Ron Masak
Masak in 1973
Born	Ronald Alan Masak (1936-07-01)July 1, 1936 Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Died	October 20, 2022(2022-10-20) (aged 86) Thousand Oaks, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1959–2022
Spouse	Kay Knebes ​ (m. 1961)​
Children	6
Relatives	Michael Gross (cousin) Mary Gross (cousin)

Ronald Alan Masak (July 1, 1936 – October 20, 2022) was an American actor best known for playing the recurring role ofSheriff Mort Metzger ofCabot Cove in theCBS mystery seriesMurder, She Wrote.Angela Lansbury, his costar, predeceased him by 9 days.^[1] He's also known for his other television roles and his performances in films includingIce Station Zebra (1968),Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970), andHarper Valley PTA (1978).

Masak was born inChicago to Floyd Louis Masak and Mildred Alice (Rudy) Masak.^[2] His mother was of Irish descent and his father ofCzech Bohemian descent. His paternal great-grandfather, Karel Masák (1861-1899), was an immigrant fromZvěrkovice nearTýn nad Vltavou.^[3][4][5][6]

He began working as a stage performer, and mostly was involved in theater until transitioning to film and television becoming a familiarcharacter actor.

TheArmy provided Masak with a platform to display his all-around talents for performing, writing, and directing. In 1960–61, he toured the world doing vocal impressions in the all-Army show entitled "Rolling Along".^{[citation needed]}

Masak's early television appearances includes roles onThe Twilight Zone,Get Smart,The Monkees,I Dream of Jeannie,Bewitched, andThe Mary Tyler Moore Show. From 1970 to 1973 he appeared in theABC anthology comedy seriesLove, American Style. He then starred in another ABC series,Love Thy Neighbor (1973). He then earned roles in theNBC crime seriesPolice Story (1975–1978), and in the ABCsitcomWebster (1983–1989).

Masak's first screen role was as the Harmonica Man in "The Purple Testament", an episode ofThe Twilight Zone in 1960.^[7] He appeared as "Mike the boxer" onThe Flying Nun, season 1, episode 26 ("Where There's a Will"), which first aired March 13, 1968. He appeared as "Officer #2" onBewitched, season 7, episode 4 ("Samantha's Hot Bedwarmer"), first aired on October 15, 1970, he also appeared in season 5 episode 25 as an ice cream shop manager which aired in 1969, ("Samantha’s Power Failure"), and as "Irving Bates Sr." in season 6, episode 23 ("Just a Kid Again").

In addition to two guest appearances on the sitcomI Dream of Jeannie, he worked again with "Jeannie" co-starLarry Hagman in an episode of the crime seriesThe Rockford Files.^[8]

Masak had a guest appearance as Beauregard Jackson in the episode "Hurricane" onLand of the Lost. He appeared in the second season ofBarney Miller episode of "The Horse Thief" as officer Shriker and was a guest star in the "Welcome Home, Vince" episode ofThe Feather & Father Gang in 1977 and in the episode "The Two-Million-Dollar Stowaway" ofThe Eddie Capra Mysteries in 1978. In 1981, he guest starred on theMagnum, P.I. episode "Skin Deep". He also guest starred on an episode ofQuincy, M.E..^[9]

Masak was perhaps best known for a recurring role onMurder, She Wrote as theCadillac convertible-drivingSheriff,Mort Metzger ofCabot Cove, taking over forTom Bosley'sSheriff Amos Tupper, a role which he played from 1988 to 1996. Masak did make appearances as two other characters in the series, in "Footnote to Murder" as Lt. Lyle Meyer and in "No Accounting for Murder" as Marty Giles. During this time, he also guest starred on various shows such asThe Rockford Files,Quincy, M.E.,Magnum, P.I., andDiff'rent Strokes. He died just nine days after the death of the show's main star,Angela Lansbury.^[10]

In the 1980s and early 1990s, he was dubbed "The King of Commercials" for his manycommercials, includingvoice-over work, most notably for aVlasicpickles ad.^[7] From 1982 to 1983, he voiced "Meatballs" on theCBS cartoon seriesMeatballs & Spaghetti. He did the voice for Veteran Holt in thevideo gameMedal of Honor: European Assault.

In 1990, Masak was a panelist on the revival of the televisiongame show,To Tell the Truth, and appeared on several other game shows as a panelist (includingTattletales,Match Game,Password Plus, andSuper Password). Masak appeared as Eddie Fenelle, ataxi driver, in theColumbo episode Ashes to Ashes (1998).

In 1968, he appeared alongsideVince Lombardi in the short film,Second Effort.^[11][12] In the same year he had a supporting role in the submarine action filmIce Station Zebra. He also had a role in the filmHarper Valley PTA reuniting with hisI Dream of Jeannie co-starBarbara Eden.

Masak married Kay Knebes in September 1961; together they had six children.^[13] He was also the first cousin of actorMichael Gross ofFamily Ties and formerSaturday Night Live cast memberMary Gross.

Masak was honorary sheriff ofTarzana, California, for 35 years.^[14]

On October 20, 2022, Masak died of natural causes in a Thousand Oaks hospital,Thousand Oaks, California, at the age of 86.^[13]

This list isincomplete; you can help byadding missing items.(January 2023)

• Ron Masak atIMDb
• Ron Masak discography atDiscogs

• 1936 births
• 2022 deaths
• American male television actors
• American male stage actors
• Male actors from Chicago
• 20th-century American male actors
• 21st-century American male actors
• American male film actors
• United States Army soldiers
• American people of Czech descent
• Military personnel from Chicago

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Articles with hCards
• All articles with unsourced statements
• Articles with unsourced statements from October 2022
• Incomplete lists from January 2023