Editing Perry Mason (section)

==Character==
As a child, Gardner read the magazine ''[[Youth's Companion]]'', published by the Perry Mason Company - a name Gardner later borrowed for his fictional attorney.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.phantombookshop.com/erlestanleygardner/nolan5.htm |title=Erle Stanley Gardner biographic material by William F. Nolan |access-date=September 20, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080227093101/http://www.phantombookshop.com/erlestanleygardner/nolan5.htm |archive-date=February 27, 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref>  Gardner provided more information about Mason's character in earlier novels while knowledge of his character is largely taken for granted in the later works, the television series and movies. In the first novel (''The Case of the Velvet Claws'', 1933), Mason describes himself in the following way:

{{blockquote|"You'll find that I'm a lawyer who has specialized in trial work, and in a lot of criminal work...I'm a specialist on getting people out of trouble.  They come to me when they're in all sorts of trouble, and I work them out{{nbsp}}... If you look me up through some family lawyer or some corporation lawyer, he'll probably tell you that I'm a shyster.  If you look me up through some chap in the District Attorney's office, he'll tell you that I'm a dangerous antagonist but he doesn't know very much about me."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gardner |first=Erle Stanley |title=The Case of the Velvet Claws |publisher=Pocket Book |date=November 1940 |isbn= 9780671755010 |location=New York |pages=53}}</ref>}}

Gardner depicts Mason as a lawyer who fights hard for his clients and who enjoys unusual, difficult or nearly hopeless cases. He frequently accepts clients on a whim based on his curiosity about their problem, for a minimal retainer, and finances the investigation of their cases himself if necessary. In ''The Case of the Caretaker's Cat'' (1935), his principal antagonist, District Attorney [[Hamilton Burger]], says: <blockquote>"You're a better detective than you are a lawyer.  When you turn your mind to the solution of a crime, you ferret out the truth."{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}</blockquote> In ''The Case of the Moth-Eaten Mink'' (1952), a judge who has just witnessed one of the lawyer's unusual tactics says: <blockquote>"Mr. Mason...from time to time you seem to find yourself in predicaments from which you extricate yourself by unusual methods which invariably turn out to be legally sound.  The Court feels you are fully capable of looking after your own as well as your clients' interests."{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}</blockquote>

Another frequent antagonist, Lieutenant Arthur Tragg of the homicide squad, has a discussion with Mason about his approach to the law. Mason is recovering from having been poisoned, and Tragg is investigating.  In ''The Case of the Drowsy Mosquito'' (1943) he says:

{{blockquote|"How does it feel to be the victim for once? … You've been sticking up for criminals and now you can see the other side of the picture."<br />"Not 'sticking up for criminals,'" (Mason) protested indignantly. "I have ''never'' stuck up for '''any''' criminal. I have merely asked for the orderly administration of an impartial justice{{nbsp}}... Due legal process is my own safeguard against being convicted unjustly. To my mind, that's government. That's law and order."{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}}}

Other than what is learned of his character from the novels themselves, very little is known about Perry Mason.  His family, personal life, background, and education are not depicted, although according to the first chapter of ''The Case of the Sleepwalker's Niece'' (1935), his astrological sign was Leo. Mason has a professional relationship with [[Paul Drake (character)|Paul Drake]]. [[Della Street]] is Mason's only evident (though not sharply delineated) romantic interest. It is known that he lives in an apartment because he is occasionally awakened from sleep to go to his office; he does not entertain anyone at home. His tastes in food are known because many scenes take place in restaurants, and that he is an excellent driver as shown by his participation in the occasional car chase. Other than those sketchy facts, there is so little physical description of him that the reader is not even sure what he looks like.{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}

The 1930s films were not closely based on the character of Perry Mason as revealed in the books, and contain plot and character developments which are not accepted as canonical in the remainder of the books and adaptations. For instance, in one film, Mason marries his longtime secretary Della Street, while Paul Drake turns into comic sidekick Spudsy Drake.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Warner Bros. |url=http://archive.org/details/pressbook-wb-the-case-of-the-velvet-claws |title=The Case of the Velvet Claws (Warner Bros. Pressbook, 1936) |publisher=Warner Bros. |others=Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research |year=1936 |pages=8}}</ref>

Likewise the TV series diverges at times significantly from the books, which was a practical necessity considering that there were only about 80 Perry Mason novels written altogether and over 270 episodes of the TV series.  Thus there was a need for a great deal of invented material, background, plots, and characters – none of which material Gardner incorporated into his ongoing series of Perry Mason novels. In fact, Gardner would write over 30 more Perry Mason novels from between 1957 when the TV series began up until his death in 1970.{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}

The television series contains some hints of what Mason did in the past. In ''The Case of the Misguided Missile'', he says that he served in the Navy on [[Ulithi]] atoll during [[World War II]]. In ''The Case of the Travelling Treasure'', he says that he served aboard a minesweeper.{{citation needed|date=June 2020}} In ''The Case of the Bluffing Blast'', he states that he was "on the deck of a destroyer in the Pacific, the engine room blew up."

The HBO series presents him as being a private detective, becoming a lawyer by necessity in order to salvage the case he's working on. In this series, he lives on what remains of a dairy farm which has been in his family for at least two prior generations. He is also a veteran of [[World War I]], having been discharged with a "[[Blue discharge|blue ticket]]" (i.e. with negative connotations), probably because he mercy-killed some comrades who were about to die from a poison gas attack which they were too severely wounded to escape. Episode 1 shows Mason with a tattoo of the [[Cross of Lorraine]] with the number 79 and the inscription "infantry", indicating he was an infantryman in the [[79th Infantry Division (United States)|79th Division]] whose emblem of the cross signifies its service in France during the war. Mason is also an alcoholic, divorced father who is struggling to maintain ownership of his deceased parents' farm.