Hiding in Plain Sight: The Secret Life of Raymond Burr (Applause Books) - Softcover

Michael Seth Starr

Softcover

ISBN 10: 142347371X ISBN 13: 9781423473718

Publisher: Applause, 2009

Synopsis

Now in paperback, the complete story of the actor's career, including his secret gay life.

Raymond Burr (1917-1993) was an enigma. A film noir regular known for his villainous roles in movies like Rear Window, he eventually became one of the most popular stars in television history as the lead actor on two top-rated dramas, Perry Mason and Ironside, which between them ran virtually uninterrupted for 20 years.

But Raymond Burr was leading a secret gay life at a time in Hollywood when exposure would have been career suicide. To protect his secret, Burr fabricated a tragic past for himself as a grieving husband and father. He claimed to have been twice widowed – he said his first wife had died in a plane crash, and his second marriage had ended with his wife's early death from cancer. And there was also a dead son – 10-year-old Michael, who lost his battle with leukemia. Neither of the wives nor Michael ever existed. But that didn't stop these lies from being perpetuated again and again, even in Burr's New York Times obituary.

Hiding in Plain Sight examines the totality of Raymond Burr's career and his personal life, including his 35 years with partner Robert Benevides. The author interviewed over 30 people who knew or worked with Burr, including Angela Lansbury, Barbara Hale, Robert Wagner, Gale Storm, and more.

About this title

About the Author:

Michael Seth Starr (River Vale, NJ) has covered television at the New York Post for thirteen years. He has written biographies of Peter Sellers, Art Carney, Joey Bishop, and Bobby Darin, and has appeared on The Today Show, The Early Show, Good Morning America, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, Entertainment Tonight, and Access Hollywood.

From Publishers Weekly:

Starr's lackluster biography doesn't do justice to the complex man who transformed himself from B-movie thug to television's beloved attorney, Perry Mason. Born in British Columbia in 1917, Burr moved to California as a child, where he took his first stab at acting in a local theater group. Moving back and forth between bit parts in California and on Broadway, Burr finally signed a contract with RKO, despite his fictional résumé that claimed he spent time on the London stage. His deep baritone and imposing frame made him the perfect heavy in a string of RKO thrillers. But it was his role as Perry Mason on TV that made Burr a household name. Running from 1957 to 1966, the CBS courtroom drama featured Mason eliciting confessions on the witness stand and never losing a case to his arch nemesis, DA Hamilton Burger. Burr's private life, most notably his long-term relationship with Robert Benevides, was kept quiet, primarily through the dead spouses Burr invented along the way. Working steadily until his death in 1993 from cancer, Burr remained a television icon, following up the success of Mason with Ironside, where he played a paraplegic cop. Starr, who has biographies of Joey Bishop and Bobby Darin, does little to illuminate the actor or the man, and sidesteps a much-needed exploration of homosexuality in Burr's Hollywood. (May)
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About this edition

• Publisher: Applause
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 142347371X
• ISBN 13: 9781423473718
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 312