Clarissa Kaye
Encyclopedia
Clarissa Kaye was an Australian stage, film and television actress. She was the second wife (1971–84) of British actor James Mason
. After her marriage, she was often known as Clarissa Kaye-Mason.
, who taught "The Method" (the group included Reg Livermore
and Jon Ewing). Their first public performances were a series of one-act plays by Tennessee Williams
. The group later became the Ensemble Theatre Company, Sydney's first theatre-in-the round and its longest established professional theatre company.
Her first film role was as Meg in Age of Consent (1969), in which she appeared in scenes with James Mason
, including a sex scene that was censored from Columbia Pictures
' UK and US releases. She was recovering from pneumonia at the time and still had a temperature of 103 °F (39.4 °C).
Mason, who was many years Kaye's senior, sent her a long letter telling her of his admiration; this was followed by a card the following Valentine's Day, and a long correspondence ensued.
, Switzerland, and remained together until his death in 1984. (It has been reported that it was her second marriage.) Kaye reportedly was willing to put her career on hold, but Mason regularly insisted that she be given roles in his films. They shared scenes in Frankenstein: The True Story
(1973); they also both appeared in Salem's Lot (1979), but did not share any scenes.
They appeared on Broadway in April 1979 in Brian Friel
's play Faith Healer
, but were never on stage together (the play is constructed as four monologues by three characters). Her involvement in Faith Healer was also largely at Mason's request. That production failed and ended after only 17 days.
She claimed credit for in the late 1970s 'discovering' the actor Sam Neill
, whom she found strikingly reminiscent of her husband in his youth; she would say she introduced him to Australian producer Margaret Fink
. Fink cast him as the male lead in My Brilliant Career
.
(both from his first marriage to Pamela Mason
) were to be the beneficiaries of his large estate, valued at £15 million. Mason changed his will to leave Clarissa Kaye as the sole beneficiary, but the children understood that they would still ultimately receive the proceeds, after their stepmother's death. However, she was on such bad terms with them that she left her estate to an unidentified trust rumoured to be on behalf of the Sathya Sai Organization
, run by devotees of the Indian guru Sathya Sai Baba
. The organization, based in an ashram
near Bangalore
, neither confirmed nor denied this.
Mason's ashes were also the subject of controversy. Kaye initially had them in an urn in her home, but later deposited them in a Geneva
bank vault, without informing Mason's children. They tracked them down after Kaye's death, and took legal action to retrieve and inter them, and to choose the wording on Mason's gravestone.
James Mason
James Neville Mason was an English actor who attained stardom in both British and American films. Mason remained a powerful figure in the industry throughout his career and was nominated for three Academy Awards as well as three Golden Globes .- Early life :Mason was born in Huddersfield, in the...
. After her marriage, she was often known as Clarissa Kaye-Mason.
Biography
Clarissa Kaye was born as Clarissa Knipe in Sydney around 1931. In 1958 she became one of a class of informal students of Hayes GordonHayes Gordon
Hayes Gordon AO OBE was an American actor, stage director and acting teacher with a considerable career in Australia....
, who taught "The Method" (the group included Reg Livermore
Reg Livermore
Reginald Dawson Livermore AO is an Australian actor, singer, theatrical performer and television presenter.-Childhood:From a young age, Livermore demonstrated an interest in the performing arts...
and Jon Ewing). Their first public performances were a series of one-act plays by Tennessee Williams
Tennessee Williams
Thomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams III was an American writer who worked principally as a playwright in the American theater. He also wrote short stories, novels, poetry, essays, screenplays and a volume of memoirs...
. The group later became the Ensemble Theatre Company, Sydney's first theatre-in-the round and its longest established professional theatre company.
Her first film role was as Meg in Age of Consent (1969), in which she appeared in scenes with James Mason
James Mason
James Neville Mason was an English actor who attained stardom in both British and American films. Mason remained a powerful figure in the industry throughout his career and was nominated for three Academy Awards as well as three Golden Globes .- Early life :Mason was born in Huddersfield, in the...
, including a sex scene that was censored from Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
' UK and US releases. She was recovering from pneumonia at the time and still had a temperature of 103 °F (39.4 °C).
Mason, who was many years Kaye's senior, sent her a long letter telling her of his admiration; this was followed by a card the following Valentine's Day, and a long correspondence ensued.
Marriage
James Mason and Clarissa Kaye married on 8 August 1971 in Corseaux-sur-VeveyCorseaux
Corseaux is a municipality in the district Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland.-Geography:Corseaux has an area, , of . Of this area, or 21.7% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 0.0% is forested...
, Switzerland, and remained together until his death in 1984. (It has been reported that it was her second marriage.) Kaye reportedly was willing to put her career on hold, but Mason regularly insisted that she be given roles in his films. They shared scenes in Frankenstein: The True Story
Frankenstein: The True Story
Frankenstein: The True Story is a 1973 American made-for-television horror film loosely based on the book Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. It was directed by Jack Smight, and the screenplay was co-written by novelist Christopher Isherwood....
(1973); they also both appeared in Salem's Lot (1979), but did not share any scenes.
They appeared on Broadway in April 1979 in Brian Friel
Brian Friel
Brian Friel is an Irish dramatist, author and director of the Field Day Theatre Company. He is considered to be the greatest living English-language dramatist, hailed by the English-speaking world as an "Irish Chekhov" and "the universally accented voice of Ireland"...
's play Faith Healer
Faith Healer
Faith Healer is a play by Brian Friel about the life of faith healer Francis Hardy as monologued through the shifting memories of Hardy, his wife, Grace, and stage manager, Teddy.-Synopsis:...
