JAMES MASON BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

James Mason was born on May 15th, 1909 in Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England with the birth name James Neville Mason to parents John and Mabel Mason.  Mason's father was a wealthy merchant and he had a pretty easy upbringing.
 
After formal schooling, Mason attended  Marlborough College and earned a degree in architecture from Peterhouse, Cambridge.  He had no formal education in acting, but enjoyed doing it on the side for fun.  He became involved in stock companies and then chose to join the Old Vic Theatre in London.
 
Between 1935 through 1938, he would take small parts in what was known as British quota quickies.  When World War II came about, Mason was highly adamant not to serve his country, therefore causing his parents to look down upon him for quite a few years.

Towards the mid 1940's, film roles were becoming more available to mason.  He worked on such films as, "The Man in Grey" (1943) Margaret Lockwood, Phyllis Calvert, Stewart Granger and Martita Hunt, "The Seventh Veil" (1945) with Ann Todd and Herbert Lom, "Odd Man Out" (1947) co-starring Robert Newton, Cyril Cusack, Robert Beatty, F. J. McCormick, Kathleen Ryan and Dan O'Herlihy and "Caught" (1949) also starring Barbara Bel Geddes, Robert Ryan, Frank Ferguson and Jimmy Hawkins.
 
As his career progressed into the 50's, Mason continued to get cast in many different films.  He had such a strong and distinctive voice that he was often chosen to portray a mean villain.  Some of these types of lead character roles he portrayed were, "Julius Caesar" (1953) starring alongside Marlon Brando, John Gielgud, Louis Calhern, Edmond O'Brien, Greer Garson, George Macready, Michael Ansara, Rhys Williams, John Lupton, Douglass Dumbrille, John Doucette and Deborah Kerr, "A Star is Born" (1954) also starring Judy Garland, Jack Carson, Charles Bickford and Amanda Blake, Walt Disney's "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" (1954) starring with Kirk Douglas and Peter Lorre, "Bigger Than Life" (1956) with Barbara Rush, Walter Matthau, Robert F. Simon and Roland Winters and "Lord Jim" (1965) co-starring Peter O'Toole, Curt Jurgens, Eli Wallach, Jack Hawkins, Paul Lukas, Daliah Lavi and Akim Tamiroff, playing a hired assassin.
 
Well into the 1970's and 1980's, Mason did not slow down his pace in the industry.  James played the evil Doctor Polidori in, "Frankenstein, The True Story" (1973) with Leonard Whiting, David McCallum, Michael Sarrazin, Agnes Moorehead and Jane Seymour and starred with his wife Clarissa Kaye-Mason in the original "Salem's Lot" (1979) with David Soul, Lance Kerwin, Bonnie Bedelia, Ed Flanders, Lew Ayres, Geoffrey Lewis, Marie Windsor and Elisha Cook Jr. and as well as appearing together in the film, "Age of Consent" (1969) co-starring Helen Mirren and Jack MacGowran.  One of his last roles was in, "The Verdict" (1982) starring Paul Newman, Charlotte Rampling, Jack Warden, Milo O'Shea and Lindsay Crouse, portraying a corrupt lawyer.
 
James Mason married twice during his lifetime.  First to Pamela Mason from February 1941 through 1964 and the couple had two children, one of whom became an actress and scriptwriter, Morgan Mason.  His second marriage was to Clarissa Kaye-Mason whom he married on August 13th, 1971 and they remained together until Mason passed away on July 27th, 1984 in Lausanna, Switzerland from a heart attack.  
 
