Mason Capwell

Mason Lemont Capwell was a fictional character on the American soap opera Santa Barbara. He was first portrayed by American actor Lane Davies from July 30, 1984, to July 19, 1989. The second actor to play the role was Terry Lester, from September 27, 1989, to October 31, 1990. The final actor to play the role was Canadian actor Gordon Thomson, from October 31, 1990, until the show's end on January 15, 1993.
Character history
Cynical, sardonic attorney Mason LaMont Capwell was the only son of wealthy businessman C.C. Capwell and his first wife, Pamela. His parents divorced when he was very young and his father married actress Sophia Wayne, with whom he had four more children: Channing, Eden, Kelly, and Ted. Mason was therefor the only child raised in the Capwell home who was not Sophia's child nor blonde like his half-siblings. Mason always felt excluded, neglected, and ignored, and believed he never had his father's love, approval, or respect. Mason's resentment and anger towards C.C. led him to act out in ways that were designed to provoke or punish his father. Although very witty and highly intelligent, Mason was often bitter and lonely and engaged in a great deal of self-destructive behavior, including frequent struggles with alcoholism.
Mason worked against his father in many ways. He helped Santana Andrade, the daughter of the Capwells' housekeeper, to discover that her son Brandon (who had been born as a result of her affair with his bisexual half-brother Channing) was being raised by C.C. and his third wife, Gina DeMott. Mason also slept with the devious Gina and engaged in various plots with her. Although he was the best educated and seemingly most qualified of C.C.'s children, Mason often refused to work at his father's company and often seemed to delight in engaging in legal or business maneuvers designed to thwart C.C.'s interests. Mason was sometimes disinherited by C.C. as a means of punishment or manipulation.
Mason and his life changed when he met Mary Duvall, an ex-nun working as a nurse who cared for CC after he suffered a stroke. Mason was immediately attracted to Mary and was shocked to find out that she was a nun. Eventually Mary left the order and before-long the two began a relationship. Mary's innocence and gentleness brought out a vulnerability and tenderness in Mason, who, for the first time in his life felt loved. Feeling jealous and spurned, Gina orchestrated a seemingly romantic moment between Mason and herself in a way that Mary was sure to witness. Hurt, Mary ended her relationship with Mason and became involved with an old friend, Dr. Mark McCormick. After an accident nearly killed Mark, Mark used his life-threatening condition to get Mary to agree to marry him. Ever so kind-hearted Mary agreed despite her love for Mason, because she wanted to give Mark a reason to live. Mason was devastated, but arranged Mary and Mark's wedding at the hospital. To everyone's surprise Mark survived. Mason and Mary remained dear friends after Mary's wedding, although Mason never kept it a secret that he was still very much in love with Mary, so much so, that he wanted Mary's happiness more than his own.It soon became clear,though, that Mark wasn't making Mary happy.He was aggressive,abusive and unfaithful.In Mason Mary found a true friend who would listen to her and comfort her. During her whole marriage Mary had fought the deep love she felt for Mason,because she really wanted her marriage to work. Although Mary was able to resist him for a while, her unhappy and abusive marriage to Mark and her deep feelings for Mason made it impossible for her to remain with the man she didn't love. Mary finally confessed her true feelings to Mason and the two spent a beautiful holiday in the mountains.Right then and there, Mason who had been afraid of commitment his entire life,asked Mary to marry him and she agreed.When Mary tried to end her unconsummated marriage, Mark raped her. Mary became pregnant and did not know which man had fathered her child. Mason believed the baby was his until he learned about the rape, which filled him with a thirst for revenge. Mason was convinced that the baby was his and told Mary that even if it wasn't,he would love him and raise him as his own. Mason urged Mary to press charges against Mark. During a tragic confrontation between Mary, Mark and Mark's attorney Julia Wainwright on a windy night on the roof of the Capwell Hotel, Mary seriously injured when the letter "C" from the hotel sign was blown over and fell on her. Mason arrived to the roof just in time to see the sign falling on Mary. He rushed to Mary's side,but there was nothing to be done. Mary and their unborn baby died in Mason arms.Losing Mary and the child she was carrying devastated Mason. His grief sent him headlong into a bottle, and he eventually left town. He returned a few months later a new man (with a beard and white suit) with Lily Light, who turned out to be Gina DeMott's long-lost daughter. His affair with Lily didn't last long.
