Hamilton Burger
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Hamilton Burger is the fictional Los Angeles County District Attorney (D.A.) in the long-running series of novels,
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s, and
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and
television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
programs featuring
Perry Mason Perry Mason is a fictional character, an American criminal defense lawyer who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason features in 82 novels and 4 short stories, all of which involve a c ...
, the fictional defense attorney created by
Erle Stanley Gardner Erle Stanley Gardner (July 17, 1889 – March 11, 1970) was an American lawyer and author. He is best known for the Perry Mason series of detective stories, but he wrote numerous other novels and shorter pieces and also a series of nonfiction b ...
.


Character

Hamilton Burger first appears in chapter 10 of Gardner's 1935 novel, ''The Case of the Counterfeit Eye'', in which he is described as "a broad-shouldered, thick-necked individual with a close-cropped moustache". Gardner describes Burger in the cast of characters of that novel as an "honest but stubborn" D.A. In chapter 15 of ''The Case of the Caretaker's Cat'' (1935), Burger's residential address is given as 3297 West Lakeside, and his phone number is EXposition 9-6949. Burger is one of literature's least successful district attorneys, and critics have suggested that he must have been the most incompetent lawyer in history, although his record against defense attorneys other than Mason is unknown. He inevitably prosecutes the wrong personMason's clientwho Mason exonerates (while revealing the true culprit) through dramatic and even spectacular courtroom tactics. Burger's bag of tricks was comparatively empty, chiefly comprising expressions of exasperation at whatever Mason was doing. Once Mason had exposed the true perpetrator, Burger often joined in Mason's motion to dismiss the charges against Mason's client so that Burger could then charge the actual wrongdoer. There was a possible correlation of the character's name with the fact that he could (only, rarely), stand up to Perry Mason's triumphs: "Hamilton Burger", could, fittingly, be interpreted as the, "tongue-in-cheek", expression, "ham-burger", which could be aptly applied (as Mason made, "hamburger", out of the District Attorney, in court).


In film

Hamilton Burger appeared in the fifth installment of the Warner Bros. Perry Mason movie series of the 1930s, ''
The Case of the Black Cat ''The Case of the Black Cat'' is a 1936 American mystery film directed by William C. McGann and an uncredited Alan Crosland, based on the 1935 Perry Mason novel '' The Case of the Caretaker's Cat'' by Erle Stanley Gardner. The film stars Ricardo ...
.'' He was portrayed by
Guy Usher James Guy Usher (May 9, 1883 – June 16, 1944) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 190 films between 1932 and 1943. Born in Mason City, Iowa, Usher acted on stage before venturing into films. Billed as James Guy Usher, h ...
. The character, now portrayed by Charles C. Wilson, played a larger role in the sixth and final film in the series, ''
The Case of the Stuttering Bishop ''The Case of the Stuttering Bishop'' is a 1937 drama film directed by William Clemens. It stars Donald Woods as Perry Mason and Ann Dvorak as Della Street, his secretary. Edward McWade plays the role of stuttering Bishop William Mallory. It i ...
''.


Television portrayal


''Perry Mason''

Burger was portrayed by William Talman in the long-running CBS-TV series ''
Perry Mason Perry Mason is a fictional character, an American criminal defense lawyer who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason features in 82 novels and 4 short stories, all of which involve a c ...
'' (1957–66). Asked how he felt about Burger losing to Mason week after week, Talman said, "Burger doesn't lose. How can a district attorney lose when he fails to convict an innocent person? Unlike a fist or gun fight, in court you can have a winner without having a loser. As a matter of fact Burger in a good many instances has joined Mason in action against unethical attorneys, lying witnesses, or any one else obstructing justice. Like any real-life district attorney, justice is Burger's main interest." Burger did defeat Mason twice on the television series: in "The Case of the Terrified Typist" (episode 1-38), and in "The Case of the Deadly Verdict" (episode 7-4), a much-publicized episode that begins with Mason's client being sentenced to death. The character of Hamilton Burger temporarily disappeared from the TV series during the series' third season. Talman was fired by CBS March 18, 1960, hours after he entered a not-guilty plea to misdemeanor charges related to his presence at a party that was raided by police. The schedule was immediately juggled to minimize Talman's presence on the show. "The Case of the Crying Cherub" (episode 3-20) debuts a pared-down title sequence that omits Talman; he is credited only in the four episodes he filmed before he was fired. Talman was defended by the show's executive producer Gail Patrick Jackson,
Raymond Burr Raymond William Stacy Burr (May 21, 1917September 12, 1993) was a Canadian actor known for his lengthy Hollywood film career and his title roles in television dramas ''Perry Mason'' and '' Ironside''. Burr's early acting career included roles ...
, and others, but even dismissal of the charges in June did not soften the network's position. Patrick said that the role of Burger would not be recast, but that various actors would play assistant district attorneys. CBS reinstated Talman only after Gardner himself spoke out, together with millions of viewers. Talman went back to work in December 1960, and Burger returned in "The Case of the Fickle Fortune" (episode 4.15).


