Raymond Burr first Godzilla film. He won two Emmy Awards, in 1959 and 1961, for the role of Perry Mason, which he played for nine seasons (1957–1966) and reprised in a series of 26 television films (1985–1993). His second TV series, "Ironside", earned him six Emmy nominations and two Golden Globe nominations. After Burr's death from cancer in 1993, his personal life came into question, as many details of his known biography appeared to be unverifiable. In 1996, Burr was ranked as number 44 of the 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time by "TV Guide". Raymond William Stacy Burr was born
Raymond Burr in 1943 while Ward was a student at the Pasadena Playhouse, where Burr was teaching. They met again in 1947, when Ward was in California with a short-lived theatre company. They were married shortly before Burr began work on the 1948 film noir, "Pitfall". In May 1948 they appeared on stage together, in a Pasadena Playhouse production based on the life of Paul Gauguin. The couple lived in a basement apartment in a large house in Hollywood that Burr shared with his mother and grandparents. The marriage ended within months, and Ward returned to her native Delaware. They divorced in