 
Filmography
 
1985   Dr. Fischer of Geneva
1985   The Assisi Underground  
1985   A.D.
1985   The Shooting Party 
1984   George Washington 
1983   Don't Eat the Pictures: Sesame Street at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
1983   Yellowbeard  
1983   Alexandre 
1982   The Verdict 
1982   A Dangerous Summer 
1982   Ivanhoe
1982   Evil Under the Sun 
1982   Socrates 
1981   The Search for Alexander the Great
1980   Ffolkes 
1979   Salem's Lot 
1979   Bloodline 
1979   The Passage 
1979   Murder by Decree 
1978   The Boys from Brazil 
1978   Heaven Can Wait  
1978   The Water Babies 
1977   Jesus of Nazareth
1977   Cross of Iron
1976   Voyage of the Damned 
1976   Origins of the Mafia
1976   La polizia interviene: ordine di uccidere 
1976   Hot Stuff 
1975   The Flower in His Mouth  
1975   Inside Out 
1975   Autobiography of a Princess
1975   Kidnap Syndicate 
1975   Mandingo 
1974   Great Expectations
1974   Harrowhouse 
1974   The Destructors 
1973   Frankenstein: The True Story
1973   The MacKintosh Man 
1973   The Last of Sheila 
1973   John Keats: His Life and Death 
1972   Child's Play 
1971   Hunt the Man Down 
1971   Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! 
1971-1972  The Search for the Nile 
1971   Appointment with Destiny
1970   Cold Sweat
1970   Spring and Port Wine 
1970   The Yin and the Yang of Mr. Go 
1969   Age of Consent 
1968   The Legend of Silent Night
1968   The Sea Gull
1968   Mayerling 
1968   Duffy 
1967   Cop-Out 
1966   ITV Play of the Week 
1966   The Deadly Affair 
1966   Dare I Weep, Dare I Mourn
1966   Georgy Girl
1966   The Blue Max
1966   ABC Stage 67
1965   Dr. Kildare
1965   The Uninhibited 
1965   Genghis Khan  
1965   Lord Jim  
1965   ITV Sunday Night Drama
1964   The Pumpkin Eater 
1964   The Fall of the Roman Empire  
1963   Torpedo Bay
1962   Stoney Burke
1962   The Alfred Hitchcock Hour 
1962   Hero's Island
1962   Tiara Tahiti 
1962   Lolita 
1962   Escape from Zahrain 
1962   Rebecca 
1962   Golden Showcase 
1961   The Marriage-Go-Round 
1960   John Brown's Raid
1960   The Trials of Oscar Wilde
1960   The DuPont Show with June Allyson
1957-1960  Playhouse 90
1959   A Touch of Larceny 
1959   Journey to the Center of the Earth
1959   North by Northwest
1959   Goodyear Theatre
1958   The Decks Ran Red 
1958   Cry Terror! 
1958   Schlitz Playhouse
1957   G.E. True Theater
1957   Island in the Sun 
1957   Panic!
1956   Bigger Than Life 
1956   General Electric Summer Originals
1956   Forever, Darling 
1956   The James Mason Show
1954   20,000 Leagues Under the Sea 
1954   A Star Is Born 
1954   Prince Valiant 
1953   The Tell-Tale Heart
1953   The Man Between 
1953   Julius Caesar 
1953   The Desert Rats 
1953   Botany Bay 
1953   The Story of Three Loves
1953   Omnibus 
1953   Charade 
1952   Face to Face
1952   The Prisoner of Zenda
1952   5 Fingers
1952   Lady Possessed 
1951   The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel 
1951   Pandora and the Flying Dutchman
1950   One Way Street 
1949   East Side, West Side 
1949   The Reckless Moment 
1949   Madame Bovary 
1949   Caught 
1947   The Upturned Glass 
1947   Odd Man Out
1945   The Wicked Lady 
1945   The Seventh Veil 
1945   They Were Sisters 
1945   A Place of One's Own 
1945   Man of Evil 
1944   Hotel Reserve 
1944   Candlelight in Algeria 
1943   They Met in the Dark
1943   The Man in Grey 
1943   The Bells Go Down 
1942   Thunder Rock 
1942   Secret Mission 
1942   Alibi 
1942   Terror House 
1942   A.J. Cronin's Hatter's Castle
1941   The Patient Vanishes 
1939   The Circle  
1939   L'avare
1939   I Met a Murderer 
1939   Square Pegs
1939   Bees on the Boat-Deck
1938   The Moon in the Yellow River
1938   Cyrano de Bergerac
1938   The High Command 
1937   Return of the Scarlet Pimpernel
1937   Catch As Catch Can
1937   Fire Over England  
1937   The Mill on the Floss 
1936   Secret of Stamboul 
1936   Blind Man's Bluff 
1936   Troubled Waters 
1936   Prison Breaker 
1936   Twice Branded 
1935   Late Extra