Raymond Burr was the ultimate authority figure. As Perry Mason, he never lost a case. As Robert Ironside, he commanded the room from a wheelchair. He was big, burly, and had a voice like a velvet fog. But off-camera? He was a phantom. People have spent decades asking was raymond burr gay, and the answer isn't just a "yes" or "no"—it's a wild story of survival in a Hollywood that didn't want him to exist.
Honestly, he didn't just hide his life. He rewrote it.
The Secret Life of a TV Icon
For most of his career, fans "knew" Raymond Burr as a tragic widower. He told reporters heartbreaking stories about a wife, Annette Sutherland, who allegedly died in the same 1943 plane crash that killed actor Leslie Howard. He talked about a second wife, Laura Morgan, who succumbed to cancer. He even spoke about a ten-year-old son, Michael Evan, who died of leukemia.
It was all a lie. Every single bit of it.
There was no Annette Sutherland on that plane. There was no son named Michael. No tragic cancer death for a wife named Laura. In the 1950s and '60s, a leading man couldn't be gay and keep his job. It just didn't happen. So, Burr did what any great actor would do: he created a character for the public to love. He gave them a man burdened by grief because a grieving man doesn't get asked why he isn't dating.
💡 You might also like: Kellyanne Conway Age: Why Her 59th Year Matters More Than Ever
Why Was Raymond Burr Gay rumors so persistent?
Despite the elaborate smoke screens, Hollywood is a small town. People talked. Insiders called it an "open secret." You’ve got to remember that this was the era of Confidential magazine, a rag that lived to out stars. Burr was terrified of them. He worked like a dog, sometimes 16 hours a day on the Perry Mason set, partly to stay ahead of the gossip.
The truth started coming out after his death in 1993. It turns out Burr had a partner, Robert Benevides, for over 30 years. They met on the set of Perry Mason in the mid-fifties. Benevides was a young actor and a Korean War vet. Eventually, he stopped acting to help Burr run his many businesses, including a massive orchid collection and a vineyard in Sonoma.
They lived a full, domestic life together, just mostly behind high walls.
The One Marriage That Was Real
Burr did marry once. In 1949, he wed an actress named Isabella Ward. It lasted about as long as a Hollywood minute—they lived together for a few months and then it was over. His sister, Geraldine Fuller, later confirmed that this was his only actual marriage. Everything else? Just scriptwriting for his own biography.
📖 Related: Melissa Gilbert and Timothy Busfield: What Really Happened Behind the Scenes
Surviving the Lavender Scare
You might wonder why he went to such extremes. Why the fake dead kids? Why the imaginary wives?
Basically, the "Lavender Scare" was real. During the Cold War, the government and the studios viewed gay people as security risks or "moral degenerates." If the public found out the man playing the righteous Perry Mason was gay, the show would have been cancelled overnight. Sponsorships would vanish.
Burr saw what happened to others. He saw the whispers. He chose to build a fortress.
- The Natalie Wood "Romance": The studio even tried to link him to Natalie Wood. They went on dates for the cameras. It was a classic "beard" situation, though Benevides later said Burr actually did have a genuine affection for her.
- The Tough Guy Image: He was a "heavy" in movies like Rear Window. His size and deep voice protected him. He didn't fit the "effeminate" stereotype that the public associated with gay men back then.
- The Generosity: Burr was famous for being incredibly kind. He sent hand-written notes to everyone. He bought expensive gifts for his crew. Maybe it was because he knew he was keeping a secret from them.
The Robert Benevides Years
If you visit the Raymond Burr Vineyards today, you see the legacy of his real life. He and Robert weren't just "roommates." They were a team. They traveled the world, bought an island in Fiji, and cultivated some of the rarest orchids on the planet.
👉 See also: Jeremy Renner Accident Recovery: What Really Happened Behind the Scenes
When Burr died of cancer, he left his entire estate to Benevides. He pointedly left his relatives out of the will. That caused a huge legal stink, with his sister and nieces trying to challenge it, but it showed exactly who mattered to him in the end.
Robert Benevides has been pretty open in the years since Raymond's death. He doesn't seem bitter about the decades in the closet. He understood the game they had to play. He's spoken about how Raymond was "bitter" about having to hide, but also proud of the work he did.
How to View the Legacy of Raymond Burr
So, was Raymond Burr gay? Yes. But he was also a master of his own narrative. He managed to become one of the most trusted faces in American history while living a life that much of America would have condemned at the time.
It's sorta sad when you think about it. All those fake tragedies he had to invent just to be left alone. But it’s also a testament to his sheer will. He won. He kept his career, he kept his partner, and he kept his dignity.
If you want to understand the real Raymond Burr beyond the courtroom dramas, here is what you can do:
- Look for the subtext: Watch old episodes of Perry Mason and notice the chemistry between Mason and Paul Drake. Many queer film scholars now see it as a "work marriage" that felt more real than any of the show's female guest roles.
- Read the biographies: Check out Hiding in Plain Sight by Michael Seth Starr. It’s one of the most thorough deep dives into how he maintained the facade.
- Visit the Vineyard: If you're ever in Healdsburg, California, the Raymond Burr Vineyards still stand as a tribute to the life he and Robert built together. It’s a peaceful place that feels a lot more honest than a Hollywood soundstage.
Raymond Burr wasn't just a guy with a secret. He was a pioneer who had to hide his trail so well that we're still talking about it thirty years after he passed away.