James Neville Mason was a well-known English actor who appeared in both British and American films. Mason was largely regarded as one of the twentieth century’s best film actors, and he was nominated for three Academy Awards and three Golden Globes during his career. Mason was born in Huddersfield, West Riding of Yorkshire, to affluent merchants John and Mabel Mason. Mason had no professional training as an actor and began acting for enjoyment. He went to Marlborough College and graduated with a Bachelor of Architecture from Peterhouse in Cambridge, where he also spent his free time acting in stock theater companies. After graduating from Cambridge, Mason worked at the Old Vic Theatre in London under the direction of Tyrone Guthrie and Alexander Korda. They cast Mason in a short film role in 1933 but sacked him a few days later.
Career
From 1935 until 1948, he appeared in several British quota films. He rose to prominence in the 1940s for his brooding anti-heroes in the Gainsborough series of melodramas, including The Man in Grey and The Wicked Lady. He also appeared in Hatter’s Castle alongside Deborah Kerr and Robert Newton. Mason starred in The Seventh Veil, a critically acclaimed and enormously successful film that broke box office records in wartime Britain and catapulted him to international celebrity.
A look at his nominations and awards
After Cary Grant declined the role of Judy Garland’s leading man in A Star Is Born (1954), Warner Bros. cast him. Mason was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. He then joined Disney to portray Captain Nemo in Kirk Douglas’ blockbuster 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954). Mason hosted three episodes of Lux Video Theatre on CBS television in 1954 and 1955. Mason moved to Switzerland in 1963 and began a transatlantic career. He received praise from critics for the epic The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964) and The Pumpkin Eater (1964), starring Anne Bancroft. Also, a river pirate who betrays Peter O’Toole’s character in Lord Jim; a Chinese noble in Genghis Khan; The Uninhibited; a guest role on Dr Kildare; solidified his place. Additionally, his role as James Leamington was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance in the Swinging London-set Georgy Girl (1966) film. In North Sea Hijack (1980), Mason co-starred with Roger Moore. He also acted in three 1982 films Evil Under the Sun, Ivanhoe, and A Dangerous Summer. His final appearance, as crooked lawyer Ed Concannon in The Verdict, opposite Paul Newman, earned him his third and final Academy Award nomination for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.
A snapshot of his personal life
Mason was an animal lover, particularly of cats. He and his wife, Pamela Mason, co-wrote and published The Cats in Our Lives in 1949. The majority of the book was written and illustrated by James Mason. In The Cats in Our Lives, he told amusing and sometimes touching stories about the cats (and a few dogs) he had known and loved. He bought a mansion originally owned by Buster Keaton in 1952. He discovered reels of The Boat (1921) and other comedian-produced vanished nitrate films that had been hidden within the home. He arranged for the disintegrating films to be shifted to safety stock, saving them from extinction. He grew up supporting his old neighborhood Rugby League group, Huddersfield. Sometime down the road, he became intrigued by the fortunes of Huddersfield Town.
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