Lorna wrote: ↑April 26th, 2024, 9:18 am
Hibi wrote: ↑April 26th, 2024, 8:57 am
Andree wrote: ↑April 25th, 2024, 10:28 pm
Especially in the later seasons when he had put on quit a few pounds.
His weight really fluctuated during the series.
I'd bet you anything RAYMOND BURR was depressed.
If you only know hIM from PERRY MASON, it's WILD to come across some of his film roles in the 40's and 50's where he really got to DIG IN and play some sadistic weirdoes (HIS KIND OF WOMAN comes to mind)
PERRY MASON provided stability and visibility and a TON of money, but I imagine an actor of his abilities had to have felt BOXED IN playing things
so DEADPAN for EVERY SCENE in EVERY EPISODE (I think he expected to have more A PLACE IN THE SUN moments as PERRY)
He even pokes fun at his EMOTIONLESS DEMEANOR when he plays THE JUDGE in AIRPLANE II: THE SEQUEL
He always had a weight issue and yo-yoed throughout his life. He supposedly dropped 100 lbs before PM started. From what I read he was originally called for the Hamilton Burger role. He almost always was the heavy in earlier roles (see
Rear Window) But Gardner was convinced he was the embodiment of Mason, even though some thought the against-type casting was a risk for a relatively expensive show (for the times).
I wasn't old enough to see PM in its original run, and when it first went into syndication in the early 70s, I had no interest (what 7 or 8 year old would?). I've only started watching them in the last few years in the late night MeTV timeslot, where they've padded the runtime to 65 minutes, I suppose to air them uncut.
One thing I've noticed is that Burr has really dark circles around the eyes in most episodes/scenes. I mean really dark, as if a makeup artist went to town. I don't know why they didn't try to cover that up a bit more. Perhaps they thought people wouldn't notice while watching on their 19 inch B&W Philcos...