Raymond Burr Burr went on a crash diet. When he returned, he tested as Perry Mason and won the role. While Burr's test was running, Gardner reportedly stood up, pointed at the screen and said, "That's Perry Mason." William Hopper also auditioned as Mason, but was cast instead as private detective Paul Drake. Also starring were Barbara Hale as Della Street, Mason's secretary; William Talman as Hamilton Burger, the district attorney who loses nearly every case to Mason; and Ray Collins as homicide detective Lieutenant Arthur Tragg. The series ran from 1957-66. Burr received three consecutive Emmy Award nominations and won the
Henry Burr Cecilia. His widow died of a heart ailment in 1954 in Arlington Heights, Illinois. Although Burr is rarely heard today in mainstream musical culture, his 1922 rendition of "My Buddy" was used on the soundtrack of a "Boardwalk Empire" episode, originally broadcast on October 8, 2012 (Season 3, Episode 4, "Blue Bell Boy"). Notably, in the 1960s, the famous ukulele-playing singer Tiny Tim frequently played Burr songs on stage and on such programs as "The Johnny Carson Show". Burr's 1915 recording of "There's a Little Spark of Love Still Burning" was used on Ernie Kovacs' "Eugene" special in 1960, and