Hamilton Burger

Hamilton Burger was the Los Angeles district attorney who was the nemesis of Perry Mason in the long-running series of novels, films, and radio and television programs featuring the fictional defense attorney created by Erle Stanley Gardner. The name is a pun, since shortening "Hamilton" to "Ham", a popular nickname, would produce "Hamburger".

Related Topics:
Los Angeles - District attorney - Perry Mason - Novel - Film - Radio - Television - Defense - Erle Stanley Gardner - Hamburger

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Critics have suggested that Burger must have been the most incompetent lawyer in history, as his cases inevitably involved prosecuting the wrong, innocent person who was defended by Mason, who always in the end revealed the true criminal through a series of courtroom tricks (which largely would not have been allowed in a real-life trial). Burger's bag of tricks was comparatively empty, chiefly comprising indignant exclamations of, "Incompetent, irrelevant, and immaterial!" Once Mason had outed the true perpetrator, Burger always joined in Mason's motion to the judge to dismiss the charges against Mason's client so that Burger could then charge the actual wrongdoer. Burger was probably most famously portrayed by actor William Talman on the long-running CBS television series.

Related Topics:
Critic - Criminal - Judge - Actor - William Talman - CBS - Television series

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