Raymond Burr: A Film, Radio and Television Biography

Best known for his television Perry Mason and Ironside, Raymond Burr had a career spanning over fifty years. His life is meticulously documented her, including movie roles in such Hollywood productions as Rear Window and Key to the City, and other work in television. Also discussed are his family, Fiji Island home, work in Canadian films, and trips to Korea and Vietnam to entertain American troops.

This book starts with Burr's childhood in California, his Broadway debut with Crazy With the Heat, his work at the Pasadena Playhouse, his trip to England, and all this before he began his film career! Chapter six was my favorite because it dealt with his work on Pat Novak for Hire and Dragnet, two radio programs I commonly hear his voice playing a supporting role. Hitchcock's Rear Window is discussed in detail. His radio career and his quest for Perry Mason is not too extensive (I've read much more in-depth info in a magazine article) but the chapter about the Perry Mason television series was a good read. Naturally, the book covers his later work, including Ironside. I forgot about those made-for-TV movies until I read the chapter about "The Return of Perry Mason."

My critical complaint is the appendixes. The first documents Raymond Burr's radio credits. Boy is that awful. Missing dates, inaccurate information and very skim on Burr's audio work. Heck, I consulted Goldin's and discovered 185 radio appearances within seconds. Yet the listing in this book doesn't come close. Only saving grace was Ken Greenwald's contribution for Fort Laramie. IMDB provides more info (though that site is not known for being accurate) for Burr's movies than the appendix offers. As for the appendix listing all of the Perry Mason television episodes, if I really wanted to be a nit-picker, all of the titles listed in the appendix (except for the premiere broadcast) is wrong. The author could not list the complete title for each and every episode? No, he decided to list partial titles. 

If you can buy this book for $10 or less, it's worth owning for the history/biography. But I certainly expected more for the $35 I paid.There's another biography about Raymond Burr that I just ordered from Cover Out and I expect to learn a lot more about the man who was the definitive Perry Mason.