Brunette leading lady Marsha Mason made her Broadway debut in "Cactus Flower" (1965) and soon after landed in her first feature film, the low-budget actioner "Hot Rod Hullabaloo" (1966). For the next several years, she appeared in stage productions on and off Broadway as well as played a recurring role on the daytime drama "Love of Life" (CBS). The early 1970s found her at San Francisco's American Conservatory Theatre, where she acted in such classics as "The Merchant of Venice", "Cyrano de Bergerac" and "A Doll's House" (all 1972) before coming into her own as a film actress in 1973. That watershed year saw her first as one of George Segal's girlfriends in "Blume in Love" and then opposite James Caan as a hooker with an illegitimate black son in the earthy but touching "Cinderella Liberty", for which she earned her first Best Actress Oscar nomination. She also returned to Broadway that year in Neil Simon's "The Good Doctor". Although the show was not successful, Mason won the playwright's heart and they married.
Mason starred in Robert Wise's supernatural thriller "Audrey Rose" (1977) before beginning to act almost exclusively in movies with Simon scripts (five in all). Three of them ("The Goodbye Girl" 1977, "Chapter Two" 1979 and "Only When I Laugh" 1981) brought Best Actress Oscar nods for her somewhat harried, defensive but ultimately vulnerable urban "Everywoman" persona and they remain her best-known work. Since the break-up of their marriage, Mason has kept a lower profile, preferring to exercise her passion for racing cars in national competitions. Although she did star opposite Clint Eastwood in "Heartbreak Ridge" (1986), she has done mostly supporting turns in movies like "I Love Trouble" (1994) and "Nick of Time" (1995). In addition to NYC stage appearances in "Night of the Iguana" (1996) and as a convicted murderer facing death in Michael Cristofer's "Amazing Grace" (1998), Mason had the recurring role as the blowzy, declasse girlfriend of Martin Crane on NBC's "Frasier", reuniting her with her "Dinner at Eight" (TNT, 1989) co-star John Mahoney.
- Born:
April 3, 1942 in St Louis, Missouri, USA
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Job Titles:
Actor, Director, Clerk, Go-go dancer, Race car driver, Waitress
Family
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Father: James Joseph Mason.
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Mother: Jacquelina Helena Mason.
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Step-daughter: Ellen Simon. born in 1957; wrote screenplay for Moonlight and Valentino (1995), adapted from her play
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Step-daughter: Nancy Simon. born c. 1963
Significant Others
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Companion: Lewis Smith. dated in the mid-1980s
Education
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Webster College, Webster Groves, Missouri, speech and drama, BA
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Directing Workshop for Women, American Film Institute, Los Angeles, California
Milestones
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1965 Broadway debut, Cactus Flower
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1966 Film debut in Hot Rod Hullabaloo
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1967 Landed role in Norman Mailer s Off-Broadway play The Deer Park
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1972 Portrayed Nurse Marsha Lord in syndicated TV series Young Dr Kildaire
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1973 Appeared on Broadway in Neil Simon s The Good Doctor ; later married the playwright
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1973 Received first of four Best Actress Oscar nominations for Cinderella Liberty , co-starring James Caan
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1974 Appeared in the PBS Great Performances production of Cyrano de Bergerac
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1977 First feature role in a film with a Neil Simon screenplay, The Goodbye Girl ; earned Best Actress Oscar nomination
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1977 Starred in Robert Wise s reincarnation thriller Audrey Rose
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1979 Reunited with James Caan in Chapter Two , adapted by Simon from his stage play; third Academy Award nomination as Best Actress
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1981 Earned fourth Best Actress Oscar nomination as an alcoholic actress in Only When I Laugh
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1982 Last of five feature film collaborations with husband-screenwriter Neil Simon, Max Dugan Returns
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1982 Network TV movie debut in Lois Gibbs and the Love Canal (CSB)
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1986 Acted opposite Clint Eastwood, playing his foul-mouthed ex-wife struggling to survive by pushing drinks in a town bar, in Heartbreak Ridge
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1986 Directed Juno s Swans at NYC s Second Stage Theatre
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1987 TV directorial debut, the CBS Schoolbreak Special entitled Little Miss Perfect
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1989 Appeared in the TNT remake of Dinner at Eight ; cast opposite John Mahoney
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1991 Starred in short-lived ABC-TV series, Sibs (also known as Grown-Ups )
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1995 Played Governor Eleanor Grant, the target of assassination, in Nick of Time , starring Johnny Depp
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1996 Appeared in the feature film 2 Days in the Valley
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1996 Returned to NYC stage in Tennessee Williams Night of the Iguana
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1997 Had recurring role of Sherry, the blowsy girlfriend of Martin Crane (John Mahoney), on NBC sitcom Frasier
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1998 Reteamed with Richard Dreyfuss on stage in House , produced on Long Island, New York
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1999 Co-starred with Dreyfuss in London production of Neil Simon s play The Prisoner of Second Avenue
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2001 Cast as Ethel Gumm in the ABC miniseries Me and My Shadows: Life With Judy Garland , based on Lorna Luft s memoir
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2005 Cast as Mr. Darcy s mother in Bride and Prejudice Gurinder Chadha s Bollywood update of Jane Austen s classic tale
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Moved to New York to continue stage career
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Played Judith Cole on daytime soap, Love of Life (CBS)