| Barbara Hale (born April 18, 1922) is an Emmy Award-winning American actress known for her role as Della Street, the loyal secretary of Perry Mason. Biography Personal life Hale was born in DeKalb, Illinois, the daughter of Willa (née Colvin) and Luther Ezra Hale, a landscape gardener. She has Scottish-Irish ancestry. Hale attended high school in Rockford, Illinois, then began appearing in motion pictures in 1943 after training at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. In 1946 she married actor Bill Williams, a union that produced three children (including actor William Katt) and four grandchildren (two grandsons by her son William and one grandson and one granddaughter by youngest daughter Juanita). The marriage lasted for 46 years until his death in 1992 from brain cancer. Hale herself has survived several bouts of cancer. She has also been a spokeswoman for Amana appliances. She is an adherent of the Bahá'í Faith. Career Hale was under contract to RKO Pictures in the late 1940s. Although she never became a major film star, she appeared in 1944's Higher and Higher with Frank Sinatra, 1946's Lady Luck opposite Robert Young and Frank Morgan as well as 1949's The Window and "Jolson Sings Again", the latter opposite Larry Parks' Al Jolson as his wife, Ellen Clark. Other films included The Boy with Green Hair (1948) and the title role in Lorna Doone (1951). But by far the actress's greatest success was her iconic role of Della Street, the all-knowing secretary and girl Friday to the eminent attorney Perry Mason. Hale starred in in this landmark TV series with Raymond Burr from 1957 to 1966 and reprised her role for a number of television movies beginning in the 1980s. Her son William Katt appeared in several of these latter productions as private detective Paul Drake Jr., son of the character played by William Hopper who had been Mason's staunchest ally during the TV series' original run. The show was so successful that the actress's contribution was recognized with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She was nominated for the Emmy Award twice, in 1959 and 1961, winning in 1959. Hale had a featured role in the movie Airport portraying the wife of pilot Dean Martin. References - Some sources cite 1921
- Descendants of John Hale Sr. (Frontiersman) - Hale Roots
- Barbara Hale - The Private Life and Times of Barbara Hale. Barbara Hale Pictures
- The Associated Press (2000-12-30). "Bahai faith teaches universal acceptance of God".
External links - Barbara Hale at the Internet Movie Database
- Barbara Hale at TV.com
- Barbara Hale Home Page
- Barbara Hale Annex
| Persondata | | NAME | Hale, Barbara | | ALTERNATIVE NAMES | | | SHORT DESCRIPTION | Actor | | DATE OF BIRTH | 1922-4-18 | | PLACE OF BIRTH | DeKalb, Illinois, USA | | DATE OF DEATH | | | PLACE OF DEATH | | | v • d • e Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress - Drama Series | | Barbara Hale (1959) · Pamela Brown (1962) · Glenda Farrell (1963) · Ruth White (1964) · Lee Grant (1966) · Agnes Moorehead (1967) · Barbara Anderson (1968) · Susan Saint James (1969) · Gail Fisher (1970) · Margaret Leighton (1971) · Jenny Agutter (1972) · Ellen Corby (1973) · Joanna Miles (1974) · Ellen Corby (1975) | | Complete list: (1962-1975) · (1976-2000) · (2001-present) | | | 