Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, May 15, 1993 TAG: 9305150292
SECTION: SPECTATOR PAGE: S-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACKIE HYMAN THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The role of the conscientious lawyer has repaid him with worldwide recognition and acting awards. And, most important to Burr, the role brought him close friends, from co-workers to Pope John XXIII.
"I'm a very fortunate man," says Burr, who first played Mason in 1957, "The only way it's really possible to do a series and do it for a long period of time . . . is the people you're working with on a daily basis."
In a Friday night broadcast that coincides with his 76th birthday, Burr will again become Mason in the NBC movie "The Case of the Telltale Talk Show Host" (at 9 p.m. on WSLS-Channel 10).
The movie, about an on-air psychologist (Mariette Hartley) accused of murdering a radio station owner (Regis Philbin), co-stars longtime associate Barbara Hale as Della Street.
Perhaps the closest relationship over the 36 years of Perry Mason on televion has been that of Burr and Hale, who plays his assistant. Off the air, Burr has maintained a strong friendship with her entire family.
"When Barbara Hale and I started, she had three children, one just born, and two of her children were on my knees all the time," he said.
Della Street's relationship with Mason has raised speculation among viewers.
"Mason has got to reflect an attitude, because certain people would say, `Is he sleeping with Della Street, and if not, why not?' " the actor said.
"Fifty percent of them want him to and 50 percent of them don't want him to. I try to play to both 50 percents," he said, flashing an unexpectedly boyish grin.
Perry Mason also played a part in Burr's friendship with Pope John XXIII.
"When they first got television in Italy, `Perry Mason' was one of the top shows in the world," explained Burr.
The pope, who had watched the show, granted Burr an audience soon after being selected pontiff in 1958.
"We became good friends almost at once," Burr said. "He wanted to know what he could do to communicate better with the world. He liked me very much and wouldn't let me go to Europe without seeing him. I wish I'd known him 30 years before."
He added that the pope, who learned English from an Irish monsignor, spoke it "with an Italian accent and an Irish brogue. You had to know him and love him in order to understand him. I saw him every year until he died."
Pope John XXIII died in 1963. In the mid-'70s, Burr portrayed his friend in a television special.
"I did it so that at least I would give it a certain amount of care and thought," he said. "I would not have shamed him."
The actor, who began his career playing mostly villains on stage and in films, won two Emmy Awards for "Perry Mason" during its initial nine-year run.
Since the mid-1970s, the character has been featured in about two dozen TV movies. The stories of courtroom give-and-take have provided more than just entertainment for the public, Burr said.
"Perry Mason went on the air when people were first buying television sets," he pointed out. "A lot of people didn't know in this country what their legal system was all about.
"I'm sure just from the people who have watched the show over the years, particularly the minorities, they found out the system of justice was for them - not administered properly all the time for everyone - but people have learned a lot what their court system is."
Burr, who has been widowed twice and divorced once, lost his only son to leukemia at age 10, in 1953.
He lives on a farm in Sonoma County in Northern California, where he grows grapes, fruit, vegetables and herbs. He uses the produce in cooking cuisines from around the world.
A natural raconteur, he entertains listeners with a range of tales, the first about a friend who blew up his house with cockroach bombs, another how Burr, as a poor actor in New York, befriended two mice in his apartment.
"I do about as many things as I want to do, but I don't do them all well," he said. "I would like to do things all well. I would like to direct more often. I would like to do another musical or two. I would like to write.
"At one time in my life, I had to dig ditches for a living, and I did that very well, so I've always got that to fall back on," he said, breaking into the boyish grin again.
by CNB