Barbara Hale
Biography
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
Sarah Demerest
Airport
Mary Woodry
The Window
Zoe Crane
The Houston Story
Julia Lanning
Last of the Comanches
Martha Gregory
The Clay Pigeon
Martha Kellogg
7th Cavalry
Ellen Clark
Jolson Sings Again
Katherine
Higher and Higher
Miss Brand
The Boy with Green Hair
Peggy Callahan
The Falcon in Hollywood
Marion Colby
The Falcon Out West
Revere
Seminole
Mrs. Belle Kincaid
Chester, Yesterday’s Horse
Dr. Jenny Langer
The Giant Spider Invasion
Della Street
Perry Mason Returns
Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Ruthless Reporter
Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Wicked Wives
Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Silenced Singer
Julia Hancock
The Far Horizons
Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Glass Coffin
Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Heartbroken Bride
Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Killer Kiss
Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Reckless Romeo
Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Maligned Mobster
Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Skin-Deep Scandal
Abby Drake
First Yank into Tokyo
Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Scandalous Scoundrel
Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Sinister Spirit
Anne
The Oklahoman
Verity Wade
A Lion Is in the Streets
Rill Lambeth
West of the Pecos
Amy Lawrence
The Jackpot
Mrs. Alice Grierson
The Red, White, and Black
Sarah Cody
Buckskin
Jacqueline 'Jackie' Walsh
And Baby Makes Three
Sarah Jane Skaggs
The Lone Hand
Lorna Doone
Lorna Doone
Betsey Bennett
The First Time
Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Telltale Talk Show Host
Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Notorious Nun
Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Jealous Jokester
Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Grimacing Governor
Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Lost Love
Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Shooting Star
Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Lady in the Lake
Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Murdered Madam
Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Poisoned Pen
Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Musical Murder
Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Lethal Lesson
Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Desperate Deception
Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the All-Star Assassin
Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Defiant Daughter
Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Lethal Lifestyle
Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Avenging Ace
Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Fatal Fashion
Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Fatal Framing
Mary Audrey
Lady Luck
Angie
Heavenly Days
Dr. Helen Hunt
Emergency Wedding
Allie Hanneman
Slim Carter
June Waters
Meet the Governor
Vicki
A Likely Story
Mary Davitt
Unchained
Sarah Cavanaugh
The Iron Major
Girl in Hotel Lobby (uncredited)
Government Girl
Celie Edwards
Desert Hell
Miss Barlow
Prunes and Politics
Girl seeking donations from Gildersleeve
Gildersleeve's Bad Day
Barbara Hale
Around the World
Patty
Goin' to Town
Mrs. Ogle
The Young Runaways
Subway Passenger (Uncredited)
The Seventh Victim
Mrs. Barlow
Big Wednesday
Mrs Hanson
The Flight of the Grey Wolf
Mrs. Julia Wiley
The Country Husband
Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Known Credits
75
Gender
Female
Birthday
1922-04-18
Place of Birth
DeKalb, Illinois, USA
Also Known As
Барбара Хейл