Perry Mason (The Back Story)

The (Back)Story of Perry Mason

Perry Mason was the creation of author and lawyer, Erle Stanley Gardner. Premiering in the 1933 novel, The Case of the Velvet Claws, Mason is  described in the cast of characters as a “fighting attorney who preferred being paid off as a sheep to being double-crossed like a lamb.”

Mason is further described in this first novel as a man who can take care of himself and someone who seeks justice for others. And in the course of the 82 novels that would follow, Perry Mason does exactly that.

But, the 82 novels told us very little about the man, Perry Mason. There is no mention of his family, personal life, background or anything else that would flesh out this character. It was this missing information that contributed, in my opinion, to the failure of the 1934-1937 Perry Mason movies from Warner Bros. Not having much author provided information, Hollywood provided their own and made the character a pale imitation of the popular Nick Charles from the Thin Man movie series. Thus, the movies failed. Miserably.

It was the 1957 TV series starring Raymond Burr that finally “put meat on the bones” of the Gardner created lawyer-detective. The TV show told us that Mason was in the Navy during World War II. We saw his apartment and see that he likes to eat out often with Della Street. We saw that he was frequently asked to lecture at colleges and professional seminars, at home and abroad. He takes vacations, has a boat and likes to fish and golf. Raymond Burr showed us who Perry Mason was and the public has never forgotten. The show today remains in syndication 59 years after the last episode aired. That’s a tribute to the cast and crew of the Perry Mason TV show.

Raymond Burr is the one who made Perry Mason the tough and fair advocate for justice that we see today in our mind’s eye when we think of Perry Mason. However, the show also made sure that we knew Mason couldn’t accomplish these great things without the support of a great staff and capable challenging adversaries.

The loyal secretary, Della Street (Barbara Hale) and superb detective, Paul Drake (William Hopper) gave Mason the tools he needed for a victory over District Attorney, Hamilton Burger (William Talman) and Homicide Detectives, Lieutenants Tragg (Ray Collins), Anderson (Wesley Lau) and Drumm (Richard Anderson).

These primary cast members rounded out the characters created by Gardner and succeeded in telling us great stories.