Call it class, eloquence or just being a gentleman, but Raymond Burr embodied the sort of qualities that have slowly but noticeably faded from our everyday world.
Burr’s acting career spanned six decades and encompassed roles in dozens of motion pictures. His most famous character, however, was lawyer Perry Mason in the successful Perry Mason television series.
He was born Raymond William Stacy Burr on May 21, 1917, in New Westminster, B.C., to a salesman of Irish background, William Burr, and an American-Canadian pianist and music teacher, Minerva Smith. In 1922, his mother moved him, his younger sister and his brother to Vallejo, where her parents lived. A life-changing revelation for the boy came courtesy of Smith’s job as the pipe organist at a local church. The minister’s wife was a theatre major, and she carried a bug that Burr was swift in catching. He wanted to be an actor. But first had to survive the Great Depression and a stomach injury sustained while he was in the Navy, stationed in Okinawa in World War II. He survived and grew into a man with an imposing physical presence and tenor. This led to multiple villain roles, including the district attorney who gets Montgomery Clift sent to the chair in A Place in the Sun (1951), and the deeply shady Lars Thorwald in the Hitchcock classic Rear Window (1954). It wasn’t long before people took notice of another, equally compelling side to Burr: a large physical presence with a quiet honour.
It’s worth noting that Burr fashioned one of TV’s most beloved characters out of a criminal defence attorney, one of the most routinely despised real-life professions you could imagine. Perry Mason’s run of nine seasons and 22 made-for-TV movies made it the most successful courtroom drama of its time. And even if that record no longer stands, the show’s influence on the genre is undeniable.
As renowned as that role was, Burr’s life was a lot more than just one act. His philanthropic work was wide-reaching and included extremely long-term commitments. A closeted homosexual for much of his life, Burr had a relationship with actor Robert Benevides that lasted 33 years. Their life together included many shared passions, such as growing orchids and establishing a vineyard that still bears his name today.
For any doubters of the range and capabilities of this man, allow us this one final exhibit. In 1956, the little-known Japanese film Gojira was to be repackaged for U.S. audiences. To do the job, studio execs cast Burr as reporter Steve Martin, an American overseas who witnesses the horrific destruction of Tokyo at the hands of a giant, radioactive, fire-breathing monster. And so it was that Burr brought Godzilla to America. 30 years later, he reprised his role for Godzilla 1985, though he was only referred to as “Mr. Martin” (it seems there was another, very popular actor by the same name). We’re guessing Raymond Burr had no problem with that whatsoever.
