Biography
A familiar face to film and television fans for over three decades, Richard Masur was an Emmy- and Oscar-nominated character actor whose avuncular roles included turns on "Rhoda" (CBS, 1974-78), "One Day at a Time" (CBS, 1975-1984) and "The Burning Bed" (NBC, 1984) as well as commanding parts in feature films like "Risky Business" (1983), "License to Drive (1988) and countless other projects. The former stage actor branched into directing in …
Latest Tv Credits
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Career Milestones
1997 | Re-elected to second term as SAG president | |
1996 | As SAG president, worked on the merger plan between his guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA); put the guild on record as opposing the California Civil Rights Initiative (an anti-affirmative action measure); the initiative was subsequently voted in | |
1995 | Elected president of SAG | |
1995 | Directed an episode of "Picket Fences" | |
| Played the occasional recurring role of Ed Lawson, an unpleasant postal worker who eventually becomes mayor before meeting an unfortunate fate on the quirky CBS drama "Picket Fences" | ||
1993 | Elected third vice-president of Screen Actors Guild | |
1993 | Appeared in three consecutive episodes of the NBC legal drama "L.A. Law" as 1960s activist-turned-fugitive Barry Glassman (aka Jay Ellison) | |
1991 | Helmed two episodes of "The Wonder Years", the popular nostalgic ABC sitcom | |
1989 | Directed a well-received installment of the "ABC Afternoon Specials" entitled "Torn Between Two Fathers"; nominated for a DGA award for his direction (Dramatic Series, Daytime) | |
1987 | Directed an episode of the Jay Tarses-produced sitcom "The 'Slap' Maxwell Story" | |
1986 | Film directing debut, helmed Oscar-nominated live-action short, "Love Struck", produced by wife Fredda Weiss and starring Judge Reinhold | |
1986 | Co-starred as Mr. Carlton Davis, the head of a joke-playing family in "Mr. Boogedy", an unsold hour-long pilot aired as part of ABC's "Disney Sunday Movie"; reprised role for a two-hour 1987 TV-movie sequel, "Bride of Boogedy", also aired on "Disney Sunday Movie" | |
1984 | Garnered an Emmy nod for Best Supporting Actor playing Farrah Fawcett's defense attorney in the acclaimed telefilm "The Burning Bed" | |
1984 | Co-starred in "Empire", a short-lived broadly played satire of corporate in-fighting spoof on CBS, played an incompetent sales vice president (ran one month) | |
1983 | Played the supporting role of Jay Howell in the acclaimed NBC docudrama "Adam" about missing children; reprised the role for the 1986 sequel "Adam: His Song Continues" | |
1981 | Played a child pornographer in the highly rated CBS TV-movie "Fallen Angel" | |
1981 | TV miniseries debut, "John Steinbeck's 'East of Eden'" on ABC | |
1978 | Starred as Dr. Arthur Murdock, a zoo veterinarian, on "The Many Loves of Arthur", an unsold NBC sitcom pilot | |
1977 | Starred in "Bumpers", a busted NBC sitcom pilot, as an assembly-line auto worker | |
1976 | TV-movie debut, "Having Babies", an ABC medical drama | |
| Played David Kane, the much younger boyfriend of protagonist Ann Romano (Bonnie Franklin), a regular during the first season of the hit Lear-produced sitcom "One Day at a Time" | ||
| Played recurring role of Nick Lobo, the Las Vegas musician who dates Brenda (Julie Kavner), during the second season of the sitcom "Rhoda" | ||
1975 | Co-starred as the harried manager in the short-lived Lear-produced sitcom "Hot L Baltimore" on ABC | |
1975 | Film debut in "Whiffs" | |
1974 | On October 12th, made guest shot on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" (episode title: "The Outsider") as consultant who irks the newsroom staff with his efforts to bolster ratings | |
1974 | Moved to Los Angeles in August | |
1974 | On February 2nd, made TV acting debut with guest shot on "All in the Family" (episode title: "Gloria's Boyfriend") as a mentally challenged supermarket stockboy whom Gloria befriends | |
| Seen performing on stage by TV producer-writer Norman Lear who invited him to appear on "All in the Family" | ||
1973 | Broadway debut, "The Changing Room", played Jack Stringer, Number 4 | |
1973 | Appeared in the New Haven production of "The Changing Room" | |
1973 | Portrayed Menelaus and Ajax off-Broadway in New York Shakespeare Festival production of "Troilus and Cressida" | |
1971 | Worked as an actor and technical director for the Hartford Stage Company in Hartford, CT | |
| Studied acting at Yale School of Drama | ||
| Worked in various technical positions at theater companies in the Northeastern US | ||
| While a freshman at SUNY-Stony Brook, accompanied a friend to an audition for a school play; asked to try out, won the part; changed major from anthropology (pre-med) to Theater Arts | ||
| Raised in Yonkers, NY | ||
Awards
1989 | Directors Guild of America Award for Drama Show Day in Torn Between Two Fathers |
1985 | Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor In a Limited Series or a Special in The Burning Bed |