The oldest of four children of an Air Force officer and an executive secretary, Madison Mason grew up in military housing around the world—from Roswell, New Mexico, to Renton, Washington, and Okinawa, Japan. When the family returned to the U.S. and settled in Salisbury, North Carolina, his parents separated. His mother then raised all four children alone while working full-time. The family later moved to Charlotte, where Madison spent his teen years.

At 15, he volunteered as an apprentice at the Charlotte Summer Theatre, a large summer stock company. There, he learned to design and build sets, studied stagecraft, and appeared in the chorus of musicals such as Guys and Dolls, Oklahoma, and Brigadoon. This led to a long involvement with the Charlotte Little Theatre, one of the top ten community theaters in the country, where Madison won the Most Promising Newcomer Award for his performance as Jimmy Curry in The Rainmaker.

Balancing full-time work and theater, Madison eventually flunked out of high school—but didn’t let that stop him. He left Charlotte to perform the role of Manteo in the famed outdoor drama The Lost Colony on Roanoke Island. From there, he appeared in two seasons of classical repertory at McCarter Theatre in Princeton, