Margaret Mason
Encyclopedia
Margaret Mason was an American actress best remembered for her work on soap opera
s in the 1970s.
-Czechoslovakia
n descent. As a child, she went to a convent
boarding school
. In 1958, she graduated from Saint Cyral's Girls Academy in Danville, Pennsylvania
.
In 1962, Mason moved from Iowa to Hollywood. In an interview, she mentioned it was tough to get acting jobs, having to take other parttime jobs and acting lessons while looking for roles. In 1963, sponosred by Rock Hudson
, she was a 'Deb Star' of Universal Studios
. She appeared in The Manchurian Candidate
(1962) and guest starred in several television shows. Meanwhile, her husband E. Nick Alexander wrote a script No More Trees, which would star Mason. The film was never made.
Following an extended break due to health issues, Mason returned to acting in 1970. Although advised to keep her health conditions a secret, she was open about them, and ironically became more successful than in the 1960s. She first landed the role of Linda Patterson in Days of Our Lives
, which she played for a year and a half until December 1971. Concerning her role, she told the press in a 1978 interview: "It's always been a love-hate relationship between Linda and the viewers. I'm the misunderstood bad lady." She played Linda as "a well-meaning troublemaker who wants to help others, only to see her efforts boomerang."
From late 1972 until its cancellation in 1974, Mason portrayed main character Selena Cross
in the daytime soap opera Return to Peyton Place
. In an interview, she said she "just loves working on R.T.T.P.". She returned to Days of Our Lives in 1975, and remained on the soap opera until 1980, returning once more in 1982. Afterwards, she starred as Eve Howard in The Young and the Restless
from 1980 to 1982, and briefly in 1993.
, and once considered becoming a nun
. In 1968, she had double pneumonia
, cancer
surgery
, a heart attack and heart surgery
. According to the actress, surviving these setbacks changed her personality, from being a "panicky, fussing" woman who became "excited about nothing and being upset about small things" to one who was "unhurried, calm, pausing to savor life". It took her a year and a half to rehabilitate, and although she frequently felt over-tired in her later life, she insisted she fully recovered, saying, "I feel much better than I did before the operation. I can now ride and swim, and I play golf with Nick. Now, I enjoy life as it is, every day, every moment!"
In the 1960s, Mason met actor-writer E. Nick Alexander, whom she married on November 17, 1970. She was a close friend of Mary K. Wells
, her Return to Peyton Place co-star. She raised his daughter Lisa Howard from an earlier marriage. In 1999, Mason died of a heart attack at age 58. She was survived by her husband Alexander, a daughter, her mother and her sister.
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
s in the 1970s.
Early life and career
Born and raised in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, Mason was of PolishPoland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
-Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
n descent. As a child, she went to a convent
Convent
A convent is either a community of priests, religious brothers, religious sisters, or nuns, or the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion...
boarding school
Boarding school
A boarding school is a school where some or all pupils study and live during the school year with their fellow students and possibly teachers and/or administrators. The word 'boarding' is used in the sense of "bed and board," i.e., lodging and meals...
. In 1958, she graduated from Saint Cyral's Girls Academy in Danville, Pennsylvania
Danville, Pennsylvania
Danville is a borough in Montour County, Pennsylvania, USA, of which it is the county seat, on the North Branch of the Susquehanna River. Danville was home to 8,042 people in 1900, 7,517 people in 1910, and 7,122 people in 1940. The population was 4,897 at the 2000 census...
.
In 1962, Mason moved from Iowa to Hollywood. In an interview, she mentioned it was tough to get acting jobs, having to take other parttime jobs and acting lessons while looking for roles. In 1963, sponosred by Rock Hudson
Rock Hudson
Roy Harold Scherer, Jr., later Roy Harold Fitzgerald , known professionally as Rock Hudson, was an American film and television actor, recognized as a romantic leading man during the 1950s and 1960s, most notably in several romantic comedies with Doris Day.Hudson was voted "Star of the Year",...
, she was a 'Deb Star' of Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
. She appeared in The Manchurian Candidate
The Manchurian Candidate (1962 film)
The Manchurian Candidate is a 1962 American Cold War political thriller film starring Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Janet Leigh and Angela Lansbury, and featuring Henry Silva, James Gregory, Leslie Parrish and John McGiver...
(1962) and guest starred in several television shows. Meanwhile, her husband E. Nick Alexander wrote a script No More Trees, which would star Mason. The film was never made.
Following an extended break due to health issues, Mason returned to acting in 1970. Although advised to keep her health conditions a secret, she was open about them, and ironically became more successful than in the 1960s. She first landed the role of Linda Patterson in Days of Our Lives
Days of our Lives
Days of our Lives is a long running daytime soap opera broadcast on the NBC television network. It is one of the longest-running scripted television programs in the world, airing nearly every weekday in the United States since November 8, 1965. It has since been syndicated to many countries around...
