Mason Adams (Actor)

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(02-26-1919 - 04-26-2005) Age 86

Mason Adams was an American actor.   Mason Adams was very busy during Radio's Golden Age as Pepper in Pepper Young's Family. He also made appearances on Superman and Inner  Sanctum.

He is best known for his role as Charlie Hume in the television series "Lou Grant."

Adams began his acting career in radio, performing on shows such as "Theater Guild on the Air." He then transitioned to television and film, appearing in a number of notable productions, including the film "The Fortune Cookie" and the television series "The Mary Tyler Moore Show."

Adams was known for his distinctive, gravelly voice, which made him well-suited to playing characters in his later years. He also worked as a voice-over artist, lending his voice to numerous commercials and audiobooks.

In addition to his acting career, Adams was also a committed humanitarian, and was actively involved in a number of charitable organizations.

Later work included regular appearances  on CBSRMT and a recurring role on TVs Lou Grant.

He appeared in the following 48 episodes of Radio Mystery Theater
Date Episode Title Plot
01/12/1974 0007 I Warn You Three Times A daring attempt to clear their car windows during a snowstorm leads to the mysterious disappearance of a woman's husband. The reasons turn out to be increasingly intriguing.
01/14/1974 0009 Death Rides a Stallion An old flame torments a playboy after her death in a horse riding accident.
01/20/1974 0015 The Chinaman Button A perfectly anonymous murder offers the opportunity to earn a fortune for a man in dire financial straits.
01/24/1974 0019 Deadly Honeymoon A honeymoon turns nightmarish as a woman realises her husband to be culpable of the murders of his previous wives - during their honeymoon
01/30/1974 0025 Mother Love An unusual favor and $6000 are all a fortune teller needs to grant the wish of a desperate woman to conceive
02/13/1974 0037 Dig Me Deadly Archaeology students dig out an ancient decomposed corpse of a woman attached to a skeleton and a female detective is recruited to reveal the mystery behind it.
03/03/1974 0049 Prognosis Negative A mentally disturbed soldier is recruited by a fake medium to take her game to the next level. The military conducts a desperate search for the missing psychopath. She might not have bargained for what she had let herself into.
03/05/1974 0051 A Long Time to Die The grass is never greener on the other side and swapping lives is a dangerous practice. Unfortunately, a criminologist and an American Indian discover this too late as their swapped circumstances threaten to engulf them. One needs to depose before a tribal council and the other must do it in front of the Congress.
03/28/1974 0065 The Unearthly Gift A modest lumberjack camp cook has the gift of clairvoyance, but her visions don't always predict nice things. After a particularly nasty vision involving a newcomer at the camp, she decides to interfere with fate to forestall a death.
04/23/1974 0079 The Ghost Driver A driver killed the proprietors of a country inn. Now his ghost is after the present proprietors along with the residents of the inn.
05/29/1974 0098 The Phantom Lullaby The caring parents of a young woman rent her a luxurious house to recuperate from a bitter affair and an abortion. But trouble seems to shadow her footsteps as a resident spirit in the apartment haunts her.
06/25/1974 0110 Where Fear Begins The strange circumstances surrounding her sister's death prompt a young woman to dig deeper. She soon learns that the medication her sibling was taking was prescribed by a mysterious doctor.
08/29/1974 0141 Medium Rare A man is relieved of a large sum of money by a pair of wicked gamblers. After his death, he uses a false psychic medium to wreak his revenge.
09/25/1974 0152 The Deadly Blind Man's Bluff In a terrible mishap, a riveter loses his eyesight. While he keeps up his physical strength, he slowly goes on a downward spiral emotionally. Besides that, his apartment is within earshot of his former construction site, making him feel much worse. The police warn the riveter and his wife about an escaped murder convict in their area, and a meeting between the two is preordained.
10/31/1974 0168 The Demon Spirit A man loses his life and soul in order to claim the woman he desires. He possesses her after his death and her family attempts to exorcise him.
11/26/1974 0179 Courtyard of Death This is the tale of the lewd monk Rasputin, who was the spiritual consultant of Russian Czar Nicholas II and his family.
