Paul Drake is a fictional private detective in the ''Perry Mason'' series of

murder mystery Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professional detective, of a crime, ...

novels 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 ...

. Drake is described as tall and slouching, nondescript (as suits his profession), and frequently wearing an expression of droll humor. He is friend and right-hand man to Mason, a highly successful

criminal defense lawyer A criminal defense lawyer is a lawyer (mostly barristers) specializing in the defense of individuals and companies charged with criminal activity. Some criminal defense lawyers are privately retained, while others are employed by the various ju ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

Films

Allen Jenkins Allen Curtis Jenkins (born Alfred McGonegal; April 9, 1900 – July 20, 1974) was an American character actor and singer who worked on stage, film, and television. Life and career Jenkins was born on Staten Island, New York, on April 9, 1900. ...

played a variation on the Paul Drake character, referred to as Spudsy Drake, in two 1935 films based on Gardner novels, ''

The Case of the Curious Bride ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

'' and ''

The Case of the Lucky Legs ''The Case of the Lucky Legs'' is a 1935 mystery film, the third in a series of Perry Mason films starring Warren William as the famed lawyer. Plot Margie Clune wins the "Lucky Legs" beauty contest concocted by Frank Patton, but has trouble ...

''.

Eddie Acuff Edward DeKalb Acuff (June 3, 1903 – December 17, 1956) was an American stage and film actor. He frequently was cast as a droll comic relief, in the support of the star. His best-known recurring role is that of Mr. Beasley, the postman, in ...

took over the Spudsy role in the 1936 film '' The Case of the Velvet Claws''. Garry Owen played the investigator, now known simply as Paul Drake, in 1936's '' The Case of the Black Cat'', and

Joseph Crehan Joseph A. Creaghan (July 15, 1883 – April 15, 1966) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 300 films between 1916 and 1965, and notably played Ulysses S. Grant nine times between 1939 and 1958, most memorably in ''Union Paci ...

took over in 1937's '' The Case of the Stuttering Bishop''.

Television

In 1957, the CBS

television network A television network or television broadcaster is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, where a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay television providers. Until the mid ...

launched a ''Perry Mason'' series based on Gardner's characters, which ran until 1966.

William Hopper William DeWolf Hopper Jr. (January 26, 1915 – March 6, 1970) was an American stage, film, and television actor. The only child of actor DeWolf Hopper and actress and Hollywood columnist Hedda Hopper, he appeared in predominantly minor r ...

auditioned for both the Mason and Drake roles. "He was perfect as Drake, and we got him," recalled executive producer

Gail Patrick Jackson Gail Patrick (born Margaret LaVelle Fitzpatrick, June 20, 1911 – July 6, 1980) was an American film actress and television producer. Often cast as the bad girl or the other woman, she appeared in more than 60 feature films between 1932 an ...

. "Paul Drake in the Erle Stanley Gardner books was an entirely different character," Hopper said in 1962. "I play him my way. Now I'm amused to read Gardner's new books. Paul Drake now comes out like me!" "Just as Raymond Burr will ''always'' be Perry Mason, Bill Hopper will ''always'' be Paul Drake," wrote Brian Kelleher and Diana Merrill in their chronicle of the TV series. "He defined the role." A

running gag A running gag, or running joke, is a literary device that takes the form of an amusing joke or a comical reference and appears repeatedly throughout a work of literature or other form of storytelling. Though they are similar, catchphrases are no ...

on the series is that although Paul Drake is a "wolf" who dates every woman he can, the only woman he does ''not'' date is Della Street whom he always respectfully refers to as ''Hi Beautiful'' - in deference to the romantic chemistry displayed between Perry and Della. In the short-lived 1973–74 revival, '' The New Perry Mason'', Paul Drake was played by Albert Stratton. In the successful series of Perry Mason television films that began in 1985, the Paul Drake character was part of the

back story A backstory, background story, back-story, or background is a set of events invented for a plot, presented as preceding and leading up to that plot. It is a literary device of a narrative history all chronologically earlier than the narrative of p ...

: his son Paul Jr. served as Mason's private investigator in the first nine films. Drake's son was played by

William Katt William Theodore Katt (born February 16, 1951) is an American actor and musician best known as the star of the television series '' The Greatest American Hero''. He first became known for playing Tommy Ross, the ill-fated prom date of Carrie ...

, real-life son of

Barbara Hale Barbara Hale (April 18, 1922 – January 26, 2017) was an American actress who portrayed legal secretary Della Street in the dramatic television series '' Perry Mason'' (1957–1966), earning her a 1959 Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting A ...

, who played Della Street both in the TV series and the TV movies. In HBO's 2020 '' Perry Mason''

reboot In computing, rebooting is the process by which a running computer system is restarted, either intentionally or unintentionally. Reboots can be either a cold reboot (alternatively known as a hard reboot) in which the power to the system is physi ...

, Paul Drake is African-American, starting the series as a LAPD uniformed police officer. He is portrayed by actor Chris Chalk.

Notes

References

Literary characters introduced in 1933 Drake, Paul Drake, Paul {{novel-char-stub