Perry Mason

Perry Mason was a long-running TV series, based on the equally long established series of detective novels by Erle Stanley Gardner. Airing on CBS from 1957 to 1966, Raymond Burr starred as the titular defense attorney, whose courtroom theatrics and careful sleuthing resolved many murder cases. A major boast, often mocked in parodies or guest spots on comedy shows, was that Perry never lost a case (and apart from three known exceptions or so, he never did, and even those were usually either reversed or the client turned out to be an imposter). As with the books, all episode titles began "The Case of the..." and usually involved alliteration ("The Case of the Caretaker's Cat," "Shoplifter's Shoe," etc.)

Although there were other adaptations (in radio, film, and even a 1973 series with a different cast), it was Raymond Burr's portrayal of Perry Mason that became iconic (and moved Burr from character actor status to a major celebrity). A 1985 reunion movie, Perry Mason Returns, aired to high ratings, followed by a semi-regular movie series (similar to Columbo) on NBC for a total of twenty-five installments between 1986 and 1993. Even after Burr's death in 1993, the series continued (retitled A Perry Mason Mystery) with four more movies (with the same supporting cast and a guest lawyer asked by a pre-occupied, off-screen Perry to fill-in) through 1995.

Connections

 * Raymond Burr played Perry Mason
 * Dick Clark played Leif Early in "The Case of the Final Fade-Out" (1966)
 * James Coburn played Donald Fletcher in "Case of the Envious Editor" and General Addison Brand in "The Angry Astronaut."
 * Harold Gould played Lawrence West in "Case of the Latent Lover" (1964)
 * Cloris Leachman played Gloria Shine in "Case of the Crafty Kidnapper" (1966)
 * Leonard Nimoy played Pete Chennery in "Case of the Shoplifter's Shoe" (1963)
 * William Schallert played Donald Graves in "Case of The Sulky Girl," Dr. Bradbury in "The Misguided Missile," and Len Dykes in "The Melancholy Marksman"
 * Hal Smith played a supper club owner in "Case of the Treacherous Toupee" (1960) and a police moulage expert in "Case of the Shapely Shadow" (1962)
 * Olan Soule played the court clerk in four episodes (1958-1964), a bank teller in "Case of the Rolling Bones," and a water company official in "Case of the Shapely Shadow"
 * John Stephenson played Ed Davenport in "Case of the Runaway Corpse," Grant Reynolds in "The Borrowed Brunette," and Frank Avery in "The Gallant Grafter"
 * William Woodson played a medical examiner or other doctor in five episodes (1962-1965) and a news commentator in "The Case of the Two-Faced Turn-a-bout" (1963)