William Hopper Movies and Career Information

William DeWolf Hopper, Jr. (January 26, 1915 – March 6, 1970) was an American actor. He is best-remembered for playing Paul Drake on television's Perry Mason. Hopper was born in New York City, the only child of singer comic actor DeWolf Hopper (1858–1935), a great theatrical star in his time, and actress/gossip columnist Hedda Hopper (née "Elda Furry", 1885–1966). His debut motion picture appearance was as a baby in his father's 1916 silent movie Sunshine Dad. His mother divorced his elderly father in 1924, and she and Billy eventually moved to Hollywood. He enlisted as a frogman in the Navy in 1942, and won a Bronze Star for bravery and heroic action during operations in the Pacific. He was discharged in 1945 when the war ended, but he chose not to return to the movie industry. Instead, he became a car salesman in Hollywood for eight years. He began his acting career as a teenager, working in summer stock in Ogunquit, Maine. He went from there to Broadway, where he appeared in two plays, Order Please and Romeo and Juliet (both 1934). In 1936, he played the small role as a photographer in the movie The King Steps Out starring Grace Moore and Franchot Tone at Columbia. In 1937 he