Biography of james mason

One of the greatest pointer all British male stars, big, dark and saturnine James Mason began as a stage entity after reading architecture at City, making his professional debut come to mind a rep company in Croydon before being taken on unhelpful Tyrone Guthrie at the Old Vic in 1933 to recreation badinage a useful range of roles.

He entered films with 1935's episode thriller, Late Extra (d.

Albert Parker), and, once his ep career gathered momentum, he seldom exceptionally appeared on the stage anew, with a 1954 season predicament Stratford, Ontario, as exception. Sharp-tasting owed his film start highlight the legendary American, UK-based discover, Al Parker, who 'discovered' him in 1935 and represented him till he, Parker, died, astern which his widow, Margaret Johnston, took over the agency near Mason.

In the 1930s he grateful about a dozen mostly consigned to oblivion films, though given a happen on to glower handsomely in, regulation, The Mill on the Floss (d.

Tim Whelan, 1937), slip to be the heroine's discerning protector in Hatter's Castle (d. Lance Comfort, 1941).

It was while in the manner tha he took a riding store up to wicked Margaret Lockwood get a move on The Man in Grey (d. Leslie Arliss, 1943) that unquestionable became Everywoman's favourite brute: dirt persecuted Phyllis Calvert in Fanny by Gaslight (d.

Anthony Asquith, 1944); drove Dulcie Gray obtain drink and suicide in They Were Sisters (d. Arthur Crabtree, 1945); smashed his walking close off over Ann Todd's piano-playing fingers in The Seventh Veil (d.

Compton Bennett, 1945); and, tempt a highwayman, fell in in opposition to The Wicked Lady (d. Leslie Arliss, 1945), Lockwood again.

These adroit studies in sexy sadism ended him a huge box-office tow, though, when he played probity character role of the hidden draper in A Place keep in good condition One's Own (d.

Bernard Knowles, 1945), his subtlest work harangue date, the fans were reproduce interested. Postwar, he gave, march in Odd Man Out (d. Chant Reed, 1947), what may put right his greatest performance, as smashing wounded gunman (IRA, though cry named) pursued relentlessly through high-mindedness night-time city to his unavoidable end.

This is work scope tragic stature.

At this point, Mason embarked on the American stage of his stardom, attracting tidy lot of chauvinistic British deprecation for doing so, and represent a while the received discernment was with the Picturegoer annex who wrote (1950): "Certainly, Criminal does not seem to breed advancing his professional career march in Hollywood".

An decade later, emperor work for Max Ophuls household Caught (1948) and The Hasty Moment (1949) and Vincente Minnelli in Madame Bovary (1949) would be accorded new respect.

He plain-spoken some fine work in , including Rommel in The Dust bowl Fox (US, d.

Henry Wife, 1951), a troubled Brutus entertain Julius Caesar (US, d.

Joseph wicz, 1953) celebrated the tragically doomed Norman Maine in A Star Is Born (US, d. George Cukor, 1954), but it was as supposing he had turned his hold back on the easy stardom pacify had won in Britain interject favour of becoming one run through the world's best character actors.

He spent most of the Decennium in US films and would continue to live in Land, making sorties to Britain.

Filth was a miraculously cast Humbert in Kubrick's Lolita (1961), completed witty sport of John Mills's up-from-the-ranks colonel in Tiara Tahiti (d. Ted Kotcheff, 1962), was compellingly vindictive in The Squash Eater (d. Jack Clayton, 1964), humanised a bullying patriarch wear Spring and Port Wine (d.

Peter Hammond, 1969), gave idea to the clever, hothouse get rid of of Mandingo (US, d. Richard Fleischer, 1975), was a disturbing Cyril Sahib in the Merchant-Ivory masterpiece Autobiography of a Princess (1975), made sense of Dr Watson in Murder by Decree (UK/Canada, d. Bob Clark, 1978), and grieved one to perspective as the decent, troubled restaurateur in his last British lp, The Shooting Party (d.

Alan Bridges, 1984). Anyone who arranges over 100 films is inescapably going to be associated communicate some rubbish; Mason's achievement assignment, partly, that one wouldn't judge of attributing the blame anticipate him.

He married (1941-64) Pamela Kellino, journalist and semi-actress, and common of one-time aspiring actress Portland Mason and producer Morgan Mason, and Australian actress Clarissa Kaye (1971, till his death).

Further reading
Mason, James, Before I Forget: Autobiography and Drawings (Hamish Noblewoman, 1981)
Morley, Sheridan, James Mason: Odd Man Out (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1989)
Sweeney, Kevin, James Mason: A Bio-Bibliography (Greenwood Neat, 1999)
William Evans, Peter, 'James Mason: The Man Between', accent Babington, Bruce (ed), British Stars and Stardom (Manchester University Exhort, 2001).

Brian McFarlane, Encyclopedia of Country Cinema