ABC News is carrying an excerpt from a new biography of Raymond Burr, star of both the Perry Mason and Ironsides TV series. The book looks at Burr's life and the elaborate story line he fabricated of having been married and then losing his wife and child in an accident and being too busy to remarry - all to create a cover for the fact that he was gay. In truth, Burr had a 35 year relationship with his partner, Robert Benevides. Burr was living this life during the period I was a child and I recall our family religiously watching Perry Mason each week. While I learned of Burr's double life sometime agao, I suspect that many Americans will be surprised to learn that Burr, who became the iconic Perry Mason to many, was in fact gay. As a child, little could I have realized that I would for many years also find myself denying who I was to the world (and myself). The book excerpt make Burr appear to have been a pretty nice and remarkable man. It is sad that he had to live such a significant part of his life in secret. Based on my own experiences, I can only believe that such a secret double life - that could only be revealed to a few close, select freinds - took a toll on Burr. Equally sad is the fact tha Christianist would happily force gays back into such secretive lives. Here are somehighlights from the ABC story:
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Raymond Burr, who played Perry Mason in the wildly popular television show "Perry Mason" and later in "Ironside," lived a secret gay life in Hollywood when such a revelation would destroy a career. Burr invented a biography for himself that included a wife and son who'd died, and used his busy schedule as a way to explain why he wasn't married. But Burr and his partner, Robert Benevides, had a relationship for 35 years that was secret to most of the world except for a handful of close friends. . . . Even Barbara Hale, one of Raymond's closest confidantes, had trouble piercing his protective armor.
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The handsome Benevides, thirteen years Raymond's junior, had a small role in the 1957 sci-fi flick Monster That Challenged the World (billed as Bob Benevedes) but was having trouble finding steady work. He and Raymond hit it off immediately, reportedly after Robert delivered a script to Raymond, and their attraction to each other grew. Before too long, Robert—"a nice fellow and very cordial all the time," said Art Marks—was running errands for Raymond.
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Raymond and Robert were discreet in their relationship, and the Perry Mason cast was an extremely close and tight-knit group—ensuring that the relationship would stay insulated "within the family," even if no one was exactly sure if Raymond and Robert were lovers. Even though Raymond's homosexuality was known within the industry, the scandal magazines of the time, including Confidential, hadn't been sniffing around. They had bigger fish to fry, including Raymond's Horizons West costar Rock Hudson, who was one of their favorite targets.
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His much-publicized relationship with Natalie Wood helped his straight-arrow image, and he was well liked among the major gossip columnists, especially Hedda Hopper. And with her sonny boy making a name for himself on Perry Mason, Hedda had extra incentive to ensure Raymond's name was kept away from "those" rumors. They could destroy a career. Hedda's devotion to Raymond is illustrated in a story told by one of his intimates. One of Raymond's male conquests wrote a letter to Hedda, threatening to expose the actor's secret. Hedda, in turn, wrote to Raymond to apprise him of the situation—and to tell him that his secret was safe. She would, she told him, "stand up and swear anything" for him.
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The closeness wasn't limited to the Perry Mason costars. Raymond treated everyone on the set as family. The stories about his practical jokes were matched only by the stories of his acts of kindness and benevolence. . . . When he heard from his secretary Bill Swann that a little girl in Massachusetts, who'd been horribly burned, preferred an autographed photo of her hero Perry Mason to a letter from President Eisenhower, he flew to the hospital to visit her. He was furious when photographers showed up to document the occasion and refused to let his picture be taken.
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Raymond lent money to anyone who asked, grew close to Barbara Hale's children (including future costar William Katt), and contributed generously to charitable causes. He threw lavish dinner parties for friends, sponsored foster children from Korea and Italy, and puttered around the house in Malibu on his days off, tending to his menagerie. And, along the way, he invented another wife.
1 comment:
I came out at 45 and after twenty five years of marriage. Fortunately our divorce was very amicable. She is a Lesbian. I have always loved Burr and find this closet story very sad and too close for comfort. I've been watching "Perry" reruns on tv.com recently with a whole new perspective. I would love to talk with Benevides sometime about what their lives were like in the fifties.
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