12/26/1974 0192 Turn About Is Foul Play A man together with his girlfriend plots to kill his rich and sickly wife. At the last moment he experiences a change of heart but someone carries out the job for him. As all evidence point towards him, he must prove his innocence to the police without even a shred of proof to support him.
01/28/1975 0214 Windandingo After accidentally shooting a prize bull, an inexperienced and bungling soldier is sent home. Soon after he arrives, his home is taken over by General Burgoyne and he is able to aid his country in the end by invoking the spirit of Indian justice.
02/18/1975 0225 Love Me And Die A young woman has recently married, but is plagued by her ex-husband's ghost. He died in an accident while rock climbing and he is determined to pass on a message to her present husband.
04/09/1975 0253 The Altar of Blood A superannuated professor is obsessed with the mysteries of the Aztec civilisation. He decides to relocate to a new residence with his daughter whose mother was Aztec. But their new home hides a pyramid and they are accidentally sucked back in time through it. Now the father must witness his daughter sacrificed in an ancient Aztec ritual.
04/24/1975 0262 Bullet Proof Rocky Stark is put in prison for the murder of hoodlum Johnny Mallory.But he is innocent and his gun was kept with him at all times. But the real murderer is soon found dead with Rocky's gun doing him in and he must now find a way to escape execution. His faithful wife sets out to probe the case herself.
06/12/1975 0290 A Case of Negligence A greedy son sues the hospital and the attending M.D. when his father expires while undergoing a supposedly routine surgery. Trouble and all sorts of problem arise from the lawsuit.
07/03/1975 0302 Murder Will Out In order to exact revenge on the man who murdered his father, a police officer from New York travels to Maine in search of the killer. He is forced to examine his values and beliefs when he finally finds him.
08/28/1975 0334 Night of the Howling Dog While on a camping trip on a deserted island with a minister and his daughter, a group of friends are horrified to learn that a werewolf is among them.
10/01/1975 0356 Primrose Path A modern take on the infamous abduction of Patty Hearst. The heir of a multi-media news conglomerate is taken hostage by a terrorist group. The kidnapped Mellon soon becomes a willing member of the very group that took him captive.
11/11/1975 0377 Party Girl An aggressive young public servant aiming to become the state's next governor must cover up the suicide of a prostitute he was involved with before it ruins his political aspirations.
01/01/1976 0406 One of the Missing On a reconnaissance mission, a Union soldier and his friend were sent to enemy territory. A freak explosion leaves him injured and assaulted with images of his own wake.
03/12/1976 0447 The Man Who Preyed on Widows After being swindled out of her money, the widowed Mrs. Randol refused to take action against Robert Lewis, aka Nelson Potter despite her children egging her on. Her frustrated family finds satisfaction when the identity of his next victim is revealed, and the police set up a grand scheme to entrap the wily con man.
04/09/1976 0466 Fool's Gold Wreck-diving for sunken treasure has always been his greatest obsession. A new adventure seduces a hapless college professor with the possibility of a huge haul that comes with a heavy price- cursed gold.
04/26/1976 0477 The Three Elders of Lifeboat Landing Lifeboat Landing seems to be the perfect community, where there is no crime and everything is peaceful. When a young reporter starts snooping into the communities past, he discovers more than what he was prepared for.
07/22/1976 0500 The Men with the Magic Fingers A turn-of the-century tale of romance and tragedy where a circus owner sculpts a fortune teller out of wax and falls in love with his own creation. Held captive in his world of make-believe, his poor wife has no other recourse but to question his sanity.
10/19/1976 0538 The Mission of Atropos A detective follows the clues left by a corrupt industrialist using an illegal and deadly chemical.
11/26/1976 0555 Blood Will Tell His mother who is keeping a terrible secret from him; a 40-year old man discovers the truth on how his dad died at work.
01/31/1977 0593 A Casual Affair
When a traveling salesman becomes entangled with a beautiful and mysterious lady, he becomes caught up in their casual affair. What he fails to realize is that his partner is more than what she appears to be and his life ends up in grave and terrible danger.

