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July 6, 2023 5:52 pm  #1


The Things You Never Knew About Raymond "Perry Mason" Burr

He put a lot of fictional people in jail on the legendary TV show, but he never got justice against those who tortured him as a kid. 

Not radio related, but a really interesting story most of us never knew. 

"Classmates called Burr “fatso” and made his school days miserable. His mother enrolled him in a military academy, hoping that structured routines would help. Instead, it was dreadful for the boy."

The drama that was Raymond Burr

 

July 6, 2023 7:57 pm  #2


Re: The Things You Never Knew About Raymond "Perry Mason" Burr

Also off topic and not about radio, Burr's story reminds me of the Stephen King short story, The Revenge of Lard Ass Hogan.

Growing up, Hogan was tormented about his weight and called Lard Ass. After he grew up he got his revenge against his tormentors when he enterd the pie eating contest at the fair. He deliberately ate more than his stomach could possibly hold and threw up all over the people in the front row of seats. Then those people started gagging and throwing up too until the entire tent was full of pukers.

Burr got his revenge in a different way, by becoming successful.

Last edited by turkeytop (July 6, 2023 8:30 pm)


I started out with nothing and I still have most of it.
 

July 6, 2023 8:46 pm  #3


Re: The Things You Never Knew About Raymond "Perry Mason" Burr

Burr's Perry Mason is available on the free Pluto.TV app.

 

July 6, 2023 9:08 pm  #4


Re: The Things You Never Knew About Raymond "Perry Mason" Burr

Dial Twister wrote:

Burr's Perry Mason is available on the free Pluto.TV app.

When we're in Florida, one of the TV channels has it on every night.
 


I started out with nothing and I still have most of it.
 

July 7, 2023 8:12 am  #5


Re: The Things You Never Knew About Raymond "Perry Mason" Burr

A fan once asked Burr why he never loses a case. He responded with You only see the cases I try on Saturday nights. Actually Mason did initially lose two cases. 1958's Case of the Terrified Typist and 1963's Case of the Deadly Verdict. In both episodes the guilty verdicts were reversed when the cases were appealed.

 

July 7, 2023 9:14 am  #6


Re: The Things You Never Knew About Raymond "Perry Mason" Burr

My Sirius XM channels are usually set on CBC, BBC, Netflix is a Joke Radio and Sirius XM Radio Classics at Channel 148. Raymond Burr features prominently on the Radio Classics channel, playing villains on shows such as Jeff Regan, Private Investigator and Pat Novak for Hire. He was given his own show, Fort Laramie, where he played Lee Quince, a cavalry officer stationed in the Old West in the aftermath of the Civil War. The show was produced by Norman McDonald, one of true legends of 1950s scripted radio. His use of sound to create atmosphere and suspense remains a benchmark for others to follow. Take 30 minutes to listen to this episode. You won't be disappointed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GqXtTpOhyw&list=PLlUoyloCGlWwqELX0b5w-HbhcPBkWIgLH&index=5

Last edited by BowmanvilleBob (July 7, 2023 1:42 pm)

 

July 7, 2023 9:18 am  #7


Re: The Things You Never Knew About Raymond "Perry Mason" Burr

turkeytop wrote:

   one of the TV channels has it on every night    

You do it every night?    

 

July 7, 2023 9:26 am  #8


Re: The Things You Never Knew About Raymond "Perry Mason" Burr

Only one episode of the original series was filmed in colour.  On February 27, 1966, Perry Mason was shown in colour on CBS.  In the ninth season Raymond Burr and the cast were up against Bonanza on NBC Sundays at 9pm.  Some executives at CBS wanted to see how the show looked in colour.  The remaining 9 episodes in season 9 were in B&W.   The series final show was in May 1966.

Burr had long wanted to leave the series but was convinced by CBS to do one more for season 10.   CBS had agreed that all of season 10 for 1966/67 would be filmed in colour.   Three weeks later, Burr read in Variety that the show had been cancelled.  Nobody from the network had called him.

