James Mason

Height:	5' 11 1/2"
Birth Notes:	Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England, UK
Birth Name:	Mason, James Neville
Birth Date:	15 May 1909

James Mason Trivia

Starred with his wife 'Clarissa Kaye-Mason' in the original Salem's Lot (1979) (TV). They appeared together in the film, Age of Consent (1969).
11 years after being mentioned in Rope (1948) as making an excellent villain, he was finally cast by 'Alfred Hitchcock (I)' as such in North by Northwest (1959).
In 1952 while remodeling his home, he discovered several reels of 'Buster Keaton' 's "lost" films (Mason had purchased Keaton's Hollywood mansion) and immediately recognized their historical significance and was responsible for their preservation.
Was rejected by fellow student 'Alistair Cooke (I)' for an acting role whilst at Cambridge. Cooke asked Mason what course he was studying. "Architecture", replied Mason. "Then I think you should finish your degree and forget about acting." advised Cooke, in one of his rare lapses of judgment.
Was offered the part of Viktor Komarovsky in Doctor Zhivago (1965) by double-Oscar winning director 'David Lean (I)' after 'Marlon Brando' failed to respond to director Lean's written inquiry into whether he wanted to play the role. Mason initially accepted the part. Lean decided on Mason, who was a generation older than Brando, as he did not want an actor who would overpower the character of Yuri Zhivago (specifically, to show Zhivago up as a lover of Lara, who would be played by the young 'Julie Christie (I)', which the charismatic Brando might have done, shifting the sympathy of the audience). Mason eventually dropped out and 'Rod Steiger', who had just won the Silver Bear as Best Actor for his role as the eponymous The Pawnbroker (1964), accepted the role.

James Mason Mini Biography

Great English actor of British and American films. Born in Yorkshire, attended Marlborough and Cambridge, where he discovered acting on a lark and abandoned a planned career as an architect. Following work in stock companies, he joined the Old Vic under the guidance of Sir Tyrone Guthrie and of 'Alexander Korda', who gave Mason at least one small film role in 1933, but fired him a few days into shooting. Mason remained in the theatre becoming a prominent stage actor, meanwhile getting first small, then rapidly larger roles in "quota quickies", minor films made to accommodate laws mandating a certain percentage of films shown in Britain to be British-made. Mason's talent for playing protagonists of a decidedly hard-bitten or melancholy stripe brought him from these minor films to a position as one of Britain's major film stars of the Forties. When, late in that decade, he came to America, he played somewhat more glamorous or heroic roles than he had been accustomed to in Britain, but he remained a dynamic and intelligent force on the screen. His tendency to take any job offered led him to have many unworthy credits on his resume, but throughout his career he remained a respected and powerful figure in the industry. His mellifluous voice and an uncanny ability to suggest rampant emotion beneath a face of absolute calm made him a fascinating performer to watch. He died of a heart attack in 1984 at his home in Switzerland.

James Mason Quotes

'Walter Wanger' was a man who always wanted to be European. He didn't know how to be European but he wanted to be European, so The Reckless Moment (1949) was rather the kind of film - I suppose, like Brief Encounter (1945) - that he was trying to make, but it wasn't very good.
[on 'Max Ophüls'] A shot that does not call for tracks is agony for dear old Max. When separated from his dolly, He's wrapped in deepest melancholy. Once, when they took away his crane, I thought he'd never smile again.
How do I wish to be remembered, if at all? I think perhaps just as a fairly desirable sort of character actor.
I purposely would not go and see the old version of Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941). They told me my part was played by 'Claude Rains', for whom I have an infinite admiration, and I knew I would never be as good as him.
I loved 'Max Ophüls' because he had a very unsuccessful career as far as America was concerned, but he had an irrepressible spirit. He was a brave, resilient man and a great man of theatre and he loved his work, he had an undying enthusiasm. He was a lovely man.

James Mason Movies

The Marseille Contract (1974) as Jacques Brizard
The Upturned Glass (1947) as Michael Joyce
The Dream of the Wanderer (0) as Narrator
(#5.11) (1951) as Himself
Murder by Decree (1979) as Dr. John H. Watson
Don't Eat the Pictures: Sesame Street at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (1983) as Demon
The Man Between (1953) as Ivo Kern
(#1.5) (0) as Himself-Guest
Not the Glory (1958) as Wilhelm Konreid
Lolita (1962) as Prof. Humbert Humbert
Charade (1953) as The Murderer, Maj. Linden, Jonah Watson
20000 Leagues Under the Sea (1976) as Captain Nemo
La città sconvolta: caccia spietata ai rapitori (1975) as Ing. Filippini
Cry Terror! (1958) as Jim Molner
Making 'The Shining' (1980) as Himself
Warner Bros. 75th Anniversary: No Guts, No Glory (1998) as ...
The Marriage-Go-Round (1961) as Paul Delville
Charade (1953) as The Murderer, Maj. Linden, Jonah Watson
The Verdict (1982) as Ed Concannon
Late Extra (1935) as Jim Martin