Every once in a while, I get the chance to meet an actor who, rather than having just one major film or TV role to his credit that I’ve enjoyed, has a slew of relatively minor roles strung out across multiple performances that I’ve loved. Richard Masur is one of these actors. I was really excited to meet him when he appeared at the Days of the Dead show in Indianapolis, Indiana, on Sunday, July 7, 2013. He was actually there as party of pretty impressive reunion of actors who had starred in The Thing, but I knew him from lots of other things.
For starters, he first caught my attention as the ever-frustrated father of Corey Haim in the film License to Drive. As I told him, the scene where Corey is forced to drive the car backward to the hospital is one of the funniest in film history and it’s because of Richard Masur’s performance. The of course, he starred as the uncle of Vada in My Girl, a family favorite for both me and Carolyn. Of course, I could never forget his role as Ed Lawson in six episodes of my favorite TV drama Picket Fences.
Those are a few of my favorites – but just a drop in the bucket in a career that has included appearances in such films as Risky Business, Stephen King’s It, and Multiplicity, and more great TV shows than you’d ever imagine: All in the Family, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, M*A*S*H, 21 episodes of One Day at a Time, Felicity, and Bored to Death – to just scratch the surface.
Moreover, just a little over a month ago I got to see Mr. Masur in the Broadway production of Lucky Guy. Unfortunately, while my friend Bob got to meet him after one of the shows, I was busy elsewhere and didn’t get to greet him. But knowing I’d be seeing him at the Days of the Dead, I wasn’t too worried.
I told Richard Masur how much I have enjoyed his varied roles and how it was hard to pick a favorite. I told him how much I enjoyed him in the live show and he told me that a few people had at the show had mentioned seeing it, and how his hair was just beginning to grow back now that it has wrapped. Of course I asked if he had any photos from Picket Fences, and he said that he was concentrating more on the horror, but should have brought a bigger variety (a common sentiment of people that I meet at horror conventions). I told him that I wasn’t particularly big fan of horror films, and he asked me why I come then. My answer of course was: “Because of people like you!”
He was a truly friendly guy, posing for pictures with me and Carolyn both for free. There were several highlights at this show and Richard Masur was indeed one of them.
Celebrities of the Summer 2013 Indianapolis Days of the Dead show will continue…
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