Actor. Best known and loved by his fans as "Paul Drake" on the hugely-popular Perry Mason television series (1957 to 1966).

William DeWolf Hopper, Jr. was born in New York City, the son of movie actress-turned-gossip-columnist Hedda Hopper and the legendary Broadway actor William DeWolf Hopper, who was 32 years her senior. Hopper's parents began making films around the time of his birth and he received his first film credit as an infant in a baby carriage in the 1916 film Sunshine Dad. Following their divorce in 1922, Hedda continued performing on film, stage, and radio into the late 1930s, when she became prominent in her second career as a Hollywood gossip columnist.

In the meantime, Paul had grown into a tall (6'4") handsome young man whom she encouraged to sign a contract with Paramount Pictures in 1935 at the age of 20. As his estranged father had died by this time, he started out with the stage name of DeWolf Hopper, Jr. Young Hopper languished in bit parts at Paramount, but after moving to Warner Brothers Pictures in 1937, he was able to get some leading roles in second features such as Over the Goal (1937; with June Travis) and Mystery House (1938; with Ann Sheridan). He was soon back to bit parts and supporting roles, but he did manage to appear in such all-time classics as Stagecoach (1939), Knute Rockne, All American (1940), Santa Fe Trail (1940) and The Maltese Falcon (1941).

He kept working during the early years of World War II, but, in due course, entered the Armed Forces volunteering with the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). As a Navy frogman with the newly formed Underwater Demolition Team, his athletic abilities from youth as a swimmer and skin diver proved invaluable. He underwent special training with the Maritime Unit where they were taught how to conduct maritime sabotage. He earned the Bronze Star with Valor and the Asiatic Pacific Medal with five battle stars for his outfit's amphibious operations in the South Pacific.

Upon his return in 1945, Hopper turned his back on Hollywood to become a car salesman, a profession he stayed with until 1954, when he resumed his show business career with a role as "Roy" in the John Wayne adventure The High and the Mighty, now calling himself William Hopper. Other film credits in the fifties included roles as "Dr. George Fenton" in Conquest of Space (1955), as Judy's father in Rebel Without a Cause (1955), as "Col. Kenneth Penmark" in The Bad Seed (1956), and as "Col. Robert Calder" in 20 Million Miles to Earth (1957).

In 1957, he reached the pinnacle of his career with his performance of the "Paul Drake" role in the Perry Mason television series, where he had second billing to Raymond Burr. Hopper was nominated for an Emmy in the category of Best Supporting Actor in a Dramatic Series for his work in Perry Mason in 1959. He settled into semi-retirement following the end of the Perry Mason series and the death of his mother in 1966. His final film role was as "Judge Frederic D. Cannon" in Myra Breckinridge (1970).