Barbara Hale was born on April 18, 1922, in DeKalb, Illinois, to Wilma (née Colvin) and Luther Ezra Hale, a skilled landscape gardener. She had one sister, Juanita. As a young girl, Hale intended to major in art and drawing, but to work her way through The Chicago Academy of Fine Arts, she began her professional career as a model for a comic strip called "Ramblin' Bill".
Hale is best remembered for her iconic role as Della Street, the long-time secretary to attorney Perry Mason, on the TV series Perry Mason from 1957 to 1966 and again in over 25 Perry Mason TV movies from 1985 to 1995. In her personal life, Hale married actor Bill Williams in 1946. Williams was best known for his portrayal of Kit Carson in The Adventures of Kit Carson from 1951 to 1955.
The couple had three children - two daughters, Jody (born in 1947) and Juanita (born in 1953),and a son, William Katt, born in 1951. William Katt, who bore a striking resemblance to his father, went on to become an actor in his own right. He is probably best known for his roles as the titular character's ill-fated prom date in the film Carrie (1976) and as Ralph Hinkley, the klutzy superhero, on the quirky 1980s adventure series The Greatest American Hero from 1981 to 1986.
