Hiding in Plain Sight: The Secret Life of Raymond Burr [Hardcover]

Michael Seth Starr (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2008

The complete story of the actor's career, including his secret gay life. Raymond Burr (1917-1993) was an enigma. A film noir star regularly known for his villainous roles in movies like Rear Window, he delighted millions of viewers each week with the top-rated shows Perry Mason and Ironside, which ran virtually uninterrupted for 20 years. But Burr was leading a secret gay life at a time in Hollywood when such a lifestyle was akin to career suicide. He invented a tragic biography for himself in which he was mythologized as a heartbroken husband and father. There was even an invented affair with a teenage Natalie Wood, 21 years his junior. He fought for truth as Perry Mason and Robert T. Ironside, yet he couldn't admit his own deception. Burr met his partner, struggling actor Robert Benevides, on the set of Perry Mason, and they remained together for over 35 years until Burr's death. Together, they built a business empire, traveled the world, and shared their passion for orchids and fine wine - keeping the true nature of their relationship a secret from all but their closest friends - a secret revealed here for the first time in depth.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starr's lackluster biography doesn't do justice to the complex man who transformed himself from B-movie thug to television's beloved attorney, Perry Mason. Born in British Columbia in 1917, Burr moved to California as a child, where he took his first stab at acting in a local theater group. Moving back and forth between bit parts in California and on Broadway, Burr finally signed a contract with RKO, despite his fictional résumé that claimed he spent time on the London stage. His deep baritone and imposing frame made him the perfect heavy in a string of RKO thrillers. But it was his role as Perry Mason on TV that made Burr a household name. Running from 1957 to 1966, the CBS courtroom drama featured Mason eliciting confessions on the witness stand and never losing a case to his arch nemesis, DA Hamilton Burger. Burr's private life, most notably his long-term relationship with Robert Benevides, was kept quiet, primarily through the dead spouses Burr invented along the way. Working steadily until his death in 1993 from cancer, Burr remained a television icon, following up the success of Mason with Ironside, where he played a paraplegic cop. Starr, who has biographies of Joey Bishop and Bobby Darin, does little to illuminate the actor or the man, and sidesteps a much-needed exploration of homosexuality in Burr's Hollywood. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Michael Seth Starr (Northern New Jersey) has covered television at The New York Post for twelve years. He's written biographies of Peter Sellers, Art Carney, Joey Bishop, and Bobby Darin. He has appeared on the following national television programs to promote his books: The Today Show, The Early Show, Larry King Live, Entertainment Tonight, Extra, and Access Hollywood.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 268 pages
• Publisher: Applause Books; 1ST edition (April 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1557836949
• ISBN-13: 978-1557836946
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #507,115 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #54 in Books > Gay & Lesbian > Literature & Fiction > Drama > Gay

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

75 of 76 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Out of Proportion..., June 23, 2008

By 

Hank Drake (Cleveland, OH United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Hiding in Plain Sight: The Secret Life of Raymond Burr (Hardcover)

Raymond Burr was one of the most distinguished actors in television history. Although his early career was dominated by film work, he became identified with the small screen after playing the title character in Perry Mason. His work did much to bring credibility to a medium which was often seen as inferior to the silver screen.

Raymond Burr's homosexuality was an open secret in Hollywood when he died in 1993, and common knowledge shortly thereafter. There was no "scandal" when this information was revealed, mainly because Burr had led an honorable life which was marked by his generosity to those in need. That he was closeted while in a 35 year relationship with actor Robert Benevides is more a reflection on the era and the Hollywood mentality than on Burr himself. The author, Michael Seth Starr, does not seem interested in reflecting on those subjects, rather than the lengths to which Burr went to conceal his private life.

Starr seems obsessed with Burr's weight, arguably more than Burr or his fans ever were. Hardly a page goes by without mention of Burr's "corpulent girth" or "morbid" obesity. Not all gay men, closeted or otherwise, are body fascists, yet Starr's personal attitudes on the subject seem to pervade the book.

At times, the book is bogged down in irrelevant detail. Starr gives a blow-by-blow account of the plot of Rear Window and several other films. While it expands a slim book, it's not necessary. Really, what film fan, not to mention Burr fan, does not know the plot of Rear Window?

Since his death, Burr's many fans have wanted a definitive telling of his story. Hiding in Plain Sight isn't it.

44 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars good news, bad news, May 10, 2008

By 

Curtis Jones (Chattanooga, TN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hiding in Plain Sight: The Secret Life of Raymond Burr (Hardcover)

Throughout an otherwise informative and well-written book, Starr keeps hammering home two points over and over. He was gay: we get it. He was fat: we get it. Thanks to the tabloids and my own eyes, I already knew he was gay and fat. I'm over it.

Still, the book is interesting due to well-researched info about his workaholic acting schedule (before, during and after the Perry Mason years), and his tireless generosity toward his fans and overseas troops. For whatever faults one might find, Mr. Burr is a man I wish I had known.

Starr has chosen a good subject for a bio, and spent considerable time on it; but the excessive mentions of Burr's sexual preference, fabricated life story and girth really needed a good editor. The repetition became tiresome.

Plus a few minor factual errors take away from the author's credibility. For example, Andy Griffith's "Matlock" series never aired on CBS.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars He's Still Hiding, July 26, 2008

By 

Douglas Doepke (Claremont CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hiding in Plain Sight: The Secret Life of Raymond Burr (Hardcover)

This is a workman-like account of Burr's life and career. Unfortunately, author Michael Starr relies almost exclusively on second-hand sources for his text-- newspapers, magazines, and other print material. There are few first-hand sources which could relate all-important private aspects of the celebrity's life and career. Thus what emerges is largely a portrait of the public man-- the beloved figure of television melodrama-- instead of the carefully guarded private one.

There is, however, one highly significant exception to this public account. Starr makes no bones about Burr's secret life as a gay man during the homophobic decades in which he became a revered public figure. Nor does Starr soft-peddle the many cover stories Burr concocted to hide his sexual orientation. This is the book's main virtue and should lay to rest the many stories and confusions about this controversial phase of the actor's personal life.

However, as a result of Starr's reliance on secondary sources, we can only guess at Burr's private emotions during the key Perry Mason period. For better or worse, his character came to stand for the American criminal justice system to much of the public. Yet the man himself could have been arrested in many parts of the country as a "deviate". The anxiety must have been difficult at times. Too bad author Starr could not give us an inside glimpse of a period when great success also meant great apprehension. Perhaps, by Ironside's more tolerant era, Burr could have "outed" himself without too great of a career risk. But likely the cover story of dead wives and child had become too embedded to undercut. Anyway, these fictitious stories continued to define the private man in the public's eye right up to the end.

Also, the book doesn't provide much of a handle on the actor's behind-the-scenes personality. We do get glimpses, but mainly we have to read between the lines to get anything like a life-size portrait. Perhaps, his friends and co-workers were unavailable for the kind of interview that would provide revealing anecdotes. Whatever the reason, there's a noticeable absence of detail. Starr's style is easy and readable, but he's also not above padding the text with synopses of key films in the actor's career. Just what the significance of these to the man himself escapes me. I wish the author had discussed his sources more forthrightly in a Foreward, which could have shed some light on important aspects of the narrative that follows. The absence of an informative Foreward, standard to this kind of biographical work, amounts to another significant defect. Thus, aside from tackling the most controversial aspect of the revered actor's life, the book stands as a considerable disappointment.