Biography: Marsha Mason

Marsha Mason (born April 3, 1942) is an American actress and television director.

Early life

Mason was born in St. Louis, Missouri, to Edward Marion Mason, Jr., and his wife Catharine Kentwood-Mason. She has a younger sister, Linda (b. 1943). She grew up on Elmont Lane in Crestwood, MO. Mason is a graduate of Nerinx Hall High School and Webster University, both in Webster Groves, MO.

Career

In 1973, she met Neil Simon, who cast her in his Broadway play, The Good Doctor. Shortly afterwards, Mason and Simon fell in love and got married. Simon had been a widower. That same year, Mason co-starred opposite James Caan in the 20th Century Fox film Cinderella Liberty which netted her an Oscar nomination as Best Actress. In 1977, Mason's performance in Simon's smash hit film, The Goodbye Girl, won her a second Best Actress Academy Award nomination. In 1979, Simon successfully cast Mason as Jennie MacLaine in the screen adaptation of his hit play, Chapter Two, which was based on Mason's relationship with Simon up to their marriage. The film proved to be another big hit garnering her third Oscar nomination as best actress. In 1981, Mason starred ,along with Kristy McNichol, James Coco, and Joan Hackett in Only When I Laugh, Simon's film adaptation of his Broadway comedy-drama, The Gingerbread Lady. For her performance as Georgia Hines, Mason's performance was again highly praised and earned her a fourth best actress Oscar nomination. The film was a box-office success. However, Mason's next film written by Simon, Max Dugan Returns, was disappointing. It opened in 1982 and despite a stellar cast led by Mason, Donald Sutherland, Jason Robards, and Matthew Broderick, Simon's script was a let down and the film failed at the box office. By this time, Mason and Simon divorced and her film career lost momentum.

In the 1980's, Mason began taking featured parts in films such as Heartbreak Ridge and Stella. She has received a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame. In 1987, she directed the television film Little Miss Perfect.

In 2001, Mason appeared in the ABC-TV film, Life With Judy Garland: Me And My Shadows, in which she portrayed Garland's mother, Ethel Gumm. Mason last appeared on Broadway in August 2005 in Steel Magnolias, with Delta Burke, Frances Sternhagen, Rebecca Gayheart, Lily Rabe, and Christine Ebersole.

In 2001, she opened an herbal medicine shop, selling products from the garden of her home in Abiquiu, New Mexico. In 2009, Marsha Mason listed her home (including the biodynamic, organic farm).[[1]]

Filmography

External links

• Marsha Mason at the Internet Movie Database
• Marsha Mason at the Internet Broadway Database
• Marsha Mason at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• St. Louis Walk of Fame

Marsha Mason main page.