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Paul Drake | |
---|---|
Perry Mason character | |
Created by | Erle Stanley Gardner |
Portrayed by | Allen Jenkins Eddie Acuff Garry Owen Joseph Crehan William Hopper Albert Stratton Chris Chalk |
In-universe information | |
Gender | Male |
Occupation | Private detective |
Children | Paul Drake Jr. (son) |
Nationality | American |
Paul Drake is a fictional private detective in the Perry Mason series of murder mystery novels by Erle Stanley Gardner. Drake is described as tall and slouching, nondescript (as suits his profession), and frequently wearing an expression of droll humor. He often smoked cigarettes especially when he had a subject of interest under surveillance. He is friend and right-hand man to Mason, a highly successful criminal defense lawyer in Los Angeles.
Drake is frequently described as "lanky" and slightly "fish-faced" or "pop-eyed". In talking with Mason, he generally likes to slouch in an armchair with his back over one arm and his legs over the other. The conversations often include complaints about his indigestion from living on cheap hamburgers and bad coffee when working for Mason. His appearance and attitude are deceptive, however: he is personally dedicated, and physically tough in a fight.
Allen Jenkins played a variation on the Paul Drake character, referred to as Spudsy Drake, in two 1935 films based on Gardner novels, The Case of the Curious Bride and The Case of the Lucky Legs .
Eddie Acuff took over the Spudsy role in the 1936 film The Case of the Velvet Claws .
Garry Owen played the investigator, now known simply as Paul Drake, in 1936's The Case of the Black Cat , and Joseph Crehan took over in 1937's The Case of the Stuttering Bishop .
In 1957, the CBS television network launched a Perry Mason series based on Gardner's characters, which ran until 1966. William Hopper auditioned for both the Mason and Drake roles. [a] [1] "He was perfect as Drake, and we got him," recalled executive producer Gail Patrick Jackson. [2]
"Paul Drake in the Erle Stanley Gardner books was an entirely different character," Hopper said in 1962. "I play him my way. Now I'm amused to read Gardner's new books. Paul Drake now comes out like me!" [3]
"Just as Raymond Burr will always be Perry Mason, Bill Hopper will always be Paul Drake," wrote Brian Kelleher and Diana Merrill in their chronicle of the TV series. "He defined the role." [4] : 65
A running gag on the series is that although Paul Drake is a "wolf" who dates every woman he can, the only woman he does not date is Della Street whom he always respectfully refers to as "Hi Beautiful" - in deference to the romantic chemistry displayed between Perry and Della.
In the short-lived 1973–74 revival, The New Perry Mason , Paul Drake was played by Albert Stratton.
In the successful series of Perry Mason television films that began in 1985, the Paul Drake character was part of the back story: his son Paul Jr. served as Mason's private investigator in the first nine films. Drake's son was played by William Katt, the real-life son of Barbara Hale, who played Della Street both in the TV series and the TV movies. [5]
In HBO's 2020 Perry Mason reimagining, Paul Drake is African-American, starting the series as an LAPD uniformed police officer. He is portrayed by actor Chris Chalk. [6]
Raymond William Stacy Burr was a Canadian actor who had a lengthy Hollywood film career and portrayed the title roles in the television dramas Perry Mason and Ironside.
Perry Mason is a fictional character, an American criminal defense lawyer who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason features in 82 novels and four short stories, all of which involve a client being charged with murder, usually involving a preliminary hearing or jury trial. Typically, Mason establishes his client's innocence by finding the real murderer. The character was inspired by famed Los Angeles criminal defense attorney Earl Rogers.
Erle Stanley Gardner was an American author and lawyer, best known for the Perry Mason series of legal detective stories. Gardner also wrote numerous other novels and shorter pieces as well as a series of nonfiction books, mostly narrations of his travels through Baja California and other regions in Mexico.
Della Street is the fictional secretary of Perry Mason in the long-running series of novels, short stories, films, and radio and television programs featuring the fictional defense attorney created by Erle Stanley Gardner.