, but were never on stage together (the play is constructed as four monologues by three characters). Her involvement in Faith Healer was also largely at Mason's request. That production failed and ended after only 17 days.
She claimed credit for in the late 1970s 'discovering' the actor Sam Neill
Sam Neill
Nigel John Dermot "Sam" Neill, DCNZM, OBE is a New Zealand actor. He is well known for his starring role as paleontologist Dr Alan Grant in Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park III....
, whom she found strikingly reminiscent of her husband in his youth; she would say she introduced him to Australian producer Margaret Fink
Margaret Fink
Margaret Fink is a prominent Australian film producer noted for her important role in the revival of Australian cinema in the 1970s....
. Fink cast him as the male lead in My Brilliant Career
My Brilliant Career
My Brilliant Career is a 1901 novel written by Miles Franklin.It is the first of many novels by Stella Maria Sarah Miles Franklin , one of the major Australian writers of her time. It was written while she was still a teenager, as a romance to amuse her friends...
.
Death
James Mason died in 1984, and Clarissa Kaye died on 21 July 1994 from cancer. Before Mason remarried, his children, Portland and MorganMorgan Mason
Alexander Morgan Mason is a politician, film producer and actor. He was born in Beverly Hills, California, and is the son of the late Academy award-nominated British actor James Mason and his wife Pamela Mason, actress and commentator. He is a former Acting Chief of Protocol of the United States,...
(both from his first marriage to Pamela Mason
Pamela Mason
Pamela Mason was a British actress, author, and screenwriter who appeared in a number of British films.-Early life and career:...
) were to be the beneficiaries of his large estate, valued at £15 million. Mason changed his will to leave Clarissa Kaye as the sole beneficiary, but the children understood that they would still ultimately receive the proceeds, after their stepmother's death. However, she was on such bad terms with them that she left her estate to an unidentified trust rumoured to be on behalf of the Sathya Sai Organization
Sathya Sai Organization
The Sathya Sai Organization was founded in the 1960s by Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. The first Sai Centers were started in India under the name Sri Sathya Sai Seva Samithi...
, run by devotees of the Indian guru Sathya Sai Baba
Sathya Sai Baba
Śri Sathya Sai Baba , born as Sathyanarayana Raju was an Indian guru, spiritual figure, mystic, philanthropist, and educator. He claimed to be the reincarnation of Sai Baba of Shirdi, a spiritual saint and miracle worker who died in 1918 and whose teachings were an eclectic blend of Hindu and...
. The organization, based in an ashram
Ashram
Traditionally, an ashram is a spiritual hermitage. Additionally, today the term ashram often denotes a locus of Indian cultural activity such as yoga, music study or religious instruction, the moral equivalent of a studio or dojo....
near Bangalore
Bangalore
Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...
, neither confirmed nor denied this.
Mason's ashes were also the subject of controversy. Kaye initially had them in an urn in her home, but later deposited them in a Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
bank vault, without informing Mason's children. They tracked them down after Kaye's death, and took legal action to retrieve and inter them, and to choose the wording on Mason's gravestone.
Selected filmography
- Age of Consent (1969; as Meg)
- The Yin and the Yang of Mr. GoThe Yin and the Yang of Mr. Go- Plot summary :An American draft dodger and aspiring writer named Nero Finnigan becomes involved with the notorious Mr. Go , an oriental organized crime mastermind. They conspire to blackmail an American weapons scientist into providing secrets to Mr. Go's organization for resale to the highest...
(1970; as Zelda) - Ned KellyNed Kelly (1970 film)Ned Kelly is a 1970 British adventure film. It was the second Australian feature film version of the story of 19th century Australian bushranger Ned Kelly....
(1970; as Kelly's mother) - Frankenstein: The True StoryFrankenstein: The True StoryFrankenstein: The True Story is a 1973 American made-for-television horror film loosely based on the book Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. It was directed by Jack Smight, and the screenplay was co-written by novelist Christopher Isherwood....
(TV; 1973; as Lady Fanshawe) - Salem's Lot (TV; 1979; as Marjorie Glick)
- Dr. Fischer of GenevaDoctor Fischer of GenevaDoctor Fischer of Geneva or The bomb party , is a novel by the English novelist Graham Greene.-Plot summary:The story is narrated by Alfred Jones, a translator for a large chocolate company in Switzerland. Jones, in his 50s, lost his left hand while working as a fireman during The Blitz. Jones is a...
aka The Bomb Party (TV; 1985; as Mrs. Montgomery) - The Umbrella WomanThe Good Wife (film)The Good Wife is a 1987 film starring Bryan Brown and Rachel Ward. It was also released as The Umbrella Woman. It also features Steven Vidler and Sam Neill.- Plot :...
aka The Good Wife (1987; as Mrs. Jackson) - The First KangaroosThe First KangaroosThe First Kangaroos is a 1988 British–Australian made for TV sports film directed by Frank Cvitanovich and starring Dennis Waterman, Chris Haywood and Dominic Sweeney. It depicts the first-ever rugby league tour of England by the Australian national team, the 1908-09 Kangaroos...
(1988; as Mrs Messenger) - The Last Resort (Australian TV series; 1988)
- Bangkok HiltonBangkok HiltonBangkok Hilton is a three-part Australian mini-series, made in 1989 by Kennedy Miller Productions and directed by Ken Cameron. The title of the mini-series is, in the story, the nickname of a fictional Bangkok prison in which the protagonist is imprisoned.-Plot:Bangkok Hilton begins as Hal Stanton...
(TV mini-series; 1989; as Mrs. Cameron)