Here's the thing: when I was a kid, and Perry Mason came on late-afternoon TV, Hamilton Burger scared me.

Credit William Talman, who was born to play mean, cruel, filthy, rapist-drifters who'd shoot you in the eye and take your car just to get across town without bothering with the bus. He cleaned up nice for this show, but he couldn't change his voice - that rasp spoke of something hungry under the civilized veneer.