Line #23 Creator/JamesMason


1	[[quoteright:315:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/james_mason.jpg]]
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3	->''"How do I wish to be remembered, if at all? I think perhaps just as a fairly desirable sort of character actor."''
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5	James Neville Mason (15 May 1909 – 27 July 1984) was an English actor notable for a long and distinct career as leading man and character actor whose distinct looks, smooth voice and intense presence made him flexible to play roles ranging from hero to villain, as well as characters who were somewhere in between. He specialized in playing the ByronicHero who is handsome, demanding, passionate and self-destructive.
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7	Mason was one of the rare British film stars of his generation without a long career in the stage or any formal training as an actor. Indeed, he found greater fame, renown and success acting on the screen than he ever did on stage. He initially began his career making quota quickies in the [[TheThirties 1930s]], steadily building a reputation as a dependable, and highly intelligent, actor who directors and technicians liked. Then in the [[TheForties '40s]] he appeared in more notable films until achieving his BreakthroughHit with ''The Seventh Veil''. The success of that film brought him to Hollywood, and Mason would continue to make films in both England and America along with many other European productions. He was especially famous for his role as Captain Nemo in the classic Creator/{{Disney}} adaptation of ''Film/TwentyThousandLeaguesUnderTheSea'', as well as the self-destructive Norman Maine in Creator/GeorgeCukor's 1954 version of ''Film/{{A Star Is Born\|1954}}'' (opposite Creator/JudyGarland). Among his other notable films are Creator/CarolReed's ''Film/OddManOut'', Creator/AlfredHitchcock's ''Film/{{North by Northwest}}'' (as the villain Phillip Vandamm), and Creator/StanleyKubrick's ''Literature/{{Lolita}}'' (as Humbert Humbert[[note]] A CastingGag, as Humbert in the novel says he would have cast Mason to play himself. [[/note]]).
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9	In his long career, he appeared in several notable films, remaining prolific until his death in 1984 with his final appearances released posthumously. He was nominated three times for an UsefulNotes/AcademyAward but never won; nevertheless, he is considered one of the greatest actors of his generation. He was especially known for his cultured voice and frequently worked as a voiceover artist for documentaries, including documentaries on film history (Mason was [[TheMovieBuff a cinephile]]) and in particular the works of Creator/BusterKeaton. In fact, Mason helped preserve much of the Keaton filmography, when he found a cache of Keaton reels in a house he'd bought that once belonged to Keaton.
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12	!!James Mason works with pages on TV Tropes include:
13	[[foldercontrol]]
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15	[[folder:Film roles]]
16	* ''[[Film/TheScarletPimpernel1934 The Return of the Scarlet Pimpernel]]'' (1937) as Jean Tallien
17	* ''Film/FireOverEngland'' (1937) as Hillary Vane
18	* ''Film/TheManInGrey'' (1943) as Lord Rohan
19	* ''Film/TheWickedLady'' (1945) as Capt. Jerry Jackson
20	* ''Film/OddManOut'' (1947) as Johnny [=McQueen=]
21	* ''Film/{{Caught}}'' (1949) as Larry Quinada
22	* ''Film/TheRecklessMoment'' (1949) as Martin Donnelly
23	* ''Film/TheDesertFox'' (1951) as Field Marshal UsefulNotes/ErwinRommel
24	** ''Film/TheDesertRats'' (1953) as Field Marshal Erwin Rommel
25	* ''Film/PandoraAndTheFlyingDutchman'' (1951) as Hendrik van der Zee
26	* ''Film/{{Five Fingers\|1952}}'' (1952) as Ulysses Diello
27	* ''Film/ThePrisonerOfZenda'' (1952) as Rupert of Hentzau
28	* ''Film/EllisInFreedomland'' (1952) as Frosty
29	* ''Film/{{Julius Caesar\|1953}}'' (1953) as Brutus
30	* ''Film/TheManBetween'' (1953) as Ivo
31	* ''Film/TwentyThousandLeaguesUnderTheSea'' (1954) as Capt. Nemo
32	* ''Literature/TheTellTaleHeart'' (1954) as Narrator (voice)
33	* ''Film/{{Prince Valiant\|1954}}'' (1954) as Sir Brack
34	* ''Film/{{A Star Is Born\|1954}}'' (1954) as Norman Maine
35	* ''Film/BiggerThanLife'' (1956) as Ed Avery (also producer and screenwriter)
36	* ''Literature/JourneyToTheCenterOfTheEarth'' (1959) as Sir Oliver S. Lindenbrook
37	* ''Film/{{North by Northwest}}'' (1959) as Phillip Vandamm
38	* ''Literature/{{Lolita}}'' (1962) as Prof. Humbert Humbert
39	* ''Film/TheFallOfTheRomanEmpire'' (1964) as Timonides
40	* ''Literature/LordJim'' (1965) as Gentleman Brown
41	* ''Film/TheBlueMax'' (1966) as Gen. Count von Klugermann
42	* ''Film/GenghisKhan'' (1966) as Kam Ling
43	* ''Film/GeorgyGirl'' (1966) as James Leamington
44	* ''Film/AgeOfConsent'' (1969) as Bradley Morahan
45	* ''Film/ColdSweat'' (1970) as Capt. Ross
46	* ''Film/TheLastOfSheila'' (1973) as Phillip
47	* ''Film/FrankensteinTheTrueStory'' (1973) as Dr. Polidori
48	* ''Film/CrossOfIron'' (1977) as Oberst Brandt
49	* ''Literature/TheBoysFromBrazil'' (1978) as Eduard Seibert
50	* ''Film/{{Heaven Can Wait\|1978}}'' (1978) as Mr. Jordan
51	* ''Film/MurderByDecree'' (1979) as Dr. John H. Watson
52	* ''Film/NorthSeaHijack'' (1979) as Adm. Brinsden
53	* ''Film/ThePassage'' (1979) as Prof. John Bergson
54	* ''Literature/EvilUnderTheSun'' (1982) as Odell Gardener
55	* ''Film/TheVerdict'' (1982) as Ed Conannon
56	* ''Film/{{Yellowbeard}}'' (1983) as Capt. Hughes
57	[[/folder]]
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59	[[folder:Television roles]]
60	* ''Series/TheAlfredHitchcockHour'' (1 episode, 1962) as Warren Barrow
61	* ''Series/JesusOfNazareth'' (1977) as Joseph of Arimathea
62	* ''Literature/SalemsLot'' (1979) as Richard K. Straker
63	* ''Series/{{Hollywood\|1980}}'' (1980) as Narrator
64	* ''Literature/{{Ivanhoe}}'' (1982) as Isaac of York
65	* ''[[Film/DontEatThePictures Don't Eat the Pictures]]'' (1983) as Demon
66	[[/folder]]
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Context Creator / JamesMason