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The writer of the Perry Mason books began to see Raymond Burr as the ''real'' Perry Mason
The role Raymond Burr was born to play!
Every now and again, the stars in Hollywood align, and we get a perfect casting choice.
This was the case all those decades ago when Raymond Burr auditioned for the role of Perry Mason. Burr had to strong-arm his way into auditioning for the series protagonist and prove to producers that he would be a worthy Perry Mason.
It 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 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.
"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 books, Perry Mason’s appearance was intentionally left vague. Rather than define every detail, the author wanted readers to create their own vision of the famous attorney. For Gardner, the less descriptive, the better.
"Perry, for example, I described only as being tall and wavy-haired," Gardner 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 a television series, Gardner ran into some familiar issues.
"It did become a problem in casting the TV series," Gardner said. "Everyone had their own idea of how Perry should look. Could have been different, though."
Luckily, while interpretation is ultimately up to the viewer, Gardner knew his character better than anyone else.
"At first, Raymond Burr read for the part of Ham Burger, and Talman tried out to play Perry Mason," Gardner added. "This didn’t quite seem right. When we straightened them out, we were on our way."
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