Barbara Hale
Known for
Barbara Hale is a screen veteran with credits spread across cinema, television and everything between. Sarah Demerest in 'Airport' is the role that outgrew the rest. 'Perry Mason' is another title that gets mentioned. Drama accounts for the largest share of the work. Television and film have both stayed in regular use across the career.
Barbara Hale
43 Movies
14 Series
Barbara Hale is a screen veteran with credits spread across cinema, television and everything between. Sarah Demerest in 'Airport' is the role that outgrew the rest. 'Perry Mason' is another title that gets mentioned. Drama accounts for the largest share of the work. Television and film have both stayed in regular use across the career.
Movies
Plays Sarah Demerest
Airport
1970
Plays Mrs. Barlow
Big Wednesday
1978
Plays Julia Hancock
The Far Horizons
1955
Plays Anne
The Oklahoman
1957
Plays Dr. Jenny Langer
The Giant Spider Invasion
1975
Plays Mary Audrey
Lady Luck
1946
Plays Sarah Cody
Buckskin
1968
Plays Martha Kellogg
7th Cavalry
1956
Plays Mary Woodry
The Window
1949
Plays Rill Lambeth
West of the Pecos
1945
Plays Lorna Doone
Lorna Doone
1951
Plays Revere
Seminole
1953
Plays Miss Brand
The Boy with Green Hair
1948
Plays Julia Lanning
Last of the Comanches
1953
Plays Vicki
A Likely Story
1947
Plays Betsey Bennett
The First Time
1952
Plays Amy Lawrence
The Jackpot
1950
Plays Barbara Hale
Around the World
1943
Plays Katherine
Higher and Higher
1943
Plays Sarah Jane Skaggs
The Lone Hand
1953
Plays Sarah Cavanaugh
The Iron Major
1943
Plays Zoe Crane
The Houston Story
1956
Plays Verity Wade Martin
A Lion Is in the Streets
1953
Plays Della Street
Perry Mason: The Case of the Shooting Star
1986
Plays Jacqueline 'Jackie' Walsh
And Baby Makes Three
1949
Plays Marion Colby
The Falcon Out West
1944
Plays Peggy Callahan
The Falcon in Hollywood
1944
Plays Celie Edwards
Desert Hell
1958
Plays Abby Drake
First Yank into Tokyo
1945
Plays Martha Gregory
The Clay Pigeon
1949
Plays Girl seeking donations from Gildersleeve
Gildersleeve's Bad Day
1943
Plays Dr. Helen Hunt
Emergency Wedding
1950
Plays Ellen Clark
Jolson Sings Again
1949
TV Shows
Plays Della Street
Perry Mason
1957
Plays Della Street
Perry Mason Returns
1985
Plays Marjorie Brandon
Marcus Welby, M.D.
1969
Plays Ellen Newman
General Electric Theater
1953
Plays Marta Linden
The Ford Television Theatre
1952
Plays Kathy Munson / Marian Munson
The Millionaire
1955
Plays Ginny Morgan
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
1951
Plays Mamie Eunson
Climax!
1954
Plays Mrs. Strawn
Letter to Loretta
1953
Plays June Waters
Screen Director's Playhouse
1955
Plays Bonnie Jessup
Adam-12
1968
Plays Thelma King
The Doris Day Show
1968
Plays Mrs. Ogle
The Wonderful World of Disney
1954
Plays Ruth
Studio 57
1954
Latest Trailers
Watch Trailer
Perry Mason: The Case of the Killer Kiss
Full Filmography
Perry Mason: The Case of the Shooting Star
Della Street
1986
Film
Perry Mason Returns
Della Street · 30 episodes
1985–
TV
The Wonderful World of Disney
Mrs. Ogle · 1 episode
1978
TV
Big Wednesday
Mrs. Barlow
1978
Film
The Giant Spider Invasion
Dr. Jenny Langer
1975
Film
Marcus Welby, M.D.
Marjorie Brandon · 1 episode
1974
TV
Chester, Yesterday’s Horse
Mrs. Belle Kincaid
1973
Film
The Doris Day Show
Thelma King · 1 episode
1972
TV
Adam-12
Bonnie Jessup · 1 episode
1971
TV
Photos
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Barbara Hale still alive?
Barbara Hale passed away on January 26, 2017 at age 94.
What are the most famous roles of Barbara Hale?
Barbara Hale is best known for roles in Airport, Big Wednesday, The Seventh Victim.
How many movies has Barbara Hale been in?
Over a 74-year career (since 1943), Barbara Hale has appeared in 43 movies and 13 TV shows.
What was Barbara Hale's first movie?
The career of Barbara Hale began with Gildersleeve's Bad Day (1943).
What is Barbara Hale's most recent movie or series?
Barbara Hale's most recent release is Perry Mason: The Case of the Jealous Jokester, which premiered on April 10, 1995.
What TV shows has Barbara Hale appeared in?
On television, Barbara Hale has appeared in Perry Mason, Lassie, Adam-12, The Wonderful World of Disney.
Barbara Hale
1922-04-18 · DeKalb, Illinois, USA
Barbara Hale (April 18, 1922 - January 26, 2017) was an American actress best known for her role as legal secretary Della Street on more than 250 episodes of the long-running Perry Mason television series and in 30 made-for-TV movies.
Hale was born in DeKalb, Illinois, to Luther Ezra Hale, a landscape gardener, and his wife, Wilma Colvin. She is of Scots-Irish ancestry. Hale graduated from high school in Rockford, Illinois, then attended the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts, planning to become an artist. Her performing career began in Chicago when she started modeling to pay for her education. She moved to Hollywood in 1943, and made her first screen appearances playing small parts (often uncredited).
Hale was under contract to RKO Radio Pictures through the late 1940s. She appeared in Higher and Higher (1943) with Frank Sinatra; played leading lady to Robert Mitchum in West of the Pecos (1945); enjoyed top billing in both Lady Luck (1946) opposite Robert Young and The Window (1949) with Arthur Kennedy; and co-starred in Jolson Sings Again (1949), with Larry Parks playing Al Jolson and Hale as Jolson's wife, Ellen Clark. She played the top-billed title role in Lorna Doone (1951) and portrayed Julia Hancock in The Far Horizons (1955) with Fred MacMurray and Charlton Heston.
Her flourishing movie career more or less ended when Hale accepted her best known role, Della Street, secretary to attorney Perry Mason, in the TV series with Raymond Burr. The show ran from 1957 to 1966, and she reprised the role in several television movies. Her last performance to date was in 2000 at age 78. In 1967 she guest starred on the ABC series Custer. Hale also had a featured role in the 1970 ensemble film Airport, playing the wife of a jetliner pilot (Dean Martin).