Raymond Burr Raymond Burr Raymond William Stacy Burr (May 21, 1917September 12, 1993) was a Canadian American actor, primarily known for his title roles in the television dramas "Perry Mason" and "Ironside". He was prominently involved in multiple charitable endeavors, such as working on behalf of the United Service Organizations. Burr's early acting career included roles on Broadway, radio, television and in film, usually as the villain. His portrayal of the suspected murderer in the Alfred Hitchcock thriller "Rear Window" (1954) is regarded as his best-known film role; although he is also remembered for his role in the Americanized version of the
Raymond Burr in "Pitfall" as "both reprehensible and pathetic", a characterization also cited by film historian Richard Schickel as a prototype of film noir, in contrast with the appealing television characters for which Burr later became famous. "He tried to make you see the psychosis below the surface, even when the parts weren't huge," said film historian James Ursini. "He was able to bring such complexity and different levels to those characters, and create sympathy for his characters even though they were doing reprehensible things." Other titles in Burr's film noir legacy include "Walk a Crooked Mile" (1948), "Borderline" (1950), "Unmasked" (1950),