Marsha Mason — Why the Four-Time Oscar Nominee Walked Away from Hollywood "In the '80s we divorced and I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do," actress Marsha Mason tells PEOPLE of … She co-starred with Clint Eastwood in the 1986 film Heartbreak Ridge, which was fairly well received and a commercial success. First Name Marsha. During this time, she also joined the cast of ‘Grace and Frankie’ as Arlene, a role she is playing till date. She studied drama at HB Studio in Greenwich Village, New York City. Mason starred on Broadway in a revival of Night of the Iguana in 1996, and the following year in Michael Cristofer's Amazing Grace. Rack up 500 points and you'll score a $5 reward for more movies. - IMDb Mini Biography By: Mason’s performance was critically appreciated and earned her an Academy Award nomination for best actress. The couple's last film project together came in the form of Max Dugan Returns (1983), which was a major misfire.Following Marsha's divorce from Simon, her film product decreased rapidly in quantity as well as quality. [19], Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows, Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King, Temecula Valley International Film Festival. She starred in a 1999 revival of The Prisoner of Second Avenue in London, and received a Grammy nomination for Best Comedy Album for the 2000 recording. A former long-time resident of New Mexico, she had a farm[18] in Abiquiu that grew certified organic herbs. In 1977, she played Paula McFadden in ‘The Goodbye Girl’, a romantic comedy-drama focussing on an odd trio: a struggling artist who has rented an apartment from his friend, the current occupant who is his friend's ex-girlfriend and her young daughter. She has a younger sister named Linda. Gary Brumburgh / gr-home@pacbell.net, Other Works Actress Born in Missouri #40. Mason has had a distinguished career in film and theater. Your contribution is much appreciated! While at Webster, Mason performed in a number of theatrical productions. She is 78 years old and is a Aries. 1943), were raised Catholic and grew up in Crestwood. Marsha Mason’s Connecticut home is much different from the Spanish-style beach house made famous by her Netflix show Grace & Frankie — but it’s simple, stunning and full of surprises. Divorced after five years from actor Gary Campbell in 1970, the pert-nosed, dark-haired beauty met Neil Simon, a recent widower, when he cast her in his 1973 original Broadway production of "The Good Doctor". Born on exactly the same date as Wayne Newton. [2], Her stage credits include Norman Mailer's The Deer Park, Israel Horovitz's The Indian Wants the Bronx, Neil Simon's The Good Doctor and Joseph Papp's 1974 Richard III at the Lincoln Center. Mason played Patricia Heaton's mother in ABC comedy series The Middle[7] from 2010 to its conclusion in 2018. Following a leading stage role in "The Heiress" (1975) and playing "Roxane" in a TV version of Cyrano de Bergerac (1975), Marsha earned two more Neil Simon-driven Oscar nominations with The Goodbye Girl (1977), opposite Oscar winner Richard Dreyfuss, and Chapter Two (1979), which reunited her with James Caan and was based on Mason and Simon's own relationship.Simon would offer his wife Oscar-worthy material one more time with Only When I Laugh (1981), as an alcoholic trying to stay on the wagon for daughter Kristy McNichol. After completing her high school education from Nerinx Hall High School, she graduated from Webster University before making her film debut. The idea of being a single woman in Hollywood is a very peculiar thing. By this time, Mason and Simon had divorced, and her film career lost momentum. MARSHA MASON Marsha Mason signs an index card in blue ink. Marsha Mason has a wonderful, extremely engaging "feel good" quality about her, an innate warmth that makes you root for her whether she's playing a stubborn single mom, brittle prostitute, or strung-out alcoholic. Her other films include Blume in Love (1973), The Cheap Detective (1978), Max Dugan Returns (1983) Heartbreak Ridge (1986), Stella (1990) and Drop Dead Fred (1991). Her second marriage, to playwright Neil Simon, lasted from 1973 until their 1983 divorce. [1] Shortly afterwards, Mason and Simon, a widower, fell in love and got married. Soon after this, she starred alongside Susan Anspach and George Segal in ‘Blume in Love’. She later hooked up with San Francisco's prestigious American Conservatory Theatre and appeared in an enviable number of their productions ("The Merchant of Venice", "Private Lives", "You Can't Take It With You", "A Doll's House", "Cyrano de Bergerac", "The Crucible").Daytime soaps played a vital part during this period of time (1969-1972), playing a hooker-turned-vampire on the popular Dark Shadows (1966) series and winning regular roles on Where the Heart Is (1969) and Love of Life (1951).