02/28/1977 0608 The Light that Failed In order to win the hand of the woman he loves, a painter and war correspondent does everything in his power to amass a fortune. When he scorns a woman he considers beneath his station, his carefully laid plans fall apart.
03/24/1977 0622 The Gift of Doom
A snowbound prospector is saved by an Eskimo witch from a fatal accident. He soon learns of her powerful skill with healing magic and decides to marry her. Her talents soon help further his political ambitions. However, bloated with his own self-importance he decides that he no longer needs the savage that is his wife and schemes to get rid of her.

04/14/1977 0634 The Phantom House Two young sisters spend the summer with their aunt and uncle in the Virginia countryside at the turn of the century. One sister sees the image of a house destroyed more than 50 years before and struggles against becoming part of its terrible curse.
04/25/1977 0640 Bound East for Haiti On a commercial voyage, a sailor attempts to curse his captain with black magic to steal the girlfriend for himself.
06/30/1977 0674 Dead Men Do Tell Tales A dead man recounts how his life came to an end as he served as the conscience of a group of men who committed a horrible act twenty years prior. Meanwhile, a pair of detectives pursue his killer.
07/22/1977 0687 The Secret of the Aztecs A man's car breaks down in the desert and he encounters the ghost of an old man named Quetzal who shows him to the long lost Aztec Gold and instructs him to guard the Aztec's treasure from a being known as 'The Savage.' He can't convince anyone that he saw the ghost of the old man and everybody thinks he's insane.
07/26/1977 0689 The Rocket's Red Glare A scientist working on a top secret weapons project commits suicide in front of coworkers. A local cop suspects it was foul play and runs headlong into a case of espionage.
04/21/1978 0820 Bet with Angels An amiable advertising professional receives gambling advice from his deceased friend who happened to be a gambling addict. Soon he finds himself caught up in the frenzy.
05/05/1978 0828 Cool Killer Karl A bizarre story of the mother of a victimised family befriending an infamous killer who took them as hostages.
05/19/1978 0836 The Hundred Dollar Difference A down-on-his-luck gambler enlists the help of his girlfriend to kill his wealthy aunt and get hold of her fortunes. Unfortunately, when he appears at the scene, he finds that the job has already been carried out for him.
05/26/1978 0840 Arctic Encounter A peculiar energy drain in an Arctic region forces two American and Russian fighter planes and their crew to crash consequently. The survivors are left to encounter a new, strange world.
07/03/1978 0858 King Bankrobber A regular lawful architect turns into a master bank-robber to avenge the leniency meted out by the judiciary to the young scoundrel who murdered his parents.
10/18/1982 1383 Desert Maiden In order to come up with a name for their latest fragrance, a middle-aged advertising agent seeks inspiration in the desert. He embarks on a journey of enlightenment when he bumps into a former lover in the sandy dunes.
10/25/1982 1386 Resident Killer Violence has been eradicated in the nature of man five hundred years into the future. The threat of alien invasion forces the government to reverse a formerly vicious man's programming and unleashes a brutal onslaught against the invaders.


20 Responses to Adams Mason

Best Actor

User

Just found out that he also voiced this classic Sesame Street animation about a triangle and a 'square' square

Frank

he played on lou grant too as lou grants boss

Tracy

Very distinctive voice...a wonderful actor!

Rev

he played on lou grant too as lou grants boss

Tracy

Liking his episodes more & more. Just listened to 2 greats in one show, Mason Adams & Fred Gwynne in Altar of Blood. Mason always sounds so young, yet I remember him as older, when he played in the Lou Grant series.

Cathy

One of my all time favorite episodes is, "The Chinaman Button," in which, in my opinion, Mason Adams gives one of his greatest performances.

