Mason Adams was an American character actor and voice-over artist. From the late 1940s until the early 1970s he was heard in numerous radio programs and voiceovers for television commercials, the later of which he resumed in the 1980s and 90s. In the early 1970s he moved into acting and from 1977 to 1982 held perhaps his most known role, that of Managing Editor Charlie Hume on Lou Grant. He also acted in numerous other television and movie roles, most prominently and F/X.
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 NaziAtom Man in a classic 1945 serialon the radio version of The Adventures of Superman. During the 1960s, Adams was ubiquitous as a voiceover actor in television commercials for foods and household products, most notably for Chiffon margarine and Crest toothpaste. He also did the vocal part of the television commercials for Smucker's preserves, a role he resumed in his later years. His voiceover work resumed in the 1980s when he began providing the voiceover for Cadbury Creme eggs, which were advertised on television with Adams' catchy slogan, "Nobunny knows Easter better than him ." Also in the 1980s, Adams did voice-over TV commercials for Sherwin-Williams Paints, as well as radio commercials for the Salvation Army. In addition, Adams was the narrator for Kix commercials in the 1990s as well as a few Dentyne commercials and a few Swanson commercials. He was also the announcer for a 1992 WCBS-TV news promo, as well as a 1986 Lysol commercial. In the early 1990s, he narrated Frontiers of Flight, a Discovery Channel series on milestones of aviation. In one of the early episodes of Sesame Street, he voiced a cartoon featuring a "jazzy" triangle and a "square" square. He voiced those two, as well as being the narrator, with jazz music in the background. This cartoon was repeated on the show for many years, well into the 1980s. During the 1970s, Adams was a co-star of the NBC soap opera Another World and in 1976 he was in the original 1976 Broadway cast for Checking Out. Following that he landed perhaps his most famous role, Managing Editor Charlie Hume in the television seriesLou Grant, which aired from 1977 to 1982. Appearing in the show for its entire run, he landed three straight Emmy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actor in 1979, 1980 and 1981, each year alongside his Lou Grant co-star Robert Walden, who played reporter Joe Rossi. During his run onLou Grant, Adams performed perhaps his most often seen role, as the US president in . He also appeared in popular TV movies, such as The Deadliest Season, Revenge of the Stepford Wives and The Kid with the Broken Halo. In 1983, Adams joined The Mirror Theater Ltd's Mirror Repertory Company for their first repertory season, appearing in Paradise Lost, Rain, Inheritors, and The Hasty Heart. This season was presented initially Off-Off-Broadway at The Real Stage Acting School and was moved Off-Broadway to the Theatre at St. Peter's Church. In 1986, he starred as Col. Edward Mason, one of his most famous feature film roles, in the movie F/X starring Bryan Brown and Brian Dennehy, and in 1991 he appeared in the action movieToy Soldiers. In 1993, Adams starred as Walter Warner Sr. in the movie Son in Law starring Pauly Shore, and after that he had roles in Houseguest, Touch and The Lesser Evil. In the 1998 HBO miniseries From the Earth to the Moon he played Senator Clinton P. Anderson. His final role was in the series finale of Oz.
Radio career
Mason Adams played many characters in Old-Time Radio programs, amongst them:
Corporal Eddie on a series of public announcement shows for the U.S. Army
Christmas recording
Adams achieved a bit of holiday immortality by taking part in a comedy spoof of "The Twelve Days of Christmas", called "The Chickens Are in the Chimes". Recorded by Sascha Burland and the Skipjack Choir, with Adams as the lead voice, this recording was released on a 45 rpm record but has never been released on compact disc. The recording for the "B" side was "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas". "The Chickens Are in the Chimes" has often been played over radio stations at Christmas, and became a holiday favorite ever since.
