Mention Della Street to "Perry Mason" fans, and most of them will see Barbara Hale in their mind's eye. However, from Della's first appearance on the silver screen through her various television incarnations, a total of eight different actresses have played the character between the years of 1934 and 2020.
THE INCARNATIONS OF DELLA STREET
The first to portray Della on film was Helen Trenholme, in "The Case of the Curious Dog" (1934). It was her second of only two known film appearances, as she retired from acting after getting married the year it was released. It's a shame, because Trenholme seemed to be a talented movie actress.
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| Helen Trenholme |
Next up was Claire Dodd. She portrayed Della in two films, "The Case of the Curious Bride" (1935) and "The Case of the Velvet Claws" (1936). In the latter film, she gained the distinction of being the only Della to ever agree to marry Perry Mason.
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| Claire Dodd |
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| Claire Dodd |
In between Claire Dodd's turns as Della Drake, Genevieve Tobin took on the role in "The Case of the Lucky Legs (1935).
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| Genevieve Tobin |
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| Genevieve Tobin |
Then June Travis portrayed Della in "The Case of the Black Cat" (1936). This film also marked the first time the screen "Perry Mason" would be rebooted, as Perry and Della were back to being boss and secretary/partner rather than husband and wife.
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| June Travis |
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| June Travis |
The last actress to portray Della Street during the 1930s is also the one among them who is best remembered over all, Ann Dvorak. She was Della in "The Case of the Stuttering Bishop" (1937).
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| Ann Dvorak |
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| Ann Dvorak |
Next to portray Della was Barbara Hale. Hale is the actress rightfully most closely associated with the character, as she portrayed Della steadily for a total of 20 years. Hale first played Della in the long-running "Perry Mason" television series from 1957 to 1966. She then returned to play the character in 30 made-for-television movies from 1985 to 1995.
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| Barbara Hale, in the 1960s |
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| Barbara Hale, in the 1990s |
In between Barbara Hale's turns as Della, Sharon Acker portrayed the character for 15 episodes of "The New Perry Mason" (1973 - 1974).
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| Sharon Acker |
The current Della Street is Juliet Rylance. So far, Rylance has played in eight episodes of HBO's "Perry Mason" series that aired in July and August of 2020. As of this writing, it's unknown if there will be further episodes produced for this new series, but it seems likely it has been the highest rated series on the HBO streaming service in recent years.
Fans of "Perry Mason" (like yours truly) are especially eager to see more episodes of the HBO series. The new series takes place before Perry Mason is the high-powered, maverick criminal defense attorney we know and love. In fact, in the initial episodes of the series, he isn't even a lawyer yet. (Della is the secretary of the attorney for whom Perry works as an investigator.)
As we wait to hear what the future holds for our favorite attorney and his friends and colleagues, keep an eye on this space for "The Incarnations of Perry Mason".
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