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Hiding in Plain Sight: The Secret Life of Raymond Burr

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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.

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.

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.

Popular character actor Raymond Burr, who played a series of menacing heavies in Noir thrillers of the 40s & 50s and finally hit paydirt playing the title role in the long-running TV series "Perry Mason," is given short shrift in this thin, poorly researched and shabbily written bio.

Author Michael Seth Starr clearly has no shame: He has done hardly any spade work at all. The quotes he derived from quickie interviews are repetitive and unremarkable. There is no analysis, nor any kind of contemplation in this cheap tome.

The material on Burr and others is out there but requires some thinking and digging. Instead, Starr focuses obsessively on two things: the actor's fluctuating weight; and a made up Hollywood bio that concealed Burr's homosexuality - an open secret in filmland.

Newsflash: actors and others in the day (and today!) had beards and lied about their sexual identity. That could have been a launching pad for an exploration of that phenomenon during the classic era - but alas, that certainly would have required work.

If you must read this silly, pitiful book, borrow it from the library. It will disappoint. In fact, the only thing good about the book is the jacket photo of Burr.

Raymond Burr was a talented actor who made it look easy. He deserved better. He deserved a real bio. This book is utterly without merit.

Michael Seth Starr's bio of Raymond Burr offers nothing new. Starr recounts well-known and better-told episodes from Burr's life with an almost snarling tone. Starr mercilessly criticizes Burr's weight, his perfectionism, his closeted life, and his oft-repeated stories used to cover his homosexuality. Not only are Starr's parenthetical asides and editorializing in bad taste, they ensure that his mediocre account will turn off any reader with the slightest fondness for his subject.

I knew very little about "Perry Mason" but love that era of TV. Also "Rear Window" is my favorite Hitchcock film and Burr is so menacing in that. The author is very thorough in covering the story of this Canadian born (did not know that) and his career route through stage acting, into films and then into his famous TV roles. His efforts to hide his sexuality is amusing, especially considering the times, but is only a part of this famed actor's saga. Recommended for fans of TV and film who want a glimpse of behind the scenes life in Hollywood in the 40's. 50's and 60's.

Cheers to Michael Seth Starr for devoting a book to a beloved character actor the likes of whom rarely receive the biography treatment. Raymond Burr's name never appeared above the title on the big screen, but unlike other actors who never made the A list, he was a genuine superstar of TV and more recognizable than many brighter marquee names.

Unfortunately, "Hiding in Plain Sight: The Secret Life of Raymond Burr" emerges as little more than a summary of the actor's career, seemingly patched together from news clippings and TV Guide interviews. The title is almost too perfect in that Burr remains hidden even after his biographer is done with him. The closest thing to a revelation here isn't much of a revelation at all: Burr was gay, and concealed his homosexuality with elaborate tales of marriages that never occurred and conveniently ended in tragedy. Burr even fabricated a son whom he claimed he took on a world tour prior to his death from leukemia. Remarkably (or should I say predictably?), the press never questioned these tales during his lifetime and faithfully repeated them in the numerous profiles that appeared through the years.

It's certainly no secret why Burr created this smokescreen. Homosexuality was even more of a taboo in his heyday of the `50s and `60s than it is now. The slightest whiff of a lifestyle that didn't conform to the mainstream majority could end a career, especially for a burly actor with a tough guy persona who didn't fit the fey stereotype. But however active his sex life, Burr was discreet. Unlike other closet cases, he left behind no trail of lovers to corroborate the rumors. Burr left only Robert Benevides who quietly shared much of his life. As a result, Starr provides little insight into his subject's homosexuality or whatever toll the need to hide took on his personal or professional life. There was an incident involving a female impersonator in a Greenwich Village bar that made a minor ripple in the tabloid press in 1961, but otherwise Burr avoided any hint of scandal. As for public pronouncements, the closest Burr came to coming out of the closet was an offhand comment about bedding a GI that he supposedly made to a TV producer.

There are other problems with Starr's book. His repeated references to Burr's weight seem borderline nasty, and he could have used a more diligent fact checker. Burr never hosted "Saturday Night Live" as Starr claims (he's probably mistaking the star of "Perry Mason" for Broderick Crawford of "Highway Patrol" who did indeed share a stage with the Not Ready for Prime Time Players), and I'm pretty sure that the "ridiculously curly wig" Burr wore in the failed "Mallory" pilot was actually his own curly hair (as seen in Hitchcock's "Rear Window") during a time out from the barber.

Ultimately, "Hiding in Plain Sight" fails to be anything but a fleshed out catalogue of Burr's acting credits and a rehashing of known facts about a man who lived an all together exemplary life. Admirably, Starr acknowledges Burr's concern for those less fortunate. The actor not only adopted several Vietnamese children, but also financed the educations of others who lived on the island he purchased with his "Perry Mason" fortune. That won't be tantalizing enough to make it a best seller, but it does give Starr's book value.

Brian W. Fairbanks

I was really looking forward to reading this biography about Raymond Burr as I knew little about his private life. Like many others, I admired him as an actor in both films and T.V.

Mr. Starr apparently discovered that there few facts about Mr. Burr's private life available since he used many pages to give us three basics facts. First, Mr. Burr was gay and allowed disguising profiles to be made up about him by the studios. Second, he was overweight for most of his life. Last, his typical response to inquiries was "I don't talk about that."

This book is a waste of your money for sure! Perhaps you will find it mildly interesting if you check it out from the library. It certainly can be read quickly!

This a very quick read, mostly because you want to get through the terrible writing as quickly as possible.

I thought this would be about Raymond Burr's sexuality and how he had to hide it in the Hollywood of his era. Instead, there was virtually nothing about that aspect of his life. It's interesting as far as it goes, which really isn't very far. We are treated to many plot summaries of his various films and shows, why I don't know, it seems like filler.