Acting

Mason Williams

Born 1938-08-24 · Abilene, Texas, USA

Acting credits

California Typewriter poster
6.9

A story about people whose lives are connected by typewriters. A meditation on creativity and technology featuring Tom Hanks, John Mayer, Sam Shepard, David McCullough and others.

California Typewriter

2017

Black Barbie poster
6.3

Discover the untold story of the first Black Barbie and the pivotal role three trailblazing women at Mattel had in creating a doll who looked like them.

Black Barbie

2023

The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour: The 20th Reunion poster
NR

In this primetime TV reunion special, The sibling comedy duo and their players of their classic iconoclastic comedy-variety show reunite.

The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour: The 20th Reunion

1988

Smothered: The Censorship Struggles of the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour poster
4.5

The history of the irreverent "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" and the content battles it fought with its television network.

Smothered: The Censorship Struggles of the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour

2002

Subway Express poster
10.0

Inspector Killany of the New York City police department is called in to investigate the murder of a subway passenger and the usual-and-unusual suspects climb on and off at each stop.

Subway Express

1931

No artwork available
NR

This rare foray into filmmaking by the iconic California visual artist opens with Mason Williams, the composer of "Classical Gas" solemnly making himself a drink on a hillside patio at dusk as if performing an incantation. Heavy reverb on the soundtrack amplifies every sound until he sits down to read through a stack of Ruscha's photography books, Twentysix Gas Stations, Some Los Angeles Apartments, Every Building on the Sunset Strip, etc. In an over-the-shoulder shot, we see each page of each book as Mason flips through them, briefly contemplating what he sees and reading any available text as a kind distanced recitation. Mason punctuates this seeming solemnity with moments of irreverence, manhandling, at times, these limited edition art objects as if they were toss away shopping catalogs as he presses on with his appointed task

The Books of Ed Ruscha

1969

Behind the camera