James Mason
Acting • Born 1909-05-15 – Died 1984-07-27
Biography
James Neville Mason, known as James Mason, was an accomplished English actor who made a significant impact on both British and American cinema. He was born on May 15, 1909, in Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England, and passed away on July 27, 1984, in Lausanne, Switzerland. Mason's acting career began in the 1930s, where he initially gained recognition for his stage performances in London's West End. He made his film debut in 1935 with the British film "Late Extra," marking the start of his illustrious on-screen journey. Throughout his career, Mason showcased his exceptional acting abilities, often portraying complex and morally ambiguous characters. His commanding presence, distinctive voice, and versatile range allowed him to effortlessly transition between genres, from dramas to thrillers and even period pieces. One of Mason's most acclaimed performances came in 1945 when he starred as the troubled and enigmatic Johnny McQueen in the film "Odd Man Out." His portrayal of the wounded Irish nationalist earned him widespread praise and established him as a respected leading man. Mason's notable filmography includes memorable roles in films such as "The Wicked Lady" (1945), "Pandora and the Flying Dutchman" (1951), "A Star Is Born" (1954), "North by Northwest" (1959), and "Lolita" (1962). His ability to bring depth, sophistication, and complexity to his characters captivated audiences and garnered critical acclaim. Beyond his film career, Mason also dabbled in producing and directing. He co-produced and starred in the acclaimed film "A Star Is Born," showcasing his multifaceted talent and creative vision. Throughout his life, Mason was recognized with numerous awards and nominations, including three Academy Award nominations for Best Actor. He was highly regarded by his peers and critics alike for his impeccable craft and his ability to elevate any production he was a part of.
Filmography
181 credits
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Movie • 1954
Captain Nemo
North by Northwest
Movie • 1959
Phillip Vandamm
The Man Between
Movie • 1953
Ivo Kern
Bloodline
Movie • 1979
Sir Alec Nichols
Lolita
Movie • 1962
Prof. Humbert Humbert
A Star Is Born
Movie • 1954
Norman Maine
Frankenstein: The True Story
Movie • 1974
Dr. John Polidori
Evil Under the Sun
Movie • 1982
Odell Gardener
Cross of Iron
Movie • 1977
Oberst Brandt
Genghis Khan
Movie • 1965
Kam Ling
Cry Terror!
Movie • 1958
Jim Molner
The Search for Alexander the Great
Movie • 1981
Narrator
Lord Jim
Movie • 1965
Gentleman Brown
Fire Over England
Movie • 1937
Hillary Vane
Sir John Mills' Moving Memories
Movie • 2000
Self (archive footage)
The Wind in the Wires
Movie • 1972
Narrator
John Keats: His Life and Death
Movie • 1973
Narrator
Journey to the Center of the Earth
Movie • 1959
Sir Oliver S. Lindenbrook
The Making of Agatha Christie's 'Evil Under the Sun'
Movie • 1982
Self / Odell Gardener
James Mason: The Star They Loved to Hate
Movie • 1984
Self
Yellowbeard
Movie • 1983
Captain Hughes
The Verdict
Movie • 1982
Ed Concannon
Heaven Can Wait
Movie • 1978
Mr. Jordan
The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel
Movie • 1951
Field Marshal Erwin Rommel
The Last of Sheila
Movie • 1973
Philip Dexter
The MacKintosh Man
Movie • 1973
Sir George Wheeler
Bigger Than Life
Movie • 1956
Ed Avery
Murder by Decree
Movie • 1979
Dr. Watson
The Water Babies
Movie • 1978
Mr. Grimes / Voice of Killer Shark
The Reckless Moment
Movie • 1949
Martin Donnelly
Forever, Darling
Movie • 1956
The Guardian Angel