Rev

Mason Adams was excellent. His episodes remain some of my favorites.

paul

Mason Adams is my favorite actor.

David

Enjoy most of them & for different reasons, but recently been listening to these 2 favorites: Mason Adams & Tony Roberts.

Cathy

He's my fave too!

PJ

In "Sunset Blvd", Gloria Swanson says of the silent movie stars--"They had faces--then." And listening to CBSRMT, "They had voices--then." Mason Adams was one of those voices. It was the 1970's--I was going to UCLA Extension--I'd get out and be in the car to hear the last 10 minutes--"creaking Door" and EG Marshall.

John hendry

Mason Adams had a pretty good career in radio, going back to the 40s. One of my favorite "Inner Sanctum" shows had Adams as a young newsman, called "Death of a Doll". The distinctive "gravel" in his voice was there, even in his youth.

Lutz

One of my all-time favorites. Such a warm, recognizable voice.

Daniel

Mason Adams (February 26, 1919 – April 26, 2005) was an American character actor and voice-over artist. Adams was heard on many radio programs during Radio's Golden Age. A notable recurring role was that of Pepper Young in Pepper Young's Family, which aired from 1947 to 1959. He also portrayed the deadly Nazi Atom Man in a classic 1945 serial on the radio version of The Adventures of Superman. Adams is perhaps most famous for his television role as Managing Editor Charlie Hume in the television series Lou Grant. He also played as the US president in movie Omen III: The Final Conflict (1981). He also appeared in popular TV movies, such as The Deadliest Season (1977), Revenge of the Stepford Wives (1980), The Kid with the Broken Halo (1982) and The Night They Saved Christmas (1984). His voice-over work includes Chiffon margarine and Crest toothpaste ("Helps stop cavities before they start", Smucker's preserves ("With a name like Smucker's, it has to be good!"), he also is known for the voice over for Cadbury Creme eggs, "Nobunny knows Easter better than him [the Cadbury Bunny]." Also in the 1980s, Adams did voice-over TV commercials for Sherwin-Williams Paints. Adams also did radio commercials for the Salvation Army. In addition, Adams was the narrator for Kix commercials and many many more. During the 1970s, he was a co-star of the NBC soap opera Another World. In 1986, he starred as Col. Edward Mason, one of his most famous feature film roles, and appeared in the 1991 action movie Toy Soldiers. In 1993, he starred as Walter Warner Sr. in the movie Son in Law. and his later film credits included roles in Houseguest (1995), Touch (1997) and The Lesser Evil (1998). In the 1998 HBO miniseries From the Earth to the Moon he played Senator Clinton P. Anderson. His final appearance in TV and Film was in the series finale of Oz.

Adam

Mason Adams worked extensively in radio during the 40s and 50s on dozens of radio programs including Gangbusters, Gasoline Alley, the Adventures of Superman, Inner Sanctum and Suspense, but is remembered for his long-time role of Pepper in Pepper Young's Family. He appeared in a dozen Broadway productions and 85 films and television programs including the TV soap operas, Love of Life, Another World and Flamingo Road, but is best remembered for his longtime portrayal of Charlie Hume on Lou Grant. As a voice actor and narrator he appeared in a number of children's animated features and commercials including Smuckers products.

Charlie

Great radio voice and a versatile actor. Such an empathetic, thoughtful voice. The Man With The Magic Fingers.

Lanny

I absolutely loved Mason Adams! As an Easter baby, hearing his voice on those Cadbury USA commercials were very special to me. Still are!

Rick

Cadbury Creme eggs, Chiffon margarine, Crest toothpaste, Kix cereal, Dentyne gum, Swanson foods, Smucker's preserves, the Salvation Army, Sherwin-Williams Paints, Lysol spray.... the list goes on and on....

Charlie

Mason Adams brought a nice down home persona to the 1993 documentary about Norman Rockwell called "Norman Rockwell: An American Portrait". Adams also played an excellent villain in the 1986 film "FX". In the movie his name was Colonel Mason.

Mark


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