At the time of his death, the couple had been married for 46 years.
Also read about: Who was Miguel Ferrer, How did he die? All you need to know
They had three children. a son William Katt and two daughters (Jodi and Juanita). Katt started behaving like her parents; in the 1960s, he made guest appearances in some episodes of Perry Mason and starred as Detective Paul Drake, Jr. in 9 Perry Mason films from 1985 to 1988 alongside his mother. He also played Hale’s son in the 1978 film Great Wednesday
Is she dead or still alive?
Barbara Hale died in January 2017 at her ShermanOaks, Calif., home at the age of 94 from complications resulting from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Before that, she had survived bladder cancer. She was buried next to her husband at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills).
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7r63Io5innaeoe6S7zGiZrrKqZL2mu8%2BlnGiakaevor7AZp%2BapJVir6q7jJyfoqSUp7KveceuqpuZnpl6orPEZqCsZaOdsm6wxJqbZqeiYsC1tculZJqkmauycA%3D%3D