The Prisoner of Zenda
Movie • 1952
Rupert of Hentzau
The Wicked Lady
Movie • 1945
Captain Jerry Jackson
One Way Street
Movie • 1950
Dr. Frank Matson
The Desert Rats
Movie • 1953
Field Marshal Erwin von Rommel
A Place of One's Own
Movie • 1945
Henry Smedhurst
Cold Sweat
Movie • 1970
Captain Ross
The Man in Grey
Movie • 1943
Lord Rohan
The Deadly Affair
Movie • 1967
Charles Dobbs
Georgy Girl
Movie • 1966
James Leamington
Island in the Sun
Movie • 1957
Maxwell Fleury
Caught
Movie • 1949
Larry Quinada
Odd Man Out
Movie • 1947
Johnny McQueen
The Seventh Veil
Movie • 1945
Nicholas Cunningham
Mandingo
Movie • 1975
Warren Maxwell
Madame Bovary
Movie • 1949
Gustave Flaubert
The Boys from Brazil
Movie • 1978
Eduard Seibert
Mayerling
Movie • 1968
Franz Joseph I of Austria
Pandora and the Flying Dutchman
Movie • 1951
Hendrick van der Zee
Prince Valiant
Movie • 1954
Sir Brack
Theatre 62: Rebecca
Movie • 1962
Maxim de Winter
Ivanhoe
Movie • 1982
Isaac of York
The Fall of the Roman Empire
Movie • 1964
Timonides
Julius Caesar
Movie • 1953
Brutus
Great Expectations
Movie • 1974
Magwitch
Age of Consent
Movie • 1969
Bradley Morahan
The London Nobody Knows
Movie • 1968
Himself - Narrator
The Passage
Movie • 1979
Professor Bergson
The Blue Max
Movie • 1966
General Count von Klugermann
The Pumpkin Eater
Movie • 1964
Bob Conway
Child's Play
Movie • 1972
Jerome Malley
The Marseille Contract
Movie • 1974
Jacques Brizard
Secret Mission
Movie • 1942
Raoul de Carnot
They Met in the Dark
Movie • 1943
Richard Francis Heritage
Kidnap Syndicate
Movie • 1975
Filippini
I Met a Murderer
Movie • 1939
Mark Warrow
Duffy
Movie • 1968
Charles Calvert
Hatter's Castle
Movie • 1942
Dr. Renwick
The Shooting Party
Movie • 1985
Sir Randolph Nettleby
The Moon in the Yellow River
Movie • 1938
Darrell Blake
Cyrano de Bergerac
Movie • 1938
Christian de Neuvillette
The Yin and the Yang of Mr. Go
Movie • 1970
Y.Y. Go
The Upturned Glass
Movie • 1947
Michael Joyce
5 Fingers
Movie • 1952
Ulysses Diello
Inside Out
Movie • 1975
Ernst Furben
A Touch of Larceny
Movie • 1960
Cmdr. Max Easton
The Flower in His Mouth
Movie • 1975
Avv. Antonio Bellocampo
Thunder Rock
Movie • 1942
Streeter
Bad Man's River
Movie • 1971
Francisco Paco Montero
Hotel Reserve
Movie • 1944
Peter Vadassy
Bees on the Boat-Deck
Movie • 1939
Robert Patch
Fear in the City
Movie • 1976
Chief of Police
The Miser
Movie • 1939
Valere - In love with Elise
The Circle
Movie • 1939
Edward Luton
East Side, West Side
Movie • 1949
Brandon Bourne
The Marriage-Go-Round
Movie • 1961
Paul Delville
The Night Has Eyes
Movie • 1942
Stephen Deremid
The Tell-Tale Heart
Movie • 1953
Narrator
Uncertain Verification
Movie • 1965
(archive footage)
The Decks Ran Red
Movie • 1958
Capt. Edwin Rummill
Fanny by Gaslight
Movie • 1944
Lord Manderstoke
Tiara Tahiti
Movie • 1962
Captain Brett Aimsley
The Story of Three Loves
Movie • 1953
Charles Coutray
A Dangerous Summer
Movie • 1982
George Engels
Spring and Port Wine
Movie • 1970
Rafe Crompton
Escape from Zahrain
Movie • 1962
Johnson
Homage to Chagall: The Colours of Love
Movie • 1977
Narrator - English version
They Were Sisters
Movie • 1945
Geoffrey Lee
Alibi
Movie • 1942
Andre Laurent
The Sea Gull
Movie • 1968
Trigorin
Botany Bay
Movie • 1952
Capt. Paul Gilbert
The High Command
Movie • 1937
Capt. Heverell
The Trials of Oscar Wilde
Movie • 1960
Edward Carson
Candlelight in Algeria
Movie • 1944
Alan Thurston
Return of the Scarlet Pimpernel
Movie • 1937
Jean Tallien
The Left Hand of the Law
Movie • 1975
Senatore Leandri
Hero's Island
Movie • 1962
Jacob Weber
Stranger in the House
Movie • 1967
John Sawyer
Kill!
