50 Fun Facts About Perry Mason

Besides being an author, what was the creator of Perry Mason by profession?

He defended poor Chinese and Mexican immigrants early in his career and stayed in practice until his first Mason novel sold in 1933.

How many Perry Mason novels did Gardner write?

Add four short stories. The series ranks third among the top ten best-selling book series of all time.

Which real Los Angeles defence attorney inspired the character of Perry Mason?

Gardner took the name Perry Mason from the Perry Mason Company, publisher of a magazine he read as a child.

Gardner borrowed the name Perry Mason from the publisher of which magazine he read as a boy?

The first novel appeared in 1933 and had Mason describe himself as a specialist in getting people out of trouble.

What was the title of the first Perry Mason novel, published in 1933?

Much of it is set at the Pierpont Inn near Gardner's old law office in Ventura, California.

In The Case of the Sleepwalker's Niece, what is Perry Mason's astrological sign?

That is one of the few personal details Gardner ever gave. Mason's family, education and background are never depicted.

In which 1935 novel does Mason manufacture false evidence in the form of glass eyes?

The early book Mason was not above questionable tactics; the ethical image most people hold comes from the television series.

Gardner passed the California bar in which year, after teaching himself law?

He had been suspended from Valparaiso University's law school after about a month when boxing proved too distracting.

What yearly word quota did Gardner set himself while writing for pulp magazines?

He typed with two fingers at first and later dictated to a team of secretaries. He was the best-selling American author of the century when he died.

Gardner founded which 1940s organisation to help people imprisoned unfairly?

It grew from his early years defending poor Chinese and Mexican immigrants and is seen as a forerunner of today's wrongful-conviction groups.

Under which pseudonym did Gardner publish many of his non-Mason novels?

He used a dozen other pen names too, and once signed a story as his own character Della Street.

Gardner moved in 1937 to which Southern California town, where he lived out his life?

His widow, whom he married after his first wife's death in 1968, lived to 100 and died in San Diego in 2002.

How many Perry Mason films did Warner Bros. release in the 1930s?

Warren William played Mason in the first four, starting with The Case of the Howling Dog in 1934.

In the 1936 film of the first novel, what does Mason do that never happens in the books?

He has to cut the honeymoon short to defend a woman accused of murder. It was Warren William's fourth and final turn in the role.

The Perry Mason radio serial ran on CBS Radio between which years?

The 15-minute weekday show leaned toward action and soap opera, with Mason sometimes exchanging gunfire with criminals.

The radio serial became which long-running TV soap after Gardner withheld his name?

Gardner disliked the lack of creative control over the proposed daytime version, forcing the name change. It ran another 30 years.

The CBS Perry Mason series starring Raymond Burr premiered in which year?

It ran until 22 May 1966 and was one of Hollywood's first weekly one-hour series filmed for television.

Raymond Burr originally read for which role before landing the part of Perry Mason?

He told the producer that if they did not like him as Mason he would happily play the district attorney instead.

Executive producer Gail Patrick admired Burr's courtroom turn in which 1951 film?

Patrick was a former actress who had studied law; her husband Cornwell Jackson was Gardner's literary agent.

Who played Della Street opposite Raymond Burr?

She won a 1959 Emmy for the role and returned for all 30 TV movies from 1985 to 1995.

Which actor played detective Paul Drake in the CBS series?

He auditioned for both the Mason and Drake roles, and said Gardner's later books began writing Drake the way he played him.

TV's Paul Drake was the only child of which famous Hollywood gossip columnist?

His father was the actor and producer DeWolf Hopper. Hopper said Gardner's later books began writing Drake the way he played him.

Which actor played the perpetually losing district attorney in the CBS series?

He was briefly suspended for violating CBS's morals clause and reinstated after a viewer letter-writing campaign backed by Burr and Patrick.

Lieutenant Arthur Tragg of homicide was played by which veteran actor?

Illness reduced his appearances from season four on, and Wesley Lau's Lieutenant Anderson gradually took over police duties.

In the cast list of his 1935 novel, Gardner describes the district attorney as honest but what?

Critics have called him possibly the most incompetent lawyer in history, though his record against anyone other than Mason is unknown.

What is the title of Fred Steiner's famous Perry Mason theme?

