Ronald Alan Masak is an American actor. He began as a stage performer, and much of his work was in theater until he transitioned to film and television, where he became a familiar character actor.
Film
In 1968, he appeared alongside Vince Lombardi in the short film, Second Effort. That same year, he also appeared in a supporting role in the submarine action filmIce Station Zebra. In addition to two guest appearances on the sitcom I Dream of Jeannie, he also had a role in the pilot film for "Jeannie" star Barbara Eden's subsequent series Harper Valley PTA and worked again with "Jeannie" co-star Larry Hagman in an episode of the crime series The Rockford Files.
Television
Masak's first screen role was as the Harmonica Man in "The Purple Testament", an episode of The Twilight Zone in 1960. Masak appeared as "Mike the boxer" on The Flying Nun, season 1, episode 26, which first aired March 13, 1968. Masak appeared as "Officer #2" on Bewitched, Season 7, Episode 4, first aired on October 15, 1970, and “Irving Bates Sr” Season 6, Episode 23. He had a guest appearance as Beauregard Jackson in the episode "Hurricane" on Land of the Lost. He appeared in the second season of Barney Miller episode of "The Horse Thief" as officer Shriker, and was a guest star in the "Welcome Home, Vince" episode of The Feather and Father Gang in 1977 and in the episode "The Two-Million-Dollar Stowaway" of The Eddie Capra Mysteries in 1978. In 1981, he guest starred on the Magnum, P.I. episode "Skin Deep". He also guest starred on an episode of Quincy, M.E. He is perhaps best known for a recurring role on Murder, She Wrote as the Cadillac convertible-driving Sheriff, Mort Metzger, although he did make appearances as two other characters in the series, in "Footnote to Murder" as Lt. Meyer and in "No Accounting for Murder" as Marty Giles. In the 1980s and early 1990s, he was dubbed "The King of Commercials" for his many commercials, including voice-over work, most notably for a Vlasic pickles ad. From 1982-83, he voiced "Meatballs" on the CBScartoon seriesMeatballs & Spaghetti. He did the voice for Veteran Holt in the video-game . In 1990, Masak was a panelist on the revival of the television game show, To Tell the Truth, and appeared on several other game shows as a panelist.