Movie • 1971
Alan Hamilton
The Secret of Stamboul
Movie • 1936
Larry
The Bells Go Down
Movie • 1943
Ted Robbins
The Assisi Underground
Movie • 1985
Bishop Nicolini
Face to Face
Movie • 1952
The Captain
11 Harrowhouse
Movie • 1974
Charles D. Watts
Lady Possessed
Movie • 1952
Jimmy Del Palma
Late Extra
Movie • 1935
Jim Martin
The Uninhibited
Movie • 1965
Pascal Regnier
Troubled Waters
Movie • 1936
John Merriman
The Mill on the Floss
Movie • 1937
Tom Tulliver
Prison Breaker
Movie • 1936
'Bunny' Barnes
Blind Man's Bluff
Movie • 1936
Stephen Neville
Lasseter's Bones
Movie • 2012
Archival Footage
Don't Eat the Pictures: Sesame Street at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Movie • 1983
Demon
The Reformation: Age of Revolt
Movie • 1973
Narrator
Roger Moore: A Matter of Class
Movie • 1995
Self (archive footage)
Autobiography of a Princess
Movie • 1975
Cyril Sahib
Home, James
Movie • 1972
Self
North Sea Hijack
Movie • 1980
Admiral Brindsen
Torpedo Bay
Movie • 1963
Captain Blayne
Alexandre
Movie • 1983
The Father
The Patient Vanishes
Movie • 1941
Mick Cardby
Charade
Movie • 1953
The Murderer / Maj. Linden / Jonah Watson
Group Madness
Movie • 1983
Self
Voyage of the Damned
Movie • 1976
Dr. Juan Remos
Twice Branded
Movie • 1936
Henry Hamilton
Sid & Judy
Movie • 2019
Self (archive footage)
Ellis in Freedomland
Movie • 1952
The Refrigerator (voice)
The Popes and Their Art
Movie • 1983
Presentor
Catch as Catch Can
Movie • 1937
Robert Leyland
Dr. Fischer of Geneva
Movie • 1984
Dr. Fischer
The Star of Bethlehem
Movie • 1954
Himself
People of the Wind
Movie • 1976
Jafar Qoli (voice)
The Glory of the Garden
Movie • 1982
Narrator
Night of 100 Stars
Movie • 1982
Self
Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1950s: The Golden Era of the Musical
Movie • 2009
Self (archive)
John Brown's Raid
Movie • 1960
John Brown
The Hiding Place
Movie • 1960
Hans Frick
Kubrick by Kubrick
Movie • 2020
Self (archive footage)
The Merv Griffin Show
TV • 1962
Self
General Electric Theater
TV • 1953
Wayne Sebastian
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
TV • 1951
Captain Vialez
Lux Video Theatre
TV • 1950
Self - Host
Stoney Burke
TV • 1962
The Derelict
The Steve Allen Show
TV • 1956
Self - Guest
Jesus of Nazareth
TV • 1977
Joseph of Arimathea
Salem's Lot
TV • 1979
Richard K. Straker
George Washington
TV • 1984
Gen. Edward Braddock
Dr. Kildare
TV • 1961
Dr. Maxwell Becker
Panic!
TV • 1957
The DuPont Show with June Allyson
TV • 1959
Henry Chambers
Talking Pictures
TV • 2013
Self (archive footage)
Appointment With Destiny
TV • 1971
Narrator
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
TV • 1962
Self
The Bob Hope Show
TV • 1950
Self
The Ed Sullivan Show
TV • 1948
Self
Unknown Chaplin
TV • 1983
Narrator (voice)
A.D.
TV • 1985
Tiberius
Origins of the Mafia
TV • 1976
Vianisi
Hollywood
TV • 1980
Self - Narrator
V.I.P. Schaukel
TV • 1971
Self
What's My Line?
TV • 1950
Self
The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour
TV • 1967
Self
The Mike Douglas Show
TV • 1961
Self
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
TV • 1951
Self - Host
Tonight Starring Jack Paar
TV • 1957
Self
Frankenstein: The True Story
TV • 1973
Dr. John Polidori
Apropos Film
TV • 1967
Self
ABC Stage 67
TV • 1966
Otto Hoffman
The Search for the Nile
TV • 1971
Narrator
What's My Line?
TV • 1950
Self - Panelist
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
TV • 1962
Warren Barrow