"How do I wish to be remembered, if at all? I think perhaps just as a fairly desirable sort of character actor."

Great English actor of British and American films, James Mason was born on May 15, 1909, Hudersfield, Yorkshire, England. He 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 in such films as Odd Man Out and The Seventh Veil.

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. Some of his best films include Julius Caeser, North by Northwest, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Journey to the Center of the Earth.

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.

most of this bio is by Jim Beaver

Spouse

• Clarissa Kaye-Mason (August 1971 - 1984) (his death)
  
• Pamela Mason (February 1941 - 1964) (divorced); two children
  

Trivia

• He should not be confused with the American actor, Jim Mason (I), aka Jim Mason, who appeared in silent films, particularly Westerns in the Twenties and Thirties.
• He had been considered for the part of Harry Lime in "The Third Man" TV series (1959-60) but 'Michael Rennie (I)' ended up in the role.
• An avowed pacifist, he refused to perform military service during the Second World War, a stance that caused his family to break with him for many years.
• Father of Morgan Mason
• Was responsible for getting an unknown actor from New Zealand his first major film role. That actor was Sam Neill.