''The New Perry Mason''

In the short-lived CBS-TV series, ''
The New Perry Mason ''The New Perry Mason'' is a CBS TV series that ran from 1973 to 1974. It was a revival of the 1957 ''Perry Mason'' television series about Erle Stanley Gardner's brilliant defense attorney. Plot All of the major characters of the original seri ...
'' (1973–74), Burger was played by
Harry Guardino Harry Guardino (December 23, 1925 – July 17, 1995) was an American actor whose career spanned from the early 1950s to the early 1990s. Biography Guardino was born to an Italian family on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and raised in Bro ...
.


Perry Mason television films

Talman had passed away by the time of the Perry Mason television movies of the 1980s and 1990s, but his character was referenced in the first of the series, ''Perry Mason Returns''. In it, a cocky young deputy prosecutor describes her case against Mason's client as a "dead-bang winner," to which the district attorney replies, "You know how many times Hamilton Burger said that?"


HBO's ''Perry Mason''

In the HBO series, ''
Perry Mason Perry Mason is a fictional character, an American criminal defense lawyer who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason features in 82 novels and 4 short stories, all of which involve a c ...
'' (2020), assistant district attorney Burger was a graduate of Yale Law with twenty-two years of trial experience, played by
Justin Kirk Justin Kirk (born May 28, 1969) is an American actor. He is best known for portraying Prior Walter in Mike Nichols's screen adaptation of ''Angels in America'', for which he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting A ...
. This series takes place 1931-1932, before Mason becomes a defense attorney. The adversary is district attorney Maynard Barnes, a character created for the series, played by
Stephen Root Stephen Root (born November 17, 1951) is an American actor. He has starred as Jimmy James on the television sitcom '' NewsRadio'', as Milton Waddams in the film ''Office Space'' (1999), and provided the voices of Bill Dauterive and Buck Strickl ...
. Burger, meanwhile, is depicted as helping Mason study for the
bar exam A bar examination is an examination administered by the bar association of a jurisdiction that a lawyer must pass in order to be admitted to the bar of that jurisdiction. Australia Administering bar exams is the responsibility of the bar associat ...
. Mason believes, as does Della Street, that Burger is helping mainly so that he can run for DA when Barnes is humiliated by losing the high-profile case, but he does not himself confirm this. In the series, he is depicted as a closeted gay man who keeps up his facade by making public appearances with Della, who is herself a lesbian.


Influence

In her confirmation hearings before the
Senate Judiciary Committee The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the Department of Justice (DOJ), consider executive and judicial nominations ...
in July 2009, Supreme Court nominee
Sonia Sotomayor Sonia Maria Sotomayor (, ; born June 25, 1954) is an American lawyer and jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. She was nominated by President Barack Obama on May 26, 2009, and has served since ...
prefaced her remarks on the role of the prosecutor by claiming that she was inspired by watching ''Perry Mason'' as a child, explaining, "I was influenced so greatly by a television show in igniting the passion that I had as being a prosecutor, and it was ''
Perry Mason Perry Mason is a fictional character, an American criminal defense lawyer who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason features in 82 novels and 4 short stories, all of which involve a c ...
''. In her 2013 memoir, Sotomayor, now a
Supreme Court justice The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest-ranking judicial body in the United States. Its membership, as set by the Judiciary Act of 1869, consists of the chief justice of the United States and eight Associate Justice of the Supreme ...
, wrote of the show's influence on her while she was growing up in a Bronx housing project. Sotomayor granted that the defense attorney was the show's hero, "but my sympathies were not entirely monopolized by Perry Mason. I was fond of Burger, the prosecutor, too. I liked that he was a good loser, that he was more committed to finding the truth than to winning his case. If the defendant was truly innocent, he once explained, and the case was dismissed, then he had done his job because justice had been served."


Notes


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burger, Hamilton Fictional lawyers Perry Mason characters Characters in American novels of the 20th century Literary characters introduced in 1935