Madison Mason

Madison Mason is a veteran character actor who has taken full advantage of his gracefully graying senatorial appearance to maintain a steady output of roles late in his career, while remaining virtually anonymous. Armed with a background in community theater and acting study in England, Mason began his Hollywood career in an auspicious role, playing Jesus in a 1970 "Hallmark Hall of Fame" television episode. Since then he has had nearly 100 guest parts, on everything from daytime and prime-time soaps to sitcoms and crime dramas. In 1985, Mason had a 10-episode gig on the prime-time soap juggernaut "Knots Landing" as John Coblenz, as well as recurring appearances on "Dynasty," one of its main competitors in the genre. By the '00s, Mason switched to the day shift, putting in numerous episodes on the soaps: "Days of Our Lives" and "General Hospital." Mason's film career began in the early '80s, and by the '90s he was thoroughly ensconced in his elder statesman niche, playing Senator Rawlings in the sci-fi movie "The Silencers" in 1996, and an admiral in successive dramas: "Thirteen Days" and "Pearl Harbor." Mason played Congressman Dodd in the Steve Carell-Morgan Freeman family comedy "Evan Almighty," a president in the action thriller "Eagle Eye," and a bank president in Oliver Stone's post-collapse sequel, "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps," in 2010. That same year, Mason went somewhat against type as Levi Brennaman, a principal character in "Amish Grace," a TV movie about the Pennsylvania schoolhouse shooting.