Matinee Classics - Marsha Mason Biography & Filmography

Marsha Mason ACTOR

MARSHA MASON BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Marsha Mason was born on April 3rd, 1942 in St. Louis, Missouri as the oldest of two other sisters to James Joseph Mason and Jacqueline Helena Mason. After she graduated from Nerinx Hall High School she went on to study at Webster University and earned a college degree.

Mason then chose to relocate to New York and began to study acting and also found some small roles on a number of commercials. In 1965 she married actor, Gary Campbell and was cast in the film, "Hot Rod Hullabaloo" (1966). With this film not reaching the level of success she had hoped for, she returned back to pursuing a career as a stage actress appearing in such productions as, "The Deer Park" and "Cactus Flower".

Marsha then found work with the San Francisco American Conservatory Theater and began appearing in the plays, "Private Lives", "Merchant of Venice", "You Can't Take It With You", "A Doll's House" and "The Crucible".

Along with working as a stage actress, Mason was also making appearances on such television Soap Opera's as, "Love of Life" (1951) "Dark Shadows" (1966) and "Where the Heart Is" (1969).

After her marriage to Campbell came to an end she became acquainted with Neil Simon and after knowing each other only three weeks the couple married. It was Simon who helped get her career to head in the right direction. She began appearing on the big screen in more prominent feature films such as, "Blume in Love" (1973), "Cinderella Liberty" (1973) and "The Heiress" (1975) for which she earned her first Oscar nomination.

Other film roles she added to her resume were roles in, "The Goodbye Girl" (1977), "Chapter Two" (1979) and "Only When I Laugh" (1981) for which she received another Academy Award nomination. In 1983, Mason and Simon divorced and she could not keep her popularity at the same level due to most of her film work being a result of her husband's influence.

Mason still fought on to remain as a highly desired actress in films and continued to add to her resume roles in, "Heartbreak Ridge" (1986), "Stella" (1990), "Drop Dead Fred" (1991), "I Love Trouble" (1994), "Nick of Time" (1995) and "2 Days in the Valley" (1996), however none of her films ever reached the level of success she had become accustomed too.

Later in her career she returned back to working as a stage actress appearing in the plays, "The Prisoner of Second Avenue", "Wintertime", "Steel Magnolias", "I Never Sang for My Father" and "The Night of the Iguana".

Along with films and stage work she also appeared in a couple television series such as, "Frasier", "Seinfeld", "Lipstick Jungle", "Army Wives" and "The Middle".

Marsha Mason never had any children and has not chosen to re-marry. In addition to her career as an actress she was also involved in growing certified organic herbs and also started a wellness and bath and body products company called, Resting in the River.