Barbara Hale played Della Street on Perry Mason, a role familiar to generations of viewers. At home, she and actor Bill Williams had three children. Their youngest, Juanita Katt, appeared in family accounts but did not have the same public career as her parents or brother. Hale’s interviews and later records offer a clearer account of her childhood and adult years. They also clarify a question that many recent biographies get wrong. Here is what they tell us about her family and personal life.
Juanita Katt: Key Facts
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Full name | Juanita Lauralee Katt |
| Also called | Nita Katt King; Juanita King in later reports |
| Born | 22 December 1953, Los Angeles, California |
| Parents | Barbara Hale and Bill Williams |
| Siblings | Jody Katt Coulter and actor William Katt |
| Family connection | Daughter of two film and television actors |
| Public career | No widely documented screen career |
| Death record | SAG-AFTRA lists Nita Katt King as having died on 19 November 2017 |
A Birth and a Name With a Family Story
Juanita Katt was born in Los Angeles on 22 December 1953, the third child of Barbara Hale and Bill Williams. Her older sister Jody had arrived in 1947, and her brother William was born in 1951. A family biography gives her full name as Juanita Lauralee Katt and records the nickname Nita. These details matter because later reports use different names for her.
The story behind her first and middle names appeared in a magazine account while she was still a baby. Hale liked Lauralee, while Williams suggested Juanita in honour of Hale’s sister. According to the account, Hale put both choices on the birth certificate. That small disagreement offers a rare family detail told close to the time it happened. It also explains why readers may find more than one version of her name in older material.
Barbara Hale and Bill Williams as Parents
Hale and Williams met while working on the film West of the Pecos in the 1940s. They married in June 1946, before any of their children were born. Both continued to act, so the family’s story connects two separate careers rather than one famous parent. Williams used a professional name, while the children were known by the Katt surname. The difference can be confusing until you know that Bill Williams was Juanita’s father.
Their marriage lasted until Williams died in September 1992. His obituary named the three children and reported that the couple had spent years on a working ranch in Yucca Valley, raising them away from the city. A news report also referred to their younger daughter as Nita Katt King, showing the name she used as an adult.
What Hale Said About Their Home Life
An interview printed in January 1958 gives a direct account of the household when Juanita was four. Hale explained that regular work on Perry Mason made her schedule easier for the children to understand than occasional film and television jobs had. She described leaving very early for work and getting home in the evening. A housekeeper cared for the children during the day, while Hale spent time with them after she returned.
Hale also said that Friday evening belonged to the children. She and Williams kept that time free and let Jody, Billy and Juanita decide what the family would do. This gives us one real detail about Juanita Katt at home, while the ranch report shows that the family’s life extended beyond Hollywood. Neither source tells us how she felt about her parents’ careers or what she later wanted for herself.
Barbara Hale’s Work on Perry Mason
Before television audiences knew Hale as Della Street, she had appeared in films. Perry Mason then became the role most closely linked with her name. The series began in 1957, when Juanita Katt was still small, and ran for nine seasons. Hale won a supporting actress Emmy in 1959. Years later, she returned to the role in television films. These dates place her daughter’s early years alongside the most recognised part of her mother’s career.
Hale spoke openly about thinking twice before accepting a long-running series because she had children at home. That point helps explain why the 1958 family interview focused on schedules instead of glamour. She was making decisions about work while caring for a young family. Her part on screen belonged to the public, but the way she organised the household affected her children directly. Juanita appears in this story as a daughter, not as a character in the show.
Bill Williams and the Katt Family Name
Williams had a career of his own before and after the children were born. Viewers knew him as the lead of The Adventures of Kit Carson, a popular early television Western. He also appeared in films and later worked on Date With the Angels. His public name can make the family tree look confusing: the actor called Bill Williams was a member of the Katt family, which is why his children used Katt rather than Williams as their surname.
His work and Hale’s work often overlapped in time. Their son William became a performer, while the public record tells us much less about either daughter. The available interviews do not establish whether the children shared their parents’ interests. They show that both parents had demanding jobs and made practical choices about the family’s daily routine.
Jody Katt and William Katt
Juanita Katt grew up with two older siblings. Jody, also called Johanna in some reports, was the eldest. William was the middle child and later became known for his own television and film work. Their different names in news reports can make a simple family list look inconsistent, but reports about both parents identify the same three children. Jody and Juanita are the daughters, and William is their brother.
