Mason N. Litson

Born in New York City in 1878, Mason (“Mace”) N. Litson was educated at the City College of New York. He went on the stage and was seen in such productions as Sword of the King, Robin Hood, and Ninety and Nine. In films he was with Paragon (Paying the Price), Peerless (Nathan Hale), Thanhouser (The Patriot and the Spy, 1915), Biograph (The Informer), Edison (Mid the Cannon’s Roar), Metro (The Eternal Question, etc.), and Artcraft (Pride of the Clan, Poor Little Rich Girl). For Biograph, Metro, and Artcraft he was an assistant director, and it is possible that he assisted with directing in certain earlier films with other studios. In 1915, when he appeared in Thanhouser’s The Patriot and the Spy, he was a National Guardsman with the 2nd Battery, New York City.

In 1916 he lived in Coytesville, New Jersey. The October 1916 Motion Picture News Studio Directory noted he was 6’1” tall, weighed 190 pounds, had a fair complexion, and had blonde hair and gray eyes. The 1917 edition of the same directory gave his height at 6’2”, his weight as 185, and his hair color as brown. His pastimes included riding and swimming. The 1917 and 1918 editions stated that he was working with Peerless-World in Fort Lee, New Jersey. Later, he moved to Los Angeles, where he directed many short subjects in the late teens and early 1920s and worked with Samuel Goldwyn, Metro, Eagle Lion, and others. Mason Litson died at the age of 70 on December 19, 1949, in Hollywood, California.