Mason was then approached by fellow attorney and past adversary Julia Wainwright, who only wanted him to be the father of her child. Julia's long history of romantic disappointments had made her swear off relationships and decide to concentrate on her career and her desire to have a child and raise it alone. Although she and Mason had a prickly professional relationship, the fact she had been Mark McCormick's attorney, and she was the sister of Augusta Lockridge (whose family were arch-enemies of the Capwells), Julia respected Mason's intellect and felt confident that he would not want any involvement in her life or that of her child. They signed a contract and got to work on the business of making a baby, but soon began to fall in love. Neither was willing to admit their feelings to the other due to their history of being hurt in love and their (mistaken) belief that the other viewed the relationship as a merely contractual one. Angry words led to Mason asking to be released from the contract. Shortly thereafter, on the night that Julia's pregnancy was confirmed, Mason asked Victoria Lane to marry him. Victoria was pregnant with Cruz Castillo's child. While Mason cared for Victoria, he was also urged into this marriage by C.C., who wanted to protect his favorite child, Eden, from discovering that her great love Cruz had fathered a child with another woman. Mason was also feeling lonely and hurt about both the Julia situation and his lingering grief for Mary, and wanted a family. Mason found himself divided between a pregnant wife whose child was not his and the woman he loved who was carrying his child. Mason and Julia (who did not know for a while that Mason was not the father of Victoria's baby) grew closer as Julia's pregnancy progressed and even more so when Julia gave birth to their daughter, Samantha. Mason and Victoria's marriage lasted nearly a year, but it grew unhappy as Mason was increasingly in love with Julia, eventually sleeping with her twice while still married to Victoria. Victoria became addicted to cocaine. Eventually, Mason admitted his love for Julia and left Victoria to be with Julia and Samantha.
Mason was pleasantly surprised when he learned that his mother Pamela was alive and that he had a half-brother named Jeffrey Conrad. Julia, with whom Mason was now living, became upset over Mason's drinking and fear of commitment. Eventually Mason proposed to Julia and things seemed to be improving for them until Mark McCormick's bones were found in the Capwell boathouse. Mason, one of the primary suspects, decided to find out who murdered Mark. With the help of Father Michael Donnelly , he learned that Mark had been murdered by a nun, Sister Agatha, who had been protecting another nun from being attacked by Mark.
However, an explosion at a church caused Mason to suffer amnesia and believe that he was Sonny Sprocket, a Las Vegas entertainer. When Gina found out about Sonny, she decided to marry him for his money and convinced him to "impersonate" Mason. Gina's plan worked well until their wedding day, when "Sonny" was shot and Mason remembered his true identity. While in a coma after being shot, Mason was sent to Heaven and was allowed to see his beloved Mary. At first he wanted to stay in Heaven with his love,but Mary urged him to return on earth and be a father to his daughter. After recovering, Mason finally admitted he was an alcoholic and sought help for his addition. Then Mason and Julia finally got married.
At this point, wealthy Robert Barr came to town to take over the Capwell family company. Mason received a great deal of blame for his handling of Capwell Enterprises, because he shared duties as President with Eden. Mason left town for a number of months. When Mason returned to Santa Barbara, his marriage to Julia was in trouble because of an affair Mason had with Sasha Schmidt while he was away. He began drinking again, and he and Julia divorced.
Mason then fell in love with Cassandra Benedict, a woman who had learned that she was Minx Lockridge's daughter and therefore had to end her relationship with Minx's grandson, Warren Lockridge. Mason wanted to marry Cassandra, but their wedding day was ruined when Warren kidnapped Cassandra. Mason rescued her, but they did not continue their relationship because Mason had realized that he was still deeply in love with Julia. Mason and Julia remarried and decided they wanted another baby. When they mistakenly believed that they could not have any more children, they considered adoption. In the end, Julia happily discovered that she was pregnant again.
Even though Mason eventually found happiness with Julia and their children, he never recovered from losing Mary and their child. Even Julia knew that she couldn't compete with Mary, the truest and greatest love of his life.

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