Della Street

Della Street was the fictional secretary of Perry Mason in the long-running series of novels, films, and radio and television programs featuring the fictional defense attorney created by Erle Stanley Gardner.

Description

In the very first Perry Mason novel, The Case of the Velvet Claws, written in the early days of the Great Depression it is revealed that Della Street came from a wealthy, or at least well-to-do, family that was wiped out by the stock market crash of 1929, forcing Della to get a job as a secretary. Of course, by the time of the TV series in the 1950s and 1960s, this would have not fit well with the age of the characters as then portrayed. According to The Case Of The Caretaker's Cat, she is approximately fifteen years younger than Perry Mason.

A character named Della Street first appeared Gardner's unpublished novel Reasonable Doubt, where she was a secretary, but not the secretary of the lawyer, Ed Stark. Gardner described her this way: "Della Street ..... Secretary, twenty-seven, quiet, fast as hell on her feet, had been places. Worked in a carnival or side show, knows all the lines, hard-boiled exterior, quietly efficient, puzzled over the lawyer, chestnut hair, trim figure, some lines on her face, a hint of weariness at the corners of her eyes." See Secrets of the World's Best Selling Writer, p. 178. When Gardner submitted Reasonable Doubt to William Morrow, an editor suggested that "Della Street is a better character than the secretary." Gardner took this suggestion when he rewrote Reasonable Doubt as The Case of the Velvet Claws and made Della Street Perry Mason's secretary. In the published novel, the carnival or side show was jettisoned, and Street came from a more respectable background. This is a good example of the difference between the pulp writing and slick writing of the 1930s. See Erle Stanley Gardner: The Case of the Real Perry Mason, p. 102.

In 1950 Gardner published a short story "The Case of the Suspect Sweethearts" under the pseudonym Della Street. See "Erle Stanley Gardner: The Case of the Real Perry Mason" p. 331.

There are several instances of sexual tension between Mason and Street in the Gardner novels; multiple glances, kisses, etc. There were also several proposals of marriage, all of which Della turned down because she wanted to be a part of Mason's life and she knew that meant being a part of his work.

Adaptations

Erle Stanley Gardner, the creator of Perry Mason in a series of novels, was a very prolific author, who employed three secretaries simultaneously, all sisters, to keep up with his output. One of them he eventually married, after his first wife -- from whom he was separated for 30 years -- died. This was Jean Gardner, born Agnes Helene Walter. People who knew her believed she was the inspiration for Della Street, though neither she nor Erle Stanley Gardner himself admitted it. Mrs. Gardner said she thought he put several women together to create the character.

On television, Della Street was played by Barbara Hale, in the series and the made-for-TV movies. She was played by Sharon Acker in the short-lived revival series, The New Adventures of Perry Mason starring Monte Markham as Mason. However, Gertrude Warner was the first actress to portray Street, albeit on the radio series, followed by Joan Alexander and Palmolive's "Madge", Jan Miner.^[1] The character portrayed in the radio series was reworked into Sara Lane on the daytime show Edge of Night which was to be the daytime Perry Mason, until Gardner pulled his support of the project.

References

1. ^ Cox, Jim. "Perry Mason". The Great Radio Soap Operas: The 31 Classic Daytime Dramas, 1930-60. McFarland. p. 176. ISBN 0786405899.