Raymond Burr would star in the television series "Perry Mason". Although the network wanted Burr to continue work on "Fort Laramie" as well, the TV series required an extraordinary commitment and the radio show ended. Known for his loyalty and consciousness of history, Burr went out of his way to employ his radio colleagues in his television programs. Some 180 radio celebrities appeared on "Perry Mason" during the first season alone. Burr emerged as a prolific television character actor in the 1950s. He made his television debut in 1951, appearing in episodes of "Stars Over Hollywood", "The Bigelow Theatre", "Family Theater" and
Raymond Burr "The Whip Hand" (1951), "FBI Girl" (1951), "Meet Danny Wilson" (1952), "Rear Window" (1954), "They Were So Young" (1954), "A Cry in the Night" (1956) and "Affair in Havana" (1957). Beyond noir, Burr's villains were also seen in Westerns, period dramas, horror films and adventure films. "I was just a fat heavy," Burr told journalist James Bawden. "I split the heavy parts with Bill Conrad. We were both in our twenties playing much older men. I never got the girl but I once got the gorilla in a 3-D picture called "Gorilla at Large". I menaced Claudette Colbert, Lizabeth Scott,