I met William Talman once at Hollywood Park. He was tearing up racing slips. This was a guy who could not win. He was disgraced in one of those incredibly seedy LA sex scandals shortly before he died of lung cancer. On the other hand, I have to point out that his most famous character, though utterly hapless, was also always completely honorable. In those days, if only on TV, there was a 100% presumption that a DA would never try to railroad an innocent client. I don't recall Lt. Tragg ever crossing an ethical line either. In fact, when Berger went down in flames, the camera would often catch him with a wry smile as if he were secretly pleased.

I grew up on Perry Mason and -- rather like Bonanaza -- went to bed immediately after that reassuring denoument ...

Raymond Burr was possessed of one of those stellar voices (like Alan Rickman, for instance, or Van Morrison, for another) -- I recall describing a much loved grown-up of my childhood as a "fixed star" by which one could always find one's bearigs...

Della Street influenced more than one generation of "on-their-own" women who were more more than "just" a divorcee, a vamp, or a secretary ... Perry APPRECIATED her in ways we all wanted to be appreciated.

I know I was quite stunned when I learned of Burr's "secret life" ... I hadn't guessed, nor had I been told (and I grew up in Los Angeles and had parents in the industry and HAD been told about Rock Hudson and Tab Hunter and, _____, and _____, and _____ long before I hit my teens). I was very touched by the testimonies of his fellow actors. Burr aspired to be great actor ... which he was when he got the parts ... apparently, despite the frustrations he must have felt as a gay man for whom physiognamy and aging were not "kind" ... he was a kind, generous and truly loving man.

I think I learned about him through his "Biography" portrait ...

As a kid, I kind of liked him; he had an impressive voice, a commanding presence, and he always, always won. And the theme song was as jazzy as anything on TV (at least before Peter Gunn).

As an adult, I had to dub many episodes of the show for my station's library. I became aware of how formulaic the shows were, as I reviewed the tapes for tech errors. I also noticed how nobody challenged the base assumptions of the characters.

As Perry Mason, Burr was the eunich of rogue justice. Where other gay actors played characters who at least pretended to have relationships with women, Mason was all business. Della Street did her business, and if she ever dated anyone (certainly not Mason) it was well-hidden. It was as if sex, even restrained, hinted-at, 1950's sex, never occurred to any of the characters. Usually we never saw Mason's personal life, unless he was awakened by a 3 AM phone call from a client in trouble.

Later on, in Ironside, Burr loosened the screws only slightly. He would admit to admiring or sympathizing with some of the people in his cases, although usually only the convicted or the victims. He did not seem like a man other people would like as a friend, only admire for his skills.

In fact, although I can't claim to be encyclopedic about it, I can only remember one show in which Burr guest-starred as himself; an episode of The Flip Wilson Show. And that may have been forced by NBC in order to publicize Ironside. I don't recall him being very communicative or even happy in that visit.

I grew up with Perry, Della, and Paul in the 1950s and early 1960s. With Lieutenant Tragg and Hamilton Burger, they formed a sort of surrogate family for someone who longed to get out of the suburbs and see what "real life" was all about. I think you're right that there was something subversive about Perry's loyalty to his clients. He always judged their guilt or innocence within minutes of meeting them and stuck by them to the end. The evidence might say guilty, but his gut declared otherwise. And yes, I think my generation took this sense of justice into our daily lives and, after the "unsolved" murder of a president, we challenged our elders to do the right thing--in civil rights, in Vietnam, etc. I'm certainly not crediting Perry with inspiring the counter-culture here (he seemed particularly down on the beat culture in a couple of episodes), but he played his part. As Mojo Nixon might say, "I'm not talking 'bout no Ironsides." We never did learn much about Perry's private life. He lived alone and never dated. Della, too, kept her private life private, apart from a sisterly flirtation with Paul. She played Perry's beard on a number of occasions and was always gorgeous. Little did we know what skeletons might be lurking in Perry Mason or Raymond Burr's closet--and the interesting thing is, we didn't care!

dude, if u ever read this comment, know that i read my first perry mason when i was 9 and i have been crazy abt that world ever since (im 29). til i joined the workfrce at 22 and saw the light, i assumed the world to be like a perry mason novel. i loved the legal erudition and crime-fighting pals of ESG who he dedicated books to in the preface. I loved the language, the setting, CALIFORNIA and most of all, I LOVED mason himself. believe me, my world was a better, dreamier, slicker, sweeter place before i realised the America of today is NOT the America of Mason's day.

Used to be that the old Perry Mason shows were on at least one station during the day or evening, but they seems to have disappeared completely now. (Same with the Mary Tyler Moore Show - it would be lovely to have that timeless sitcom back, too.) No matter how often I saw reruns, each show seemed fresh, and the ending was always a surprise. Honestly, I hardly ever figured out who did it. The film noirish aspect of the show was great, too. Poor old Hamilton Burger and Perry actually got to be somewhat friendly later on in the series. God, I loved it all.