Clarissa Kaye

She was an Australian stage, film and television actress. She was the second wife (1971-1984) of British actor James Mason. After her marriage, she was often known as Clarissa Kaye-Mason.

Clarissa Kaye was born as Clarissa Knipe in Sydney around 1931. In 1958 she became one of a class of informal students of Hayes Gordon 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, who was many years her senior (a sex scene between them 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 (39.44 °C). Mason 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.

Mason and Kaye married on 8 August 1971 in Corseaux-sur-Vevey, Switzerland, and remained together until his death in 1984. (It has been reported that it was her second marriage) She acquired two stepchildren, Portland and Morgan Mason, from James Mason's earlier marriage to Pamela Mason. Clarissa Kaye reportedly was willing to put her career on hold, but Mason regularly insisted that she be given roles in his films (i.e. Frankenstein: The True Story, Salem's Lot).

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 largely at Mason's request. That production failed and ended after only 17 days. Kaye and Mason shared scenes in Frankenstein: The True Story; they also both appeared in Salem's Lot (1979), but did not share any scenes.

Clarissa Kaye liked to claim credit for 'discovering' the actor Sam Neill in the late 70s whom she found strikingly reminiscent of her husband in his youth and would say she introduced him to Australian producer Margaret Fink. He was cast as the male lead in My Brilliant Career, the film that launched both his and actress Judy Davis' film careers.

James Mason died in 1984, and Clarissa Kaye died on 21 July 1994 from cancer. Before Mason remarried, his children Portland and Morgan (from his first marriage) 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 Clarissa's death. However, she was on such bad terms with her stepchildren that she left her estate to an unidentified trust.[citation needed] It was strongly rumoured that the trust was 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.

James Mason's ashes were also the subject of controversy. Clarissa 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.

Selected filmography:

   * Age of Consent (1969; as Meg)

   * The Yin and the Yang of Mr. Go (1970; as Zelda)

   * Ned Kelly (1970; as Kelly's mother)

   * Frankenstein: The True Story (TV; 1973; as Lady Fanschawe)

   * Salem's Lot (TV; 1979; as Marjorie Glick)

   * Dr. Fischer of Geneva aka The Bomb Party (TV; 1985; as Mrs. Montgomery)

   * The Umbrella Woman aka The Good Wife (1987; as Mrs. Jackson)

   * The Last Resort ( Australian TV series; 1988)

   * Bangkok Hilton (TV mini-series; 1989; as Mrs. Cameron)

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarissa_Kaye

IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0443420/