Steiner wanted to capture both Mason's sophistication and his toughness. The Blues Brothers covered it on their 1980 album Made in America.

Which band covered the Perry Mason theme on their 1980 album Made in America?

The cover later turned up in the 1998 film Blues Brothers 2000 and on its soundtrack album.

Which of these is one of only three cases Mason is known to have lost on the CBS series?

The others were The Case of the Witless Witness and The Case of the Deadly Verdict. He also loses a civil case while being framed in The Case of the Dead Ringer.

Asked by a fan why Mason won every case, what did Burr reply she only saw?

The show aired Saturday nights for its first five seasons, outdrawing the early seasons of Bonanza.

Which was the only Perry Mason episode filmed in colour?

CBS president William Paley commissioned it to see how the show would look in colour if renewed for a tenth season. It was not.

Who made his acting debut as the judge in the 1966 finale, The Case of the Final Fade-Out?

Set in a TV studio, the 1966 finale let the whole production crew appear on camera. Gail Patrick made a cameo too.

What was the budget for each episode of the CBS series?

Filming took place on Stage 8 at 20th Century-Fox and at CBS Studio Center, with at least one location per episode.

In 1960 the series received the first Silver Gavel Award for TV drama from which body?

The show also topped the first two TV Guide Award readers' polls as Favorite Series, with Burr as Favorite Male Performer.

Which future Supreme Court justice said Perry Mason inspired her to become a prosecutor?

She said it during her 2009 confirmation hearings, and wrote of the show as a complex game with its own rules about right and wrong.

Raymond Burr was born in which country?

He was born in New Westminster, British Columbia, and moved to Vallejo, California, with his mother after his parents divorced.

Before Perry Mason, Burr played the suspected murderer in which Alfred Hitchcock film?

He spent much of his early career as a villain, and also appeared in the 1956 American cut of Godzilla, King of the Monsters!

After Perry Mason, Burr starred as a wheelchair-using detective in which NBC series?

It ran from 1967 to 1975. His character, a San Francisco chief of detectives, is paralysed by a sniper in the pilot.

Before their vineyard, Burr and partner Robert Benevides ran a company selling what?

Benevides, whom Burr met on the Perry Mason set in 1960, later served as production consultant on 21 of the TV movies.

The New Perry Mason, the poorly received 1973 revival, starred whom in the title role?

It ran for only 15 episodes and used none of the original cast, though several original producers worked on it.

How many Perry Mason television films were made between 1985 and 1995?

Burr starred in 26 of them before his death in 1993, with the first being Perry Mason Returns on NBC.

Which network aired the 1985 TV movie Perry Mason Returns and the films that followed?

Burr and Barbara Hale were the two surviving original cast members to return. Burr's cane was jokingly blamed on a skiing accident.

Which actor, son of the Della Street actress, played Paul Drake Jr. in nine TV movies?

Hale returned the favour by playing his character's mother in a 1982 episode of The Greatest American Hero.

Who plays Perry Mason in the HBO series that premiered in June 2020?

The Welsh actor had won an Emmy in 2018 for playing Philip Jennings in The Americans.

In the HBO series, what is Perry Mason's job when the story begins in 1932?

Down on his luck and scarred by the Great War, he is hired for a sensational child kidnapping trial that changes his path.

Which actor plays Della Street in the HBO Perry Mason?

Her Della is the loyal secretary of struggling attorney E.B. Jonathan, played by John Lithgow.

In the HBO series, Paul Drake is introduced as what?

Chris Chalk plays him as a policeman with a knack for detective work, a departure from the agency owner of the books.

HBO cancelled its Perry Mason after how many seasons?

The second season premiered in March 2023 under new showrunners Jack Amiel and Michael Begler; cancellation came that June.

Which actor played radio preacher Sister Alice McKeegan in season one of HBO's series?

Her character leads the Radiant Assembly of God. John Lithgow played E.B. Jonathan the same season.

In a typical CBS episode, in which kind of proceeding does Mason usually clear his client?

His technique is to win before the client is bound over for trial. A rare jury-trial episode is also one of the three he lost.

Where do Perry, Paul and Della often gather for the epilogue in the show's final season?

Owner Terrance Clay, played by Dan Tobin, appeared only in season nine, though the restaurant featured in season one too.