Was actor raymond burr gay
Emmy-winning actor Raymond Burr – raised in Vallejo – achieved stardom as crusading TV lawyer Perry Mason and TV detective Ironside. Those roles were a far cry from his early acting — as a hulking, menacing thug in movies made during Hollywood’s “film noir” era.
Burr’s dark-side acting in the 1940s and 1950s will be highlighted Friday, Dec. 15, at an event in Vallejo, just north of San Francisco, featuring author Eddie Muller, the so-called “czar of noir,” and musician-historian Nick Rossi.
The show at the downtown Empress Theatre – in Burr’s childhood neighborhood — includes a book-signing, arranged by the Alibi Bookshop, featuring Muller’s latest perform. That will be followed by an onstage speak by Muller and Rossi, and a showing of “Pitfall,” a 1948 noir classic in which Burr played a jealous, psychotic private eye.
Burr went to great lengths to preserve his tough-guy image, hiding the fact that he was gay by making up elaborate stories about his personal life. They included claims of three marriages, fathering a son who later died of leukemia, and being wounded in World War II combat on Okinawa.
“It was an open secret … that he was gay,” said journal
‘Perry Mason’ Star Raymond Burr Blazed Trails for Queer Actors—Even If He Hid Behind a Straight Tragedy
Perry Mason is advocate in pop culture thanks to a new, star-studded HBO mini-series—during Pride Month, too! Okay, that connection may seem bizarre at first, as a retro criminal defense attorney and Pride seemingly don’t travel hand in hand. Perry isn’t a queer star like RuPaul or Ellen or Elton—but the kids getting into HBO’s Perry Mason should know their history and know the character’s place within the gay canon. Perry Mason deserves a little recognition during Pride because of the actor most paired with the role: Raymond Burr, one of the first—if not the first—gay actors to ever celebrity in the lead role of a successful TV series.
Burr is far from the only actor to play Mason, a personality that debuted in the pages of mystery novels starting in 1933. Warren William and Ricardo Cortez, and Donald Woods played the attorney in a film series in the ’30s, Monte Markham (a.k.a. Blanche Devereaux’s gay brother) played him in a short-lived ’70s TV revival, and Matthew Rhys is the current Mason. But none of those actors are as ti
Raymond Burr's Secret Life
Raymond Burr was in excruciating pain as he filmed the final “Perry Mason” episodes in 1993. Almost no one on the place knew he was dying of cancer. Biographer Michael Seth Starr is not surprised. According to Hiding in Plain Sight: The Secret Life of Raymond Burr (published by Applause), secrecy was second innateness to the actor. He became one of the world’s most familiar TV stars during the authentic run of “Perry Mason” (1956-1966) and went on to another popular if less remembered series, “Ironside” (1967-1975). And there he was, instantly recognizable and in the public eye, a gay man who kept his sexuality concealed.
Any admission of homosexuality would have poisoned his career at any time before the 1980s. Times changed but Burr kept his own counsel through the end. He was actually once married, briefly, and went on to invent no less than two dead wives and even a defunct son to fill out the blank spaces in his life story. Along with false reports of his service during Planet War II, he repeated these additions to his autobiography so long and so often that they found their way into his obituaries. In the 1950s he was “romantically linked” w
Raymond Burr was in excruciating pain as he filmed the final “Perry Mason” episodes in 1993. Almost no one on the set knew he was dying of cancer. Biographer Michael Seth Starr is not surprised. According to Hiding in Plain Sight: The Secret Life of Raymond Burr (published by Applause), secrecy was second nature to the player. He became one of the world’s most familiar TV stars during the original run of “Perry Mason” (1956-1966) and went on to another trendy if less remembered series, “Ironside” (1967-1975). And there he was, instantly identifiable and in the common eye, a gay bloke who kept his sexuality concealed.
Any admission of homosexuality would have poisoned his career at any age before the 1980s. Times changed but Burr kept his own counsel through the end. He was actually once married, briefly, and went on to invent no less than two dead wives and even a dead son to fill out the blank spaces in his life story. Along with false reports of his service during World War II, he repeated these additions to his autobiography so long and so often that they establish their way into his obituaries. In the 1950s he was “romantically linked” with rising starlet Natalie Wood. They w
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