William Hopper(1915-1970)

Pushed into acting by his mother, Hopper began in summer stock and on the New York stage. He was signed as a small-part contract player at Paramount, 1935-37. Subsequently received leads at Warner Brothers in second features. Career faltered due to his lack of ambition and ambiguity towards the acting profession in general, and he returned again to bit parts. Stressful wartime military service in the Navy led to a drinking problem. After being demobbed, worked for nine years as a car salesman. Resumed acting in 1954, eventually finding his niche as investigator Paul Drake, right hand man to Raymond Burr's 'Perry Mason', the role for which he is chiefly remembered.

I didn't dislike movie people, but they were nothing special to me. I'd been around them all my life. My mother's [Hedda Hopper] the kind who could say "Howdeedo" to the king of England and feel perfectly at home. But I couldn't.