James Mason

James Neville Mason
1909 - 1984 (heart attack)
British born Huddersfield

Height 5' 11½" (1.82 m) . 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. Spouse Clarissa Kaye-Mason (8 August 1971 - 27 July 1984) (his death), Pamela Mason (February 1941 - 1964) (divorced) two children.

Dr. Fischer of Geneva (1985) , The Assisi Underground (1985) , "A.D." (1985) , The Shooting Party (1985) , "George Washington" (1984) , Yellowbeard (1983) , Alexandre (1983) , The Verdict (1982) , Evil Under the Sun (1982) , Ivanhoe (1982) , "The Search for Alexander the Great" (1981) , A Dangerous Summer (1981) , Salem's Lot (1979) , Bloodline (1979) , The Passage (1979) , Murder by Decree (1979) , North Sea Hijack (1979) , The Boys from Brazil (1978) , Heaven Can Wait (1978) , The Water Babies (1978) , "Jesus of Nazareth" (1977) , Cross of Iron (1977) , Voyage of the Damned (1976) , "Disneyland"(1976) , Paura in città (1976) , "Alle origini della mafia" (1976) , Inside Out (1975) , Autobiography of a Princess (1975) , Città sconvolta: caccia spietata ai rapitori, La (1975) , Mandingo (1975) , Polizia interviene: ordine di uccidere, La (1975) , Gente di rispetto (1975) , Great Expectations (1974) , 11 Harrowhouse (1974) , The Marseille Contract (1974) , Frankenstein: The True Story (1973) , The MacKintosh Man (1973) , The Last of Sheila (1973) , Child's Play (1972) , Kill! (1971) , Bad Man's River (1971) , "The Search for the Nile" (1971) , De la part des copains (1970) , Spring and Port Wine (1970) , The Yin and Yang of Mr. Go (1970) , Age of Consent (1969) , A Tall, Stalwart Lancer (1969) , The Sea Gull (1968) , Mayerling (1968) , Duffy (1968) , The Legend of Silent Night (1968) , Stranger in the House (1967) , "ABC Stage 67" (1967) , The London Nobody Knows (1967) , The Tormentors (1966) , The Deadly Affair (1966) , Dare I Weep, Dare I Mourn (1966) , Georgy Girl (1966) , The Blue Max (1966) , "Dr. Kildare" (1965) , Pianos mecánicos, Los (1965) , Genghis Khan (1965) , Lord Jim (1965) , The Pumpkin Eater (1964) , The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964) , Beta Som (1963) , "Stoney Burke" (1962) , "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour" (1962) , Hero's Island (1962) , Tiara Tahiti (1962) , Lolita (1962) , Escape from Zahrain (1962) , Rebecca (1962) , The Marriage-Go-Round (1961) , The Trials of Oscar Wilde (1960) , "The DuPont Show with June Allyson" (1960) , "Playhouse 90" (1957) , Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959) , North by Northwest (1959) , "Goodyear Theatre" (1959) , A Touch of Larceny (1959) , The Decks Ran Red (1958) , Cry Terror! (1958) , "Schlitz Playhouse of Stars" (1958) , "General Electric Theater" (1957) , Island in the Sun (1957) (1957) , Bigger Than Life (1956) , Forever, Darling (1956) , "The James Mason Show" (1956) , 20000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954) , A Star Is Born (1954) , Prince Valiant (1954) , The Tell-Tale Heart (1953/I) ,The Man Between (1953) , Julius Caesar (1953) , The Desert Rats (1953) , Botany Bay (1953) , The Story of Three Loves (1953) , Charade (1953) , Face to Face (1952) , The Prisoner of Zenda (1952) , 5 Fingers (1952) , Lady Possessed (1952) , The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel (1951) , Pandora and the Flying Dutchman (1951) , One Way Street (1950) , East Side, West Side (1949) , The Reckless Moment (1949) , Madame Bovary (1949) , Caught (1949) , The Upturned Glass (1947), Odd Man Out (1947) , The Seventh Veil (1945) , The Wicked Lady (1945) , They Were Sisters (1945) , A Place of One's Own (1945) , Hotel Reserve (1944) , Candlelight in Algeria (1944) , Fanny by Gaslight (1944) , They Met in the Dark (1943) , The Man in Grey (1943) , The Bells Go Down (1943) , Thunder Rock (1943) , Secret Mission (1942) , Alibi (1942) , The Night Has Eyes (1942) , Hatter's Castle (1942) , The Patient Vanishes (1941) , The Circle (1939) , Avare, L' (1939) , I Met a Murderer (1939) , Square Pegs (1939) , Bees on the Boat-Deck (1939) , The Moon in the Yellow River (1938) , Cyrano de Bergerac (1938) , Return of the Scarlet Pimpernel (1937) , Fire Over England (1937) , Catch As Catch Can (1937) , The Mill on the Floss (1937) , Troubled Waters (1936) , Prison Breaker (1936) , Secret of Stamboul (1936) , Blind Man's Bluff (1936), Twice Branded (1936) , The High Command (1936) , Late Extra (1935)