Raymond Burr when they began casting the role of Los Angeles district attorney Hamilton Burger in the CBS-TV series "Perry Mason". As a young man Burr weighed more than 300 lbs., which limited his on-screen roles. "But in radio this presented no problems, given the magnificent quality of his voice," reported "The Globe and Mail". "He played romantic leads and menacing villains with equal authority, and he earned a steady and comfortable income." Working steadily in radio since the 1940s, often uncredited, Burr was a leading player on the West Coast. He had a regular role in Jack Webb's first radio show,
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,