Raymond Burr the debut episode of "Dragnet". He went on to appear in such programs as "Gruen Playhouse", "Four Star Playhouse", "Ford Theatre", "Lux Video Theatre", "Mr. and Mrs. North", "Schlitz Playhouse of Stars" and "Playhouse 90". In 1956, Burr auditioned for the role of District Attorney Hamilton Burger in "Perry Mason", a new CBS-TV courtroom drama based on the highly successful novels by Erle Stanley Gardner. Impressed with his courtroom performance in the 1951 film "A Place in the Sun", executive producer Gail Patrick Jackson told Burr he was perfect for Perry Mason, but at least overweight. Over the next month,
Raymond Burr an attempt on his life and, after his recovery, uses a wheelchair for mobility, in the first crime drama show to star a police officer with a disability. The show earned Burr six Emmy nominations—one for the pilot and five for his work in the series—and two Golden Globe nominations. After "Ironside" went off the air, NBC failed in two attempts to launch Burr as the star of a new series. In a two-hour television movie format, "Mallory: Circumstantial Evidence" aired in February 1976 with Burr again in the role of the lawyer who outwits the district attorney. Despite good