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The writer of the Perry Mason books began to see Raymond Burr as the ''real'' Perry Mason
"He puts on the character like a cloak."
Every now and again, the stars in Hollywood align, and we get a perfect casting choice. Such was the case all those decades ago when Raymond Burr auditioned for Perry Mason. Burr had to strong-arm his way into auditioning for the series protagonist and had to prove to producers that he'd be a worthy Perry Mason. It actually took praise from Erle Stanley Gardner, who took one look at Burr and exclaimed "That's our Perry Mason," to really seal the deal and win Burr the role.
However, once Burr was cast as Mason, no one ever questioned his ability to play the character ever again.
According to an interview with the Copley News Service, Gardner confirmed that his initial decision was the right one and that Burr himself was the best person to play Perry Mason. So much so did Burr resemble the character, that Gardner had begun thinking of Burr as a stand-in for a character he created.
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"It's getting so I think of Raymond Burr as the real Perry Mason," Gardner said. "Ray thinks of himself as Perry Mason. He puts on the character like a cloak."
In Gardner's original book series, the appearance of Perry Mason was more mysterious than the show let on, with the author preferring instead to let his readers do the casting of characters. For Gardner, the less descriptive, the better.
"Perry, for example, I described only as being tall and wavy-haired," he said. "Why? I figured some people like brunettes, some like men with blonde hair. Let 'em all visualize their own Perry."
But when the time came to develop the book series into television, Gardner ran into some familiar issues. "It did become a problem in casting the TV show," he said. "Everyone had their own idea of how Perry should look. Could have been different, though."
Luckily, while interpretation is absolutely up to the viewer, Gardner knew his character better than anyone else.
"At first, Ray Burr read for the part of Ham Burger and Talman tried out to play Perry Mason," he said. "This didn't quite seem right. When we straightened them out, we were on our way."
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It's a tribute to Burr's portrayal, and the series itself, that it's on *twice* a day, six decades after it was created.
I've always thought, either Raymond Burr is a great actor or he's just being himself. The one episode where the Mason look alike sailor appears (played by Burr) was a little jarring the first time I saw it. It made me realize, yeah, maybe Raymond Burr is acting as Perry Mason after all 🤔