Hale and Not-so Hearty

(Props to Monty)

Or

Dead-end Street

(Additional accolades for Monty)

Barbara Hale, best remembered as a randy middle-aged astronomer trying to combat The Giant Spider Invasion in the MST3K classic, has died of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at the age of 94. She had some high-profile roles opposite top leading men, most notably headlining Lorna Doone, then spent 13 years in Raymond Burr’s shadow as Della Street, his ever-capable legal secretary, on Perry Mason. Twenty years later, Street put all the tricks she learned to good use, committing a murder that forces Mason to give up his job as an appellate court judge so that he can come to her defense. Other roles included Dean Martin’s wife in Airport, and playing William Katt’s mother in real life and in The Greatest American Hero and Big Wednesday.