Born 1922 in DeKalb, Illinois, American actress Barbara Hale moved to Hollywood in 1943, and under contract to RKO Radio Pictures, made her first screen appearance (uncredited) in Gildersleeve’s Bad Day. She continued to make small uncredited appearances in films, until her first credited role alongside Frank Sinatra in Higher and Higher (1943).
Hale was best known for her role as legal secretary Della Street in the television series Perry Mason (1957–1966), earning her a 1959 Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. She reprised the role in 30 Perry Mason made-for-television movies (1985–1995).
Her last on-screen appearance was a TV biographical documentary about Raymond Burr that aired in 2000. Hale died at her home in Sherman Oaks, California in 2017, aged 94.
Take a look at these Gorgeous Photos to see the beauty of young Barbara Hale in the 1940s and 1950s.
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