Biography for
Raymond Burr More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

21 May 1917, New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada

Date of Death

12 September 1993, Sonoma, California, USA (liver cancer)

Birth Name

Raymond William Stacy Burr

Height

6' 1½" (1.87 m)

Mini Biography

Born as Raymond 'William Stacy' Burr, 21 May 1917, in New Westminster, British Columbia, Burr spent most of his early life travelling. While still young, his father moved his family to China, while the elder Burr worked as a trade agent. When the family returned to Canada, Raymond's parents divorced; his mother then took him to Vallejo, California, where she raised him with the aid of his grandparents. As he got older, Burr began to take jobs to support his mother, younger sister and younger brother. He took jobs as a ranch hand in Roswell, New Mexico; as a deputy sheriff; a photo salesman; and even as a singer in night clubs.

In World War Two, Burr served in the Navy. When in Okinawa, he was shot in the stomach and sent home. Soon after this, in 1946, Burr made his film debut in San Quentin (1946). From there, he went on to act in more than 90 films before landing the role of defense attorney "Perry Mason" (1957) in the series of the same name. Then, in 1993, after a battle with cancer that dated back to his days on "Perry Mason", Burr died on 12 September 1993 at his ranch home.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Kelleher, Brian

Spouse

Ward, Isabella

(1947 - 1952) (divorced)

Trivia

His favorite hobby, later developed into a business, was cultivating orchids. Raymond developed one orchid which he named the Barbara Hale Orchid.

Had an art gallery on California's Rodeo Drive in the early '50s.

Raymond loved to cook and throw intimate dinner parties.

While working with Errol Flynn, Flynn told him that if he died with ten dollars in his pocket he hadn't done a good job. This inspired him to always share his wealth with all.

On October 1, 1993 a memorial service was held at the Pasadena Playhouse, the very same theatre that he had made his acting debut 50 years before. A director's chair with "RAYMOND BURR" placed in the centre stage played host to friends who paid tribute.

Suffered eye damage from always having to look upwards while in a wheelchair on the "Ironside" (1967) set.

Was once a famous loungeroom singer in his younger days.

Before dying from cancer, he threw some grand parties to say farewell to many of his friends.

Interred at Fraser Cemetery, New Westminister, British Columbia, Canada.

Bought his own 3,000-acre island 165 miles northeast of Suva in Fiji in 1965 and named it Naitamba

Left his $32-million estate solely to Robert Benevides.

The Burr Theatre was created in 2000 in the old site of the Columbia Theatre on Columbia Street in New Westminster.

He, Michael J. Fox and Jim Carrey head list of top Canadians in U.S. television compiled by Banff Television Festival, June 2002.

He was the director of the Pasadena Community Playhouse before entering the Navy in World War II.

He attended Stanford, Columbia and Chungking universities.

He taught drama at Columbia University.

He was incredibly generous, giving most of his money to charities and sharing it with friends.

Longtime companion of Robert Benevides. Benevides was a young actor Raymond met on the set of the original "Perry Mason". He was thirteen years Raymond's junior and had a small role in the sci-fi flick The Monster That Challenged the World (1957) billed as Bob Benevedes.

Burr's official biography stated that he had been previously married, but both his wives and one child had died. However, these details were fabricated in an attempt to hide the fact that Burr was gay. Only one brief marriage which ended in divorce had actually occurred; the other marriage and the child were fiction.

Was the original host of Unsolved Mysteries, hosting only its first special in January 1987. He was then briefly replaced by Karl Malden. However, both actors requested salaries that show producer John Cosgrove deemed astronomical. So by the time the show became a regular series in 1988, Robert Stack had been hired as the permanent host.

In 1990, not long before Burr grew ill with cancer, Raymond and Robert started to produce a vineyard in the Dry Creek Valley and their first vintage. The wine was bottled in November, 1992 and released after Burr's death in 1995.

Managed an island in Fiji where he raised copra and cattle.

He had an interest in, and knowledge of, the cultivation and hybridization of orchids. He and partner of 35 years, Robert Benevides, set up Sea God Nurseries, becoming in the 20-odd years of its life an international presence with ranges in Fiji, Hawaii, the Azores Islands and in Southern California. They were responsible for over 1,500 new orchids added to the world-wide catalogue.

He is commemorated on a 2008 Canadian postage stamp, one of four honoring achievements of Canadians in Hollywood. The other three depict Norma Shearer, Marie Dressler, and Chief Dan George.

Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume 3, 1991-1993, pages 84-85. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2001.

Featured in "Bad Boys: The Actors of Film Noir" by Karen Burroughs Hannsberry (McFarland, 2003).

He cultivated an orchid that he named after his former "Perry Mason" (1957), co-star, Barbara Hale, as the symbol of friendship.

His parents, Minerva & William Burr, were remarried in 1955, after 33 years of separation, from each other. Burr had been very close to them, during and after this.

After he was diagnosed with kidney cancer, he refused to undergo surgery so that he could star in his final 2 TV movies: The Return of Ironside (1993) (TV) and Perry Mason: The Case of the Killer Kiss (1993) (TV).

His mother, Minerva Burr, died in 1974, at the age of 81 of cancer and father, William Burr, died in 1985, at the age of 96 of old age.

Dropped out of San Raphael Military School, at age 17, to support the era, the Civilian Conservation Corps, where he learned to fight forest fires and plant trees.

His parents were married in Canada in 1914, after they migrated from Chicago, Illinois.

Personal Quotes

Let's just say that the part isn't conducive to leisurely living the way I once knew it. I only hope that I can regain my own identity, once I decide that Perry Mason and myself have come to the parting of the road. Perry Mason has become a career for me . . . all I know is that I work, eat and sleep Perry Mason.

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