Born as Raymond 'William Stacy' Burr, 21 May 1917, in New Westminster, British Columbia, Burr spent most of his early life travelling. While still young, his father moved his family to China, while the elder Burr worked as a trade agent. When the family returned to Canada, Raymond's parents divorced; his mother then took him to Vallejo, California, where she raised him with the aid of his grandparents. As he got older, Burr began to take jobs to support his mother, younger sister and younger brother. He took jobs as a ranch hand in Roswell, New Mexico; as a deputy sheriff; a photo salesman; and even as a singer in night clubs.

In World War Two, Burr served in the Navy. When in Okinawa, he was shot in the stomach and sent home. Soon after this, in 1946, Burr made his film debut in San Quentin. From there, he went on to act in more than 90 films before landing the role of defense attorney Perry Mason in the series of the same name. Then, in 1993, after a battle with cancer that dated back to his days on "Perry Mason", Burr died on 12 September 1993 at his ranch home.


Had an art gallery on Beverly Hills' Rodeo Drive in the early '50s. While working with Errol Flynn, Flynn told him that if he died with ten dollars in his pocket he hadn't done a good job. This inspired him to always share his wealth with all. Suffered eye strain from always having to look upwards while in a wheelchair on the "Ironside" (1967) set. Before dying from cancer, he threw some grand parties to say farewell to many of his friends. Bought his own 3,000-acre island 165 miles northeast of Suva in Fiji in 1965 and named it Naitamba, where he raised cattle and copra. The Columbia Theatre on Columbia Street in New Westminster, British Colombia was renamed in his honor in 2000. He was the director of the Pasadena Community Playhouse before entering the navy in World War II. He taught drama at Columbia University. Longtime companion of Robert Benevides. Benevides was a young actor Burr met on the set of the original "Perry Mason" (1957) TV series. He was thirteen years Raymond's junior. He had a small role in the sci-fi flick The Monster That Challenged the World (1957), billed as Bob Benevedes. Was the original host of "Unsolved Mysteries" (1987), hosting only its first special in January 1987. He was then briefly replaced by Karl Malden. However, both actors requested salaries that show producer John Cosgrove deemed astronomical. So by the time the show became a regular series in 1988, Robert Stack had been hired as the permanent host at a more reasonable salary. Managed an island in Fiji where he raised copra and cattle. He is commemorated on a 2008 Canadian postage stamp, one of four honoring achievements of Canadians in Hollywood. The other three depict Norma Shearer, Marie Dressler, and Chief Dan George. Featured in "Bad Boys: The Actors of Film Noir" by Karen Burroughs Hannsberry (McFarland, 2003). After he was diagnosed with kidney cancer, he refused to undergo surgery so that he could star in his final 2 TV movies: The Return of Ironside (1993) (TV) and Perry Mason: The Case of the Killer Kiss (1993) (TV). Dropped out of San Raphael Military School at age 17, to join the Civilian Conservation Corps, where he learned to fight forest fires and plant trees. Was considered for the role of Matt Dillon in "Gunsmoke" (1955). In an August 23, 1975 article in TV Guide called [i]When Chester Forgot to Limp[/i] commemorating trivia from the show as it was about to leave the air, the show's first producer Charles Marquis Warren recalled: "His voice was fine, but he was too big. When he stood up, his chair stood up with him." William Conrad, who played Matt Dillon on radio, was rejected for the TV version for similar reasons. In a memorial article in TV Guide published shortly after Burr's death, the original producers of "Perry Mason" (1957) almost rejected Burr for that role, again because Burr was overweight. He went on an intensive diet to get down to a size acceptable to the producers.