, which she played for a year and a half until December 1971. Concerning her role, she told the press in a 1978 interview: "It's always been a love-hate relationship between Linda and the viewers. I'm the misunderstood bad lady." She played Linda as "a well-meaning troublemaker who wants to help others, only to see her efforts boomerang."
From late 1972 until its cancellation in 1974, Mason portrayed main character Selena Cross
Selena Cross
Selena Cross is a fictional character in the novel Peyton Place, as well as its sequel, Return to Peyton Place and the films based on the novels.-In the novel:...
in the daytime soap opera Return to Peyton Place
Return to Peyton Place (TV series)
Return to Peyton Place is an American daytime soap opera which aired on NBC from April 3, 1972 to January 4, 1974. The series was a spin-off of the primetime drama series Peyton Place rather than an adaptation of the 1959 novel of the same name by Grace Metalious.The storylines from the daytime...
. In an interview, she said she "just loves working on R.T.T.P.". She returned to Days of Our Lives in 1975, and remained on the soap opera until 1980, returning once more in 1982. Afterwards, she starred as Eve Howard in The Young and the Restless
The Young and the Restless
The Young and the Restless is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in a fictional Wisconsin town called Genoa City, which is unlike and unrelated to the real life village of the same name, Genoa City, Wisconsin...
from 1980 to 1982, and briefly in 1993.
Personal life
Mason was a devout CatholicCatholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
, and once considered becoming a nun
Nun
A nun is a woman who has taken vows committing her to live a spiritual life. She may be an ascetic who voluntarily chooses to leave mainstream society and live her life in prayer and contemplation in a monastery or convent...
. In 1968, she had double pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
, cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
surgery
Surgery
Surgery is an ancient medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, or to help improve bodily function or appearance.An act of performing surgery may be called a surgical...
, a heart attack and heart surgery
Cardiac surgery
Cardiovascular surgery is surgery on the heart or great vessels performed by cardiac surgeons. Frequently, it is done to treat complications of ischemic heart disease , correct congenital heart disease, or treat valvular heart disease from various causes including endocarditis, rheumatic heart...
. According to the actress, surviving these setbacks changed her personality, from being a "panicky, fussing" woman who became "excited about nothing and being upset about small things" to one who was "unhurried, calm, pausing to savor life". It took her a year and a half to rehabilitate, and although she frequently felt over-tired in her later life, she insisted she fully recovered, saying, "I feel much better than I did before the operation. I can now ride and swim, and I play golf with Nick. Now, I enjoy life as it is, every day, every moment!"
In the 1960s, Mason met actor-writer E. Nick Alexander, whom she married on November 17, 1970. She was a close friend of Mary K. Wells
Mary K. Wells
Mary K. Wells was an American television writer and actress. She acted on Return to Peyton Place, The Secret Storm, The Brighter Day, As the World Turns, Here Come The Waves, The Searching Wind, George Abbott's Three Men On A Horse, Any Wednesday , Edward Albee's Everything In The Garden, The Edge...
, her Return to Peyton Place co-star. She raised his daughter Lisa Howard from an earlier marriage. In 1999, Mason died of a heart attack at age 58. She was survived by her husband Alexander, a daughter, her mother and her sister.
Filmography
| Film | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 1959 | Night of the Ghouls Night of the Ghouls Night of the Ghouls is a 1959 horror film written and directed by Ed Wood. It is a sequel of sorts to the 1955 film Bride of the Monster... |
Martha | |
| 1962 | The Manchurian Candidate The Manchurian Candidate (1962 film) The Manchurian Candidate is a 1962 American Cold War political thriller film starring Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Janet Leigh and Angela Lansbury, and featuring Henry Silva, James Gregory, Leslie Parrish and John McGiver... |
uncredited | |
| 1963 | Beach Party Beach Party Beach Party was the first of several beach party films from American International Pictures aimed at a teen audience. It was directed by William Asher and written by Lou Rusoff. The main actors included Robert Cummings, Dorothy Malone, Frankie Avalon, and Annette Funicello... |
uncredited | |
| 1964 | Honeymoon Hotel Honeymoon Hotel (film) * Honeymoon Hotel is a 1964 MGM comedy film.* Honeymoon Hotel is a 1946 Mancunian Film Corporation comedy musical film.... |
Mrs. Miller | uncredited |
| 1965 | I'll Take Sweden I'll Take Sweden I'll Take Sweden is a 1965 comedy film directed by Frederick de Cordova, and starring Bob Hope, Frankie Avalon, and Tuesday Weld.-Plot:Single father Bob Holcomb , is unhappy with his daughter JoJo's choice of a husband-to-be, so he takes her on a trip to Sweden to distract her about her fiancee... |
Aggressive blonde | uncredited |
