William Hopper

William DeWolf Hopper Jr. was born on January 26, 1915, in New York City, the only child of actor, singer, comedian, and theatrical producer DeWolf Hopper and his fifth wife, Elda Furry, who performed and later became widely known under the name Hedda Hopper. His mother divorced his father in 1922 and relocated with Hopper to Hollywood, where she built a career as a gossip columnist whose readership reached nearly 30 million across American newspapers. Hopper made his first screen appearance as an infant in his father's 1916 silent film Sunshine Dad.

Hopper began his acting career as a teenager, making his stage debut at the Pasadena Community Playhouse in She Loves Me Not and working in summer stock in Ogunquit, Maine. He arrived on Broadway in 1934, appearing in the play Order Please at the Playhouse Theatre in the role of Victor Neilson, and joining the ensemble of Katharine Cornell's production of Romeo and Juliet, which ran at the Martin Beck Theatre from 1934 into 1935. In 1936, he signed a contract with Paramount Pictures and appeared in films under the screen names Wolfe Hopper and DeWolf Hopper. His film credits from the late 1930s and early 1940s included The King Steps Out (1936), Public Wedding, Over the Goal, and The Footloose Heiress (1937), Mystery House (1938), Stagecoach (1939), The Return of Dr. X (1939), Knute Rockne All American (1940), The Maltese Falcon (1941), and Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942).

During World War II, Hopper served in the United States Navy as a volunteer with the Office of Strategic Services and as a member of the newly formed Underwater Demolition Team, participating in operations in the Pacific. He received a Bronze Star and several additional medals for his service. Following the war, he stepped away from acting for eight years, selling cars in Hollywood and combining that work with occasional television appearances as the medium emerged.

Director William Wellman drew Hopper back to film in 1953 by offering him a role in The High and the Mighty (1954), opposite Jan Sterling. Hopper subsequently appeared in two additional Wellman productions, Track of the Cat (1954) and Good-bye, My Lady (1956). On April 14, 1955, he was cast opposite Claire Trevor in the live NBC television drama No Sad Songs for Me, broadcast on Lux Video Theatre. That same year he played the emotionally distant father of Natalie Wood's character in Rebel Without a Cause, and in 1956 he appeared as an absentee father in The Bad Seed. He starred in the science-fiction films 20 Million Miles to Earth and The Deadly Mantis, both released in 1957. His television guest appearances during this period included episodes of Gunsmoke, The Joseph Cotten Show: On Trial, Fury, Studio 57, The Millionaire, and a supporting role in the pilot episode of The Restless Gun, broadcast through Schlitz Playhouse of Stars.

Hopper is most closely identified with his role as private investigator Paul Drake on the CBS courtroom drama Perry Mason, which ran from 1957 to 1966. He had originally tested for the title role, while Raymond Burr auditioned for the part of district attorney Hamilton Burger; both actors were ultimately redirected, with Burr cast as Mason and Hopper as Drake. Executive producer Gail Patrick Jackson cast Hopper after his audition for the Drake role. A 1959 episode, The Case of Paul Drake's Dilemma, placed his character at the center of a murder trial. Also in 1959, Hopper received a nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Continuing Character in a Dramatic Series at the 11th Primetime Emmy Awards for his performance as Drake. Throughout his years on Perry Mason he continued to perform in summer stock but declined roles in other television productions and films. After the series ended in 1966, he maintained that position, though he made one final uncredited film appearance in Myra Breckinridge (1970), which premiered in New York three months after his death.

In 1940, Hopper married actress Jane Gilbert, with whom he had appeared in the 1939 film Invisible Stripes. The couple had one daughter, Joan, before separating, as reported by TV Guide in September 1962. Following their divorce, Hopper married Jeanette Juanita Ward, and the two remained together until his death. Hopper suffered a stroke and entered Desert Hospital in Palm Springs, California, on February 14, 1970. He died of pneumonia on March 6, 1970, at the age of 55, and was buried at Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier, California.