William appeared in the film Carrie and starred in The Greatest American Hero. He also worked with Hale in the later Perry Mason television films, playing Paul Drake Jr. This connection placed two generations of the family on screen together. It does not establish a screen career for either daughter. There is no comparable, well-established list of screen roles for his younger sister, and an account of her life should not borrow his career simply because they share a surname.
Why She Is Also Called Nita Katt King
Juanita Katt appears under several names in public records, but there is a clear trail between them. A family biography gives her nickname as Nita. When Williams died in 1992, a UPI report named his surviving younger daughter Nita Katt King. Reports following Hale’s death in January 2017 called the younger daughter Juanita King. These references connect the child named Juanita Lauralee Katt with the adult named in the obituaries.
The name King may lead readers to ask whom she married. The reports establish that she used that surname, but they do not supply a reliable public account of her marriage or identify a spouse. It is best to stop at what the records show. Similarly, an obituary saying that Hale had grandchildren does not tell us which of her children were their parents. Family totals cannot be turned into facts about one daughter’s personal life without better evidence.
What Is Known About Her Adult Life
Juanita Katt is best documented through references to her family, not through interviews about her own adult years. Contemporary reports name her among Williams’ and Hale’s children, and the names used in those reports help follow her later in life. They offer very little detail about her work, home or relationships. That is a limit in the public record, rather than a gap that can be safely filled with guesses about what she chose to do.
The SAG-AFTRA memorial listing is another public reference, but it should be read with care. It identifies Nita Katt King among members whose deaths were reported to the union. It does not set out a list of acting roles, an occupation or a description of her work. Union membership alone cannot prove that she followed her parents into screen acting. For the same reason, the absence of a familiar acting credit does not tell us everything about her working life.
Did Juanita Katt Die in 2017?
Hale died on 26 January 2017. News reports at the time listed Juanita King among her surviving children. That was an accurate description of the family when Hale died. Some newer articles repeat it as though it answers whether her daughter is alive today. It does not. A survivor named in a January obituary may have died later, so the dates on these documents matter.
SAG-AFTRA’s Summer 2020 magazine includes Nita Katt King in its memorial list with the date 19 November 2017. The name matches the one used for Hale and Williams’ daughter in the 1992 report, and a family biography confirms Nita as her nickname. Taken together, these records strongly indicate that Juanita died later in 2017, aged 63. The magazine’s publication year is not her death year. The entry gives no cause of death or further personal details.
Claims That Go Beyond the Public Record
Many online profiles add career plans, charity work, children or personal views without showing where those details came from. Other profiles say she is alive because they found no obituary under the name Juanita Katt. Searching only that name misses the later name Nita Katt King. A useful family history needs to check the older news reports and the union notice together, rather than treating the most repeated online answer as proof.
There is a difference between describing a low public profile and saying someone deliberately rejected Hollywood. The first can be supported by the limited interviews and credits available; the second claims to know her thoughts. We have no reliable first-person statement from her about that decision. Her family’s records provide enough to tell a meaningful story without inventing a profession, a marriage, private feelings or an account of her final days.
Conclusion
Juanita Katt was the youngest child of Barbara Hale and Bill Williams, born while both parents were building careers on screen. Hale’s own interviews give a rare view of the family routines that shaped her childhood. Later obituaries explain the names Nita Katt King and Juanita King, while a SAG-AFTRA memorial listing points to her death in November 2017. Much of her adult personal life remains outside the public record. The clearest account stays with the facts her family and contemporary sources left behind, and treats the rest with care.
(FAQ’s)
1. Who were her parents?
Barbara Hale, who played Della Street on Perry Mason, and actor Bill Williams.
2. When was Juanita Katt born?
A family biography records 22 December 1953 in Los Angeles.
3. Who were her siblings?
She had an older sister, Jody Katt, and an older brother, actor William Katt.
4. Why does the name Nita Katt King appear?
Nita was her nickname, and her father’s 1992 obituary used the name Nita Katt King.
5. Is there a record of her death?
Yes. A SAG-AFTRA memorial list gives 19 November 2017 for Nita Katt King, the name used for her in earlier reporting.
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