| Television | |||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1963 | Burke's Law Burke's Law Burke's Law is a detective series that ran on ABC from 1963 to 1965 and was revived on CBS in the 1990s. The show starred Gene Barry as Amos Burke, millionaire captain of Los Angeles police homicide division, who was chauffeured around to solve crimes in his Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud... |
Model #1 | 1 episode |
| 1964 | Perry Mason Perry Mason (TV series) Perry Mason is an American legal drama produced by Paisano Productions that ran from September 1957 to May 1966 on CBS. The title character, portrayed by Raymond Burr, is a fictional Los Angeles defense attorney who originally appeared in detective fiction by Erle Stanley Gardner... |
Receptionist | 1 episode |
| Burke's Law | Amanda's Granddaughter / Dona | 2 episodes | |
| The Baileys of Balboa The Baileys of Balboa The Baileys of Balboa is an American sitcom that appeared on CBS in the 1964-1965 season on Thursdays at 9:30pm ET. The series lasted only one 26-episode season... |
Penny | 1 episode | |
| Death Valley Days Death Valley Days Death Valley Days is an American radio and television anthology series featuring true stories of the old American West, particularly the Death Valley area. Created in 1930 by Ruth Woodman, the program was broadcast on radio until 1945. It continued from 1952 to 1975 as a syndicated television series... |
1 episode | ||
| 1965 | No Time for Sergeants No Time for Sergeants No Time for Sergeants is a 1954 best-selling novel by Mac Hyman, which was later adapted into a teleplay on The United States Steel Hour, a popular Broadway play and 1958 motion picture, as well as a 1964 television series. The book chronicles the misadventures of a country bumpkin named Will... |
Nancy Gordon | 1 episode |
| The Rogues The Rogues (TV series) The Rogues is an American television series that appeared on NBC from September 13, 1964 to April 18, 1965, starring David Niven, Charles Boyer, and Gig Young as a related trio of former conmen who could, for the right price, be persuaded to trick a very wealthy and very unscrupulous mark... |
Avis | 1 episode | |
| Hank | Diana | 1 episode | |
| 1967 | The Wild Wild West The Wild Wild West The Wild Wild West is an American television series that ran on CBS for four seasons from September 17, 1965 to April 4, 1969.... |
Lola | 1 episode uncredited |
| Get Smart Get Smart Get Smart is an American comedy television series that satirizes the secret agent genre. Created by Mel Brooks with Buck Henry, the show starred Don Adams , Barbara Feldon , and Edward Platt... |
Natasha | 1 episode | |
| 1969 | Adam-12 Adam-12 Adam-12 was a television police drama which followed two police officers of the Los Angeles Police Department, Pete Malloy and Jim Reed, as they patrolled the streets of Los Angeles in their patrol unit, 1-Adam-12. Created by Jack Webb who is known for creating Dragnet, the series captured a... |
Margaret | 1 episode |
| 1970–1971 | Days of Our Lives Days of our Lives Days of our Lives is a long running daytime soap opera broadcast on the NBC television network. It is one of the longest-running scripted television programs in the world, airing nearly every weekday in the United States since November 8, 1965. It has since been syndicated to many countries around... |
Linda Patterson #2 | Daytime soap opera |
| 1972–1974 | Return to Peyton Place Return to Peyton Place (TV series) Return to Peyton Place is an American daytime soap opera which aired on NBC from April 3, 1972 to January 4, 1974. The series was a spin-off of the primetime drama series Peyton Place rather than an adaptation of the 1959 novel of the same name by Grace Metalious.The storylines from the daytime... |
Selena Cross Selena Cross Selena Cross is a fictional character in the novel Peyton Place, as well as its sequel, Return to Peyton Place and the films based on the novels.-In the novel:... |
Daytime soap opera |
| 1975–1980 | Days of Our Lives | Linda Patterson #2 | Daytime soap opera |
| 1981 | Play for Today Play for Today Play for Today is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage plays and novels, were transmitted... |
Trevor Preston Duo member | 1 episode |
| 1980–1982 | The Young and the Restless The Young and the Restless The Young and the Restless is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in a fictional Wisconsin town called Genoa City, which is unlike and unrelated to the real life village of the same name, Genoa City, Wisconsin... |
Eve Howard | Daytime soap opera |
| 1982 | Days of Our Lives | Linda Patterson #2 | Daytime soap opera |
| 1990 | General Hospital General Hospital General Hospital is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest-running American soap opera currently in production and the third longest running drama in television in American history after Guiding Light and As the World Turns.... |
Gloria #1 | Daytime soap opera |
| 1991 | Northern Exposure Northern Exposure Northern Exposure is an American television series that ran on CBS from 1990 to 1995, with a total of 110 episodes.-Overview:The series was given a pair of consecutive Peabody Awards: in 1991–92 for the show's "depict[ion] in a comedic and often poetic way, [of] the cultural clash between a... |
Proprietor | 1 episode |
| 1993 | The Young and the Restless | Eve Howard | Daytime soap opera |