Warren William as Perry Mason

November, 2007 was "Programmer Month" at TCM, and they showed a lot of the classic crime dramas from the 30s and 40s.

For the first time, I saw Warren William (December 2, 1894 - September 24, 1948) - as Philo Vance, Perry Mason, and Michael Lanyard aka The Lone Wolf.

And I quite like him! He's an excellent actor, handsome, with a sense of humor. Sadly, though, one can see him aging rapidly in the later Lone Wolf pictures (he died at the age of 54 of multiple myeloma (bone cancer)).

The IMDB points out:

Personally, Warren William was a shy and retiring type. Speaking of him, five-time Warners co-star Joan Blondell said that William "was an old man even when he was a young man." According to San Francisco critic Mick LaSalle's 2002 book "Dangerous Men: Pre-Code Hollywood and the Birth of the Modern Man" (New York: St. Martin's Press, 2002), William, who quite unlike his early Warner Bros.' stereotype as a heartless "love 'em and leave 'em"-style seducer, remained married to one woman throughout his adult life. He was an active inventor with multiple patents, designing one of the first recreational vehicles, reportedly so he could continue to sleep while being driven to the studio in the morning.

In future blog entries I'll discuss Warren William's characterizations of Philo Vance, Perry Mason, and The Lone Wolf.