James Mason

Was among the various actors in the running for the role of Dr. Hans Fallada in the science fiction horror film Lifeforce (1985); Frank Finlay won the role.

A memorial service was held for him at St. Paul's Church, Covent Garden on 1st November 1984.

Can be seen visiting the set of Stanley Kubrick's The Shining (1980) in Vivian Kubrick's TV documentary Making 'The Shining' (1980). Stanley Kubrick did not usually allow visitors to his set, but made an exception for Mason, who had memorably played Humbert Humbert for him in Lolita (1962).

Turned down the role of Hugo Drax in the James Bond film Moonraker (1979), which went to Michael Lonsdale.

He was offered the role of Lawyer Crosby in the horror film The Cat and the Canary (1978). However, the gender of the role was changed to female and was played by Wendy Hiller.

Mason admitted to journalists that he had only taken a part in Mandingo (1975) because he was behind with alimony payments, leading critic Roger Ebert to reply, 'surely jail would have been better'.

Was the original choice to play Professor Kingsfield in The Paper Chase (1973), but had to turn down the role due to poor health. John Houseman, who had acted in only one other movie in a small role, was cast and won an Oscar.

Told Playboy magazine in the late 1970s that he hated rock 'n' roll but loved country music.

He appeared in four films directed by Sidney Lumet: The Deadly Affair (1967), The Sea Gull (1968), Child's Play (1972) and The Verdict (1982).

Was offered the role of Viktor Komarovsky in Doctor Zhivago (1965) by double-Oscar winning director David Lean after Marlon Brando failed to respond to director Lean's written inquiry into whether he wanted to play the role. Mason initially accepted the role. Lean decided on Mason, who was a generation older than Brando, as he did not want an actor who would overpower the character of Yuri Zhivago (specifically, to show Zhivago up as a lover of Lara, who would be played by the young Julie Christie, which the charismatic Brando might have done, shifting the sympathy of the audience). Mason eventually dropped out and Rod Steiger, who had just won the Silver Bear as Best Actor for his role as the eponymous The Pawnbroker (1964), accepted the role.

He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6821 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on February 8, 1960.

Had been considered for the role of Harry Lime on the television series The Third Man (1959), but Michael Rennie ended up in the role.

Was scheduled to play James Bond 007 in a 1958 television adaptation of "From Russia with Love", which was ultimately never produced. Later, despite being in his 50s, Mason was a contender to play Bond in Dr. No (1962) before Sean Connery was cast.

Bigger Than Life (1956) was his film in more ways than one as apart from having a leading role in it he also produced it and contributed to the screenplay.

Was in three Oscar Best Picture nominees: Julius Caesar (1953), Heaven Can Wait (1978) and The Verdict (1982).

In 1952 while remodeling his home, he discovered several reels of Buster Keaton's "lost" films (Mason had purchased Keaton's Hollywood mansion) and immediately recognized their historical significance and was responsible for their preservation.

Performed the role of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in two films. First in 1951 with "The Desert Fox" and followed in 1953 with "The Desert Rats".

11 years after being mentioned in Rope (1948) as making an excellent villain, he was finally cast by Alfred Hitchcock as such in North by Northwest (1959).

In a January 6, 1947 "Life" magazine article Mason claimed he preferred jazz and Duke Ellington to classical music and his favorite stars were Spencer Tracy, Jean Gabin, Lena Horne, Carmen Miranda, and Veronica Lake.

James and Pamela Mason arrived in the U.S. in November, 1946, but he became embroiled in a legal battle with David E. Rose, who claimed the actor had agreed to form a production company with him. After eighteen months Mason eventually won the case.

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 1940s. 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. 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.

The actor thought the 1937 Janet Gaynor/Fredric March version of "A Star Is Born" was superior to his and Garland's because the musical numbers detracted from the story.

Mason was set to make his screen debut in The Private Life of Don Juan (1934), Douglas Fairbanks' final film, but was replaced after four days supposedly because of unsuitable casting.

James Mason was a great English actor of British and American films. He was born in Yorkshire, and attended Marlborough College and Cambridge University, where he discovered acting on a lark, and abandoned a planned career as an architect. Following 4 years in repertory companies, he joined the Old Vic under the guidance of Sir Tyrone Guthrie and of Alexander Korda, who gave Mason a small film role in 'The Return of Don Juan' 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.

He should not be confused with the American actor Jim Mason (1889-1959), aka James Mason, who appeared in silent films, particularly Westerns in the 1920s and 1930s.