who created fictional lawyer perry mason?

by Tressie Krajcik 5 min read

Erle Stanley Gardner

Is Perry Mason a real lawyer?

Who created fictional lawyer Perry Mason? Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason, fictional American trial lawyer and detective, the protagonist of more than 80 mystery novels (beginning with The Case of the Velvet Claws, 1933) by American attorney Erle Stanley Gardner.

What is Perry Mason famous for?

Erle Stanley Gardner and His Fiction Factory Before Erle Stanley Gardner created the fictional lawyer Perry Mason, he lived the part of a pugnacious defense attorney. He represented the downtrodden and often-exploited Chinese and Mexican …

Is Perry Mason based on a true story?

fictional character. Perry Mason, fictional American trial lawyer and detective, the protagonist of more than 80 mystery novels (beginning with The Case of the Velvet Claws, 1933) by American attorney Erle Stanley Gardner. Mason, who almost never lost a case, also had a successful legal career in film, radio (1943–55), and especially on television, as portrayed by Raymond Burr …

When did Perry Mason first appear on TV?

Perry Mason is a fictional character, an American criminal defense lawyer who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner.

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Is Perry Mason based on a true story?

Marion Parker, 12, was found dead in similar circumstances in 1927. The disturbing case of a kidnapped and slain baby that drives the plot of the HBO series “Perry Mason” is based on a real-life case that's even more gruesome than the one depicted in the show.Aug 10, 2020

Was the original Perry Mason a lawyer?

Perry Mason is an American legal drama series originally broadcast on CBS television from September 21, 1957, to May 22, 1966. The title character, portrayed by Raymond Burr, is a Los Angeles criminal defense lawyer who originally appeared in detective fiction by Erle Stanley Gardner.

Did Perry Mason ever defend a black person?

Mason never defends a black client; on the one occasion when a black actor guest-starred—the Jamaican-born mixed-race actor Frank Silvera—he played a white character. By and large, black men and women appear only in bit parts and uncredited roles.Jun 19, 2020

Did Perry Mason ever sleep with Della?

He never did. Yet throughout the run of the original Perry Mason television series (1957 to 1966), and especially in the 82 Mason novels, it's clear that Perry and Della had a unique relationship, filled with mutual admiration and respect, unquestioning loyalty, and yes, love.Dec 18, 2021

Was Perry Mason a private investigator or a lawyer?

Perry Mason, fictional American trial lawyer and detective, the protagonist of more than 80 mystery novels (beginning with The Case of the Velvet Claws, 1933) by American attorney Erle Stanley Gardner.

Who sponsored Perry Mason?

Everything on TV up to the point had been anthology series along the lines of The Alcoa Hour. Finally, Purex agreed to sponsor some of Perry Mason — oddly, only the odd-numbered episodes from 1 to 25.May 12, 2020

Was George Takei ever on Perry Mason?

"Perry Mason" The Case of the Blushing Pearls (TV Episode 1959) - George Takei as Toma Sakai - IMDb.

Where is Paul Drake from Perry Mason?

He became best known for his work as private detective Paul Drake in the CBS television series Perry Mason....William HopperHopper in 1934BornWilliam DeWolf Hopper Jr.January 26, 1915 New York City, U.S.DiedMarch 6, 1970 (aged 55) Palm Springs, California, U.S.Resting placeRose Hills Memorial Park5 more rows

Why was William Katt replaced on Perry Mason?

A Katt has left to pursue a movie career. He has been replaced by William R. Moses as Ken Malansky, Perry Mason's new assistant. Moses was a client of Mason's in The Case of the Lethal Lesson.Mar 31, 1989

Did Perry Mason ever kiss Della Street?

At the end of the movie Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) and Della Street (Barbara Hale) share the first on screen kiss between the two characters.

How did Perry Mason end up in a wheelchair?

In the 1956 program Fort Laramie, Burr starred as Cavalry Cpt. Lee Quince. In a foreshadowing of his Ironside role, he had to record much of his lines while confined to a wheelchair, after injuring his leg during the filming of Crime of Passion.May 19, 2016

How much did Raymond Burr make for Perry Mason?

$2-millionEmmy-winning actor Raymond Burr's salary rose to $2-million within eight years of playing Perry Mason (Erle Stanley Gardner's fictional crusading lawyer who never lost a case to his arch-nemesis, DA Hamilton Burger). Later, he played wheelchair-bound cop Robert T.Jul 5, 2008

Who played Perry Mason in the first Perry Mason movie?

The two surviving stars of the CBS-TV series, Raymond Burr and Barbara Hale, reprised their roles as Mason and Della Street. In the first telefilm, Perry Mason Returns, Mason is an appellate court judge who resigns his position to successfully defend his secretary Della on murder charges. William Katt, Hale's son, was cast as Paul Drake, Jr. William Hopper, who played private investigator Paul Drake in the original TV series, had died years earlier; Hopper's photograph appears on Paul Drake Jr.'s desk. In the later TV movies, Mason used the services of attorney Ken Malansky, played by William R. Moses .

What is Perry Mason's occupation?

Occupation. Lawyer. Nationality. American. Perry Mason is a fictional character, an American criminal defense lawyer who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason features in 82 novels and 4 short stories, all of which involve a client being charged with murder, ...

How many episodes of Perry Mason were there?

Several years after Perry Mason was cancelled, a new series, The New Perry Mason, aired in 1973 featuring Monte Markham in the title role. A total of 15 episodes aired before being cancelled halfway through its first season.

How many Perry Mason books are there?

Perry Mason features in 82 novels and 4 short stories, all of which involve a client being charged with murder, usually involving a preliminary hearing or jury trial. Typically, Mason establishes his client's innocence by finding the real murderer.

What are the names of the characters in Perry Mason?

Regular characters. Recurring characters in the Perry Mason stories include the following: Perry Mason: Los Angeles attorney introduced in the 1933 novel, The Case of the Velvet Claws. Della Street: Mason's confidential secretary introduced in the 1933 novel, The Case of the Velvet Claws.

When did Perry Mason start on TV?

Perry Mason was adapted for radio as a 15-minute daily crime series that aired from 1943 to 1955 on CBS Radio. It had little in common with the usual portrayal of Mason, so much so that Gardner withdrew his support for a TV version of the daytime serial that began airing on CBS in 1956. The general theme of the radio series was continued, with a different title and characters, as The Edge of Night.

When did Perry Mason come out?

A second television series, The New Perry Mason starring Monte Markham, ran from 1973 to 1974; and 30 Perry Mason television films ran from 1985 to 1995, with Burr reprising the role of Mason in 26 of them prior to his death in 1993. A third television series, HBO 's Perry Mason starring Matthew Rhys, started airing in 2020.

Who is Perry Mason?

Before Erle Stanley Gardner created the fictional lawyer Perry Mason, he lived the part of a pugnacious defense attorney. He represented the downtrodden and often-exploited Chinese and Mexican immigrants flooding into California in the early 1900s. And before that, he scrapped his way through a childhood spent in an Oregon mining camp. But it all started in 1889 in Malden, Mass.

When was the first Mason novel published?

It would be 400-plus stories, novels, and articles later that the first Mason novel, The Case of the Velvet Claws, would be published in 1933 and launch Gardner’s enduring character.

How did Gardner work?

Gardner’s work habits were legendary. Rising well before dawn, he would begin the day by dictating new novels for several hours. A staff of typists would transcribe the recordings and he would spend the remainder of the day revising and preparing his manuscripts to send to the publisher.

What was Gardner's second career?

Yet writing was very much a second career for Gardner. His childhood in Massachusetts lasted just 10 years. His father, a mining engineer, moved the family to the West Coast and found work in Oregon. Gardner became a boxer as a young man, and got tossed from high school for fighting. But his father Charles wanted Gardner to become a lawyer.

Who played Perry Mason?

Mason, who almost never lost a case, also had a successful legal career in film, radio (1943–55), and especially on television, as portrayed by Raymond Burr (1957–66 and 1985–93). Perry Mason is assisted by Della Street, his faithful secretary, and private investigator Paul Drake.

What is an encyclopedia editor?

Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. ...

Was Perry Mason a lawyer?

Perry Mason is a fictional character, an American criminal defense lawyer who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner.

Was the original Perry Mason a lawyer or a detective?

That led to him dropping out, moving back to California, studying for the bar on his own, and passing it in 1911. And while he enjoyed litigation and developing trial strategy, he was ultimately bored by legal practice itself.

Why did Perry Mason have guest lawyers?

With 271 cases over nine seasons, it’s safe to say that Perry Mason was television’s most successful attorney. … The reason given for his first absence was “minor surgery.” Some sources, such as Raymond Burr: A Film, Radio, and Television Biography, state that the surgery was to remove intestinal polyps.

Was Perry Mason a private investigator?

In the successful series of Perry Mason television films that began in 1985, the Paul Drake character was part of the back story: his son Paul Jr. served as Mason’s private investigator in the first nine films.

Why did Perry Mason end up in a wheelchair?

By 1993, when Burr signed with NBC for another season of Mason films, he was using a wheelchair full-time because of his failing health. In his final Perry Mason movie, The Case of the Killer Kiss, he was shown either sitting or standing while leaning on a table, but only once standing unsupported for a few seconds.

Is anyone still alive from Perry Mason?

In the hugely successful US television series Perry Mason (1957-66), Barbara Hale, who has died aged 94, played Della Street, Mason’s secretary. She reprised the role in 29 TV movies between 1985 and 1995.

Did Perry Mason ever kiss Della Street?

At the end of the movie Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) and Della Street (Barbara Hale) share the first on screen kiss between the two characters. … Based on characters created by Erle Stanley Gardner, who is not credited by the Writers Guild of America for this teleplay.

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Overview

Perry Mason is a fictional character, an American criminal defense lawyer who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason features in 82 novels and 4 short stories, all of which involve a client being charged with murder, usually involving a preliminary hearing or jury trial. Typically, Mason establishes his client's innocence by finding the real mu…

Character

As a child, Gardner read the magazine Youth's Companion, published by the Perry Mason Company - a name Gardner later borrowed for his fictional attorney. Gardner provided more information about Mason's character in earlier novels while knowledge of his character is largely taken for granted in the later works, the television series and movies. In the first novel (The Case of the Velvet Claws, 1933), Mason describes himself in the following way:

Novels

Julian Symons noted that Erle Stanley Gardner "had spent more than twenty years practicing law in California, and the knowledge he gained was put to good use in the Perry Mason stories, which hinge on points of law, forensic medicine or science as clever as a watch mechanism … and also the total lack of characterization".
While the Mason novels were largely a form of pulp fictionof the sort that began Gardner's writin…

Adaptations

Warner Bros. released a series of six Perry Mason films in the 1930s.
• The Case of the Howling Dog (1934), with Warren William as Perry Mason and Helen Trenholme as Della Street.
• The Case of the Curious Bride (1935), with Warren William and Claire Dodd as Della Street. Notable for the first-released American screen appearance of Errol Flynnas the corpse, who is seen alive but …

Regular characters

Recurring characters in the Perry Mason stories include the following:
• Perry Mason: Los Angeles attorney introduced in the 1933 novel, The Case of the Velvet Claws.
• Della Street: Mason's confidential secretary introduced in the 1933 novel, The Case of the Velvet Claws.

Influence

In her confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee in July 2009, Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor prefaced her remarks on the role of the prosecutor by saying that she was inspired by watching the Perry Mason television series as a child:
I was influenced so greatly by a television show in igniting the passion that I had as being a prosecutor, and it was Perry Mason … In one of the episodes, at the end of the episode … Perry s…

External links

• Perry Mason at the Museum of Broadcast Communications Encyclopedia of Television
• Database and cover gallery for the Dell Comic book based on the TV show
• The Perry Mason TV Show Book by Brian Kelleher and Diana Merrill