Here is the opening and closing of the one colour episode "The Case Of The Twice Told Twist" of the original Perry Mason series from February 27, 1966.   Note how CBS sort of cheated for the closing segment with black and white photos but colour graphics over top. 
https://www.google.com/search?q=which+episode+of+perry+mason+was+in+color&rlz=1C1GGRV_enCA751CA751&ei=lAuoZKu1BuueptQPspIk&start=10&sa=N&ved=2ahUKEwirz7LV0vz_AhVrj4kEHTIJCQAQ8NMDegQICRAQ&biw=1366&bih=657&dpr=1#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:49dd38f6,vid:qCxIdpPaVHI

 

July 7, 2023 11:09 am  #9


Re: The Things You Never Knew About Raymond "Perry Mason" Burr

I got to meet Burr back in the 80s. He came to our newsroom for an interview. I did not do the interview, but I was able to say hello and shake his hand.  He was indeed a physically big man. 
quite impressive.
Although he only said a few words to me I saw the way he behaved and he was very nice and responsive>
Sometimes you briefly meet a celebrity in this business and they turn out to be real jerks.
Burr seemed like a nice guy.
Another nice celeb I met but did not interview was Elliot Gould of the original MASH movie fame.
I was sitting in the newsroom writing away when I felt this presence behind me.  I turned around and there was Gould standing right behind me reading what I was writing.
We had a brief chat and again he was very friendly and obviously interested in what I was writing.

 

Last edited by newsguy1 (July 7, 2023 11:10 am)

 

July 7, 2023 7:08 pm  #10


Re: The Things You Never Knew About Raymond "Perry Mason" Burr

About two blocks from where I live there’s an old church with a sign out front proclaiming that it was the site of Raymond Burr’s christening after he was born.

(I live in the city Burr was born in)

 

July 8, 2023 8:28 am  #11


Re: The Things You Never Knew About Raymond "Perry Mason" Burr

Raymond Burr was the Parade Marshall at the Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest parade in 1977.

He also appeared on Betty Thompson's television show on CKCO-TV while he was in K-W.

 

July 9, 2023 3:31 pm  #12


Re: The Things You Never Knew About Raymond "Perry Mason" Burr

Talked with Raymond Burr a bunch of times on the set of the movie "Delirious". Burr would pop by John Candy's trailer where John and I were writing his U.S. radio series "Radio Kandy" between shots (if you've ever been on a movie set, there's a whole lot of down time for actors while they set up a new scene or change the lighting). Burr talked a lot about Canada. Both he and John were both proud Canadians despite having huge success in the U.S.  

 

July 10, 2023 8:34 am  #13


Re: The Things You Never Knew About Raymond "Perry Mason" Burr

paterson1 wrote:

Only one episode of the original series was filmed in colour.  On February 27, 1966, Perry Mason was shown in colour on CBS.  In the ninth season Raymond Burr and the cast were up against Bonanza on NBC Sundays at 9pm.  Some executives at CBS wanted to see how the show looked in colour.  The remaining 9 episodes in season 9 were in B&W.   The series final show was in May 1966.

Burr had long wanted to leave the series but was convinced by CBS to do one more for season 10.   CBS had agreed that all of season 10 for 1966/67 would be filmed in colour.   Three weeks later, Burr read in Variety that the show had been cancelled.  Nobody from the network had called him.

Here is the opening and closing of the one colour episode "The Case Of The Twice Told Twist" of the original Perry Mason series from February 27, 1966.   Note how CBS sort of cheated for the closing segment with black and white photos but colour graphics over top. 
https://www.google.com/search?q=which+episode+of+perry+mason+was+in+color&rlz=1C1GGRV_enCA751CA751&ei=lAuoZKu1BuueptQPspIk&start=10&sa=N&ved=2ahUKEwirz7LV0vz_AhVrj4kEHTIJCQAQ8NMDegQICRAQ&biw=1366&bih=657&dpr=1#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:49dd38f6,vid:qCxIdpPaVHI

When Bonanza premiered in 1959, it was on opposite Perry Mason on Saturday nights. Two years of being pounded in the ratings resulted in the Cartwrights moving to the Sunday 9pm slot. The same slot Perry Mason would occupy in its final season.

 

July 10, 2023 8:38 am  #14


Re: The Things You Never Knew About Raymond "Perry Mason" Burr

And, isn't it interesting that both Bonanza and Perry Mason starred Canadians in the leading role.