Actress. Her best known acting role was legal secretary 'Della Street' on the long-running television series "Perry Mason." At age twelve, she began taking lessons in ballet and started to participate in local theater plays. After she graduated from high school, she enrolled in the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts and briefly worked as a model, posing for a comic strip named "Ramblin' Bill."
Her agent sent photos to RKO Motion Picture Studios in Los Angeles, California. An audition was arranged, and shortly thereafter, she signed a stock contract and relocated there. Her first appearance on film was in 1943's "Gildersleeve's Bad Day," followed by roles in such RKO films as "Higher and Higher" (1944), "The Falcon Out West" (1944), "First Yank Into Tokyo" (1945), "West of the Pecos (1945), "Lady Luck" (1946), "The Jackpot" (1950), "Lone Hand" (1951), "Last of the Comanches" (1953) and "The Houston Story" (1956).
After that, arrangements with Columbia Motion Picture Studios and other production companies followed. In 1956, she was offered the part of 'Della Street' in the "Perry Mason" television series opposite Raymond Burr in the leading role, working on the show for nine years. She would receive an Emmy Award in 1959 for her role and was nominated again in 1961. When Burr got the offer in the mid-1980s to star in the "Perry Mason" made-for-television movies, he accepted only with the condition that Hale reprise the role of Della Street. She accepted the role and appeared in all the episodes until Burr's death in 1993.
She also guest-starred in various television series and in several films, such as "Airport" (1970), "The Giant Spider Invasion" (1975), and "Big Wednesday" (1978). Hale, who was the matriarch of a show business family that included her late husband, actor Bill Williams, who starred in the 1950s western series "The Adventures of Kit Carson" and their son, William Katt, who played the title role in the early 1980s television series "The Greatest American Hero," died from complications of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Her agent sent photos to RKO Motion Picture Studios in Los Angeles, California. An audition was arranged, and shortly thereafter, she signed a stock contract and relocated there. Her first appearance on film was in 1943's "Gildersleeve's Bad Day," followed by roles in such RKO films as "Higher and Higher" (1944), "The Falcon Out West" (1944), "First Yank Into Tokyo" (1945), "West of the Pecos (1945), "Lady Luck" (1946), "The Jackpot" (1950), "Lone Hand" (1951), "Last of the Comanches" (1953) and "The Houston Story" (1956).
After that, arrangements with Columbia Motion Picture Studios and other production companies followed. In 1956, she was offered the part of 'Della Street' in the "Perry Mason" television series opposite Raymond Burr in the leading role, working on the show for nine years. She would receive an Emmy Award in 1959 for her role and was nominated again in 1961. When Burr got the offer in the mid-1980s to star in the "Perry Mason" made-for-television movies, he accepted only with the condition that Hale reprise the role of Della Street. She accepted the role and appeared in all the episodes until Burr's death in 1993.
She also guest-starred in various television series and in several films, such as "Airport" (1970), "The Giant Spider Invasion" (1975), and "Big Wednesday" (1978). Hale, who was the matriarch of a show business family that included her late husband, actor Bill Williams, who starred in the 1950s western series "The Adventures of Kit Carson" and their son, William Katt, who played the title role in the early 1980s television series "The Greatest American Hero," died from complications of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Actress. Her best known acting role was legal secretary 'Della Street' on the long-running television series "Perry Mason." At age twelve, she began taking lessons in ballet and started to participate in local theater plays. After she graduated from high school, she enrolled in the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts and briefly worked as a model, posing for a comic strip named "Ramblin' Bill."
Her agent sent photos to RKO Motion Picture Studios in Los Angeles, California. An audition was arranged, and shortly thereafter, she signed a stock contract and relocated there. Her first appearance on film was in 1943's "Gildersleeve's Bad Day," followed by roles in such RKO films as "Higher and Higher" (1944), "The Falcon Out West" (1944), "First Yank Into Tokyo" (1945), "West of the Pecos (1945), "Lady Luck" (1946), "The Jackpot" (1950), "Lone Hand" (1951), "Last of the Comanches" (1953) and "The Houston Story" (1956).
After that, arrangements with Columbia Motion Picture Studios and other production companies followed. In 1956, she was offered the part of 'Della Street' in the "Perry Mason" television series opposite Raymond Burr in the leading role, working on the show for nine years. She would receive an Emmy Award in 1959 for her role and was nominated again in 1961. When Burr got the offer in the mid-1980s to star in the "Perry Mason" made-for-television movies, he accepted only with the condition that Hale reprise the role of Della Street. She accepted the role and appeared in all the episodes until Burr's death in 1993.
She also guest-starred in various television series and in several films, such as "Airport" (1970), "The Giant Spider Invasion" (1975), and "Big Wednesday" (1978). Hale, who was the matriarch of a show business family that included her late husband, actor Bill Williams, who starred in the 1950s western series "The Adventures of Kit Carson" and their son, William Katt, who played the title role in the early 1980s television series "The Greatest American Hero," died from complications of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Her agent sent photos to RKO Motion Picture Studios in Los Angeles, California. An audition was arranged, and shortly thereafter, she signed a stock contract and relocated there. Her first appearance on film was in 1943's "Gildersleeve's Bad Day," followed by roles in such RKO films as "Higher and Higher" (1944), "The Falcon Out West" (1944), "First Yank Into Tokyo" (1945), "West of the Pecos (1945), "Lady Luck" (1946), "The Jackpot" (1950), "Lone Hand" (1951), "Last of the Comanches" (1953) and "The Houston Story" (1956).
After that, arrangements with Columbia Motion Picture Studios and other production companies followed. In 1956, she was offered the part of 'Della Street' in the "Perry Mason" television series opposite Raymond Burr in the leading role, working on the show for nine years. She would receive an Emmy Award in 1959 for her role and was nominated again in 1961. When Burr got the offer in the mid-1980s to star in the "Perry Mason" made-for-television movies, he accepted only with the condition that Hale reprise the role of Della Street. She accepted the role and appeared in all the episodes until Burr's death in 1993.
She also guest-starred in various television series and in several films, such as "Airport" (1970), "The Giant Spider Invasion" (1975), and "Big Wednesday" (1978). Hale, who was the matriarch of a show business family that included her late husband, actor Bill Williams, who starred in the 1950s western series "The Adventures of Kit Carson" and their son, William Katt, who played the title role in the early 1980s television series "The Greatest American Hero," died from complications of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Bio by: Louis du Mort
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