BORN: May 15, 1909
DIED: July 27, 1984
AGED: 75 yrs from a heart attack
MARRIED: Twice
Under-rated actor, romantic lead but also could play a charming evil nasty pants. Known to be arrogant, Opinionated, intelligent. Known for his distinctive voice. A complicated hero. He was a conscientious objector during WW2 which I think was a brave thing to do. One of my personal fav's
FILMS: Seventh Veil, The Wicked Lady, A Star is Born, Five Fingers, The Man Between, Pandora and the Flying Dutchman, Journey to the Centre of the earth, North by Northwest, Lolita, Georgy Girl, The Verdict
I never knew Vivian Leigh was bi-polar.
ReplyDeleteGosh! James Mason must have been brave to express his views, because it's not an easy thing to stand against public opinion at any time.
Great blogs as usual, Birgit.
I think he was brave to take that stand. Lew Ayres did the same thing(All Quiet On The Western Front, which he starred in, changed his views) and was treated horribly.
DeleteOne of my favourites as well. I wonder if he did anything else in the war. Conscientious objectors often took part in fire watch or medical duties.
ReplyDeleteThey did and I didn't find anything on James Mason. I know Lew Ayres went into medical area I will look this up but I don't think so
DeleteI only knew James Mason from when he was older. I think he was on some TV show or movie I watched when I was younger? It's interesting to learn about these stars when they were younger.
ReplyDeleteIf you heard his voice you would instantly recognize him. he would often be a voiceover for documentaries and he did a great one on Hollywood-the Silent era-They are my prized possession (13 in the series)
DeleteI loved him in North By Northwest - such a great movie.
ReplyDeleteThat is an excellent movie and one of my favs
DeleteThis is the first one in your theme who I've never heard of! His face is familiar, but I would never have known who he was. I like getting to know him a little :)
ReplyDeleteOh I think if you heard his voice you would know it. The most famous movie is North By Northwest but he was also in The Verdict with Paul Newman and he even played Sherlock Holmes
DeleteNorth by Northwest is great!! I never realized who he was. I guess I was distracted by Cary Grant. :-)
ReplyDeleteWell that is understandable:) Cary Grant IS Cary Grant:)
DeleteThe Verdit and Lolita... I remember him so well in these...and Salem's Lot. I think it's his voice...the way he speaks. There's something about Mason!
ReplyDeletexxx Asha
I forgot about Salem's Lot because it is so scary to me. I think he is great myself and more need to know about him
DeleteI remember him in The Verdit. He was a good actor.
ReplyDeleteHave a great day. I wonder who you will do for N? I haven't got my N figured out yet.
He was excellent and my N is another great guy
DeleteThat's really cool about James Mason. I hadn't heard of him before.
ReplyDeleteA-Z Challenging at Untethered Realms
Oh you have to check him out in some of the movies mentioned here-I would be surprised if you didn't know his voice
DeleteLove Mason! So great in Nick Ray's Bigger Than Life, in A Star is Born, and in Kubrick's Lolita! I could sit and listen to the guy speak for hours and hours on end.
ReplyDeleteSee ya 'round the web. All Things Kevyn.
He really did bring the best out in Judy Garland I think-another great under-rated actor. I wish I could find the film "The Man Between"
DeleteHe's another actor that grows more handsome the older I get. :-) It's a toss up between who has a more sexier voice--James Mason or Alan Rickman.
ReplyDeleteOh yes Alan Rickman-I love his acting big time
DeleteHe'll always be known for North by Northwest, but Journey to the Center of the Earth was the first movie I saw.
ReplyDeleteI saw him first too in Journey to the Centre of the Earth-I have this and love it
DeleteYay, another North by Northwest alum!
ReplyDeleteLOVE this movie!!
DeleteHow can it be that I have never seen any movies with James Mason! I'll have to fix that (as soon as the A to Z challenge is over).
ReplyDeleteOh start with North by Northwest and then go from there
DeleteI too can honestly say I haven't seen one of his movies.
ReplyDeletebetty
Oh you must try as he is so great
DeleteNorth by Northwest! Been wanting to see that movie! : )
ReplyDeletePut that on your list-fun movie:)
DeleteMmm... I was expecting you would feature Marilyn Monroe for M ... :(
ReplyDeletehahahahaha-I probably fooled more than 1-I wanted to pick someone whom people have not heard of as much and he deserves a spot.
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