When you look at pictures of Barbara Hale, you aren't just seeing a television secretary. You’re looking at a woman who basically defined the "Girl Friday" archetype for an entire generation. Most people today remember her as Della Street, the unflappable right hand to Raymond Burr’s Perry Mason, but honestly? Her visual legacy goes way deeper than just shorthand notebooks and courtroom glances.
She was a Chicago art student, a wartime pin-up, and a silver screen leading lady long before she ever set foot in a TV law office.
If you’ve ever scrolled through vintage archives, you’ve probably noticed that Hale’s photos have a specific kind of staying power. It isn't just about the nostalgia. It’s the sheer versatility of her look. One minute she’s a wholesome Midwestern girl in a 1940s Lux soap ad, and the next, she’s a peroxide-blonde mob chanteuse in The Houston Story.
The Modeling Days: A Red Coat and a Bus Stop
Kinda crazy how life works, right? Barbara Hale didn't even move to Hollywood to be an actress. She went to the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts to be a commercial artist. She was literally just waiting for a bus in front of the Drake Hotel when a scout for the Chicago Models Bureau spotted her.
Why? Because she was wearing a striking red coat and they needed a model for a specific outdoor shoot.
That one moment led to a series of pictures of Barbara Hale that would eventually land on the desk of an RKO talent scout. She spent about a year modeling for the Seaman agency, even posing for War Bond posters during the height of World War II. These early portraits show a version of Hale that feels almost unrecognizable to Perry Mason fans—soft, romantic, and possessing that specific "girl next door" glow that RKO was desperate to market as their answer to the stars at MGM.
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The RKO Era and the "Cinderella" Narrative
Once she got to Hollywood in 1943, the RKO publicity machine went into overdrive. They called her a "Cinderella" story because she had a line in her very first movie, Gildersleeve’s Bad Day, within hours of arriving on the lot.
Publicity stills from this era are everywhere if you know where to look. You'll find her:
- Singing alongside a very young Frank Sinatra in Higher and Higher.
- Dressed in full Western gear for West of the Pecos (where she met her husband, Bill Williams).
- Looking genuinely terrified in the 1949 noir classic The Window.
By the late 1940s, she was a certified starlet. If you look at high-res pictures of Barbara Hale from 1946 to 1950, you see the studio trying to figure out her "type." They put her in bathing suits adorned with coins donated by servicemen. They photographed her watering communal gardens. They even had her pose for "achievement" shots, sitting in her own director's chair to signify she'd finally "made it."
The Radical Hair Change of 1956
Most people associate Barbara Hale with her natural brunette curls. However, there is a specific set of 1956 publicity photos that always trips people up. For the film The Houston Story, she went platinum blonde. It was a total departure from her usual image. While she looked stunning, it sorta felt like she was playing a character that didn't quite fit her "nice girl" persona. She reportedly preferred her natural look, which is probably why she went back to brunette just in time for the biggest break of her career.
Defining Della Street: The Visual Language of Perry Mason
In 1957, everything changed. When you search for pictures of Barbara Hale today, probably 80% of what you find comes from the Perry Mason years. But look closer at those photos. There is a very deliberate style at play here.
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Gail Patrick Jackson, the show’s executive producer (and a former actress herself), was adamant about how Della Street should look. She didn't want Della following every fleeting fashion trend of the late 50s and 60s. No beehives. No radical hemlines.
Instead, Hale’s look was built on:
- Tailored Elegance: High-neck blouses, often with a bow, and pencil skirts that always covered the knee.
- Practicality: In the first season, she actually wore mules on set because she was constantly running around, though she eventually switched to classic heels.
- The Signature Curls: A practical, cropped hairstyle that made her look like a woman who actually worked for a living.
There's a famous set of behind-the-scenes photos where she and Raymond Burr are just... laughing. They had this incredible bond that was purely platonic but deeply affectionate. You can see it in the way they look at each other in still frames. It wasn't just acting; there was a genuine warmth there that the camera captured effortlessly.
The Later Years: The 1980s Revival
After the original series ended in 1966, Hale stepped back to focus on her family. But in 1985, she came back for the Perry Mason TV movies.
Pictures from this era show a different kind of beauty. She was in her 60s and 70s, still playing Della, but now with a silver-gray wardrobe and a sophisticated, mature grace. She even got to work with her real-life son, William Katt, who played Paul Drake Jr. There are some really touching press photos of the two of them on set together—Hale looking like the proudest mom in Hollywood while still keeping that professional Della Street edge.
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Authentic vs. Edited Images
A quick word of advice for collectors: if you’re looking for authentic pictures of Barbara Hale, be careful with modern "colorized" versions floating around social media. While they look cool, they often mess up the actual color palettes of the 1950s. The original black-and-white stills from CBS and RKO are where the real detail lives—you can see the texture of the wool suits and the specific sheen of the pearls she wore.
Finding and Preserving Her Legacy
If you're actually looking to buy or collect these images, you've got a few solid options. Obviously, Getty Images and Alamy have the high-res editorial stuff, but for fans, the real treasures are usually found in vintage shops or via estate sales of old Hollywood photographers.
- Publicity Stills: These usually have a studio code at the bottom (like RKO-BH-102). These were sent to newspapers and magazines to promote films.
- Lobby Cards: These are smaller, often colorized, and show a specific scene from a movie.
- Wire Photos: These often have the original typed caption glued to the back. These are the "holy grail" for collectors because they tell you exactly what was happening in the photo at that moment.
When you look at pictures of Barbara Hale, you're seeing a woman who managed to navigate the Hollywood machine without losing her soul. She stayed married to the same man for 46 years until his death. She raised three kids. She won an Emmy. And through it all, she remained one of the most photographed and beloved faces in television history.
How to Start a Barbara Hale Photo Collection
If you're serious about gathering a physical or digital archive of her work, focus on the following steps to ensure you're getting quality material:
- Verify the Studio Markings: Authentic RKO or CBS publicity stills almost always feature a "slug" or identification number in the bottom corner of the print.
- Check the Back (The Verso): Genuine vintage photos often have "snipe" sheets (typewritten descriptions) or date stamps from newspaper archives. This adds significant historical value.
- Prioritize 8x10 Glossies: This was the standard format for Hollywood stars. Anything significantly smaller might be a modern reprint or a page torn from a magazine.
- Seek Out "The Window" (1949) Stills: These are considered some of the most artistic photos of her career due to the dramatic noir lighting used during production.
Next, you might want to look into the specific costume designers who worked on her Perry Mason wardrobe to understand why her visual style remains a "vintage office" gold standard even decades later.