William Theodore Katt is an American actor and musician. He is best known for his starring role as Ralph Hinkley/Hanley on the ABC television series The Greatest American Hero (1981–83).
William DeWolf Hopper Jr. was an American stage, film, and television actor. The only child of actor DeWolf Hopper and actress and Hollywood columnist Hedda Hopper, he appeared in more than 80 feature films in the 1930s and 1940s. After serving in the United States Navy during World War II, he left acting, but was persuaded by director William Wellman in the 1950s to resume his film career. He’s perhaps best known for his portrayal of private detective Paul Drake in the CBS television series Perry Mason.
William Whitney Talman Jr. was an American television and movie actor, best known for playing Los Angeles District Attorney Hamilton Burger in the television series Perry Mason.
Hamilton Burger is the fictional Los Angeles County District Attorney (D.A.) in the series of novels, films, and radio and television programs featuring Perry Mason, the fictional defense attorney created by Erle Stanley Gardner.
Perry Mason is an American legal drama series originally broadcast on CBS television from September 21, 1957, to May 22, 1966. The title character, portrayed by Raymond Burr, is a Los Angeles criminal defense lawyer who originally appeared in detective fiction by Erle Stanley Gardner. Many episodes are based on stories written by Gardner.
The New Perry Mason is a CBS TV series that ran from 1973 to 1974. It was a revival of the 1957 Perry Mason television series about Erle Stanley Gardner's brilliant defense attorney.
Gail Patrick was an American film actress and television producer. Often cast as the bad girl or the other woman, she appeared in more than 60 feature films between 1932 and 1948, notably My Man Godfrey (1936), Stage Door (1937), and My Favorite Wife (1940).
The Case of the Howling Dog is a 1934 American mystery film directed by Alan Crosland, based on the 1934 novel of the same name by Erle Stanley Gardner. It is first in a series of six Perry Mason films Warner Bros. made between the years 1934 and 1937.
The Case of the Curious Bride is a 1935 American mystery film, the second in a series of four starring Warren William as Perry Mason, following The Case of the Howling Dog. The script was based on the 1934 novel of the same name by Erle Stanley Gardner, published by William Morrow and Company, which proved to be one of the most popular of all the Perry Mason novels.
The Case of the Lucky Legs is a 1935 mystery film, the third in a series of Perry Mason films starring Warren William as the famed lawyer.
Perry Mason is a radio crime serial based on the novels of Erle Stanley Gardner. Broadcast weekdays on CBS Radio from 1943 to 1955, the series was adapted into The Edge of Night which ran on television for an additional 30 years.
The Case of the Stuttering Bishop is a 1937 American mystery film directed by William Clemens and starring Donald Woods as Perry Mason and Ann Dvorak as Della Street, his secretary. Edward McWade plays the role of stuttering Bishop William Mallory. It is the sixth and final film in the Warner Bros. Perry Mason series. It is based on the novel The Case of the Stuttering Bishop (1936) by Erle Stanley Gardner.
A series of 30 Perry Mason television films aired on NBC from 1985 to 1995 as sequels to the CBS TV series Perry Mason. After a hiatus of nearly 20 years, Raymond Burr reprised his role as Los Angeles defense attorney Mason in 26 of the television films. Following Burr's death in 1993, Paul Sorvino and Hal Holbrook starred in the remaining four television films that aired from 1993 to 1995, with Sorvino playing lawyer Anthony Caruso in the first of these and Holbrook playing "Wild Bill" McKenzie in the last three.
"The Case of the Restless Redhead" is the premiere episode of the CBS television series Perry Mason. Adapted from the 1954 novel of the same title by Erle Stanley Gardner, this episode marked the beginning of Raymond Burr's long-running portrayal of the famous fictional lawyer.
Perry Mason is an American period drama television series created by Rolin Jones and Ron Fitzgerald for HBO. Based on the character of the same name by Erle Stanley Gardner, the series stars Matthew Rhys in the title role and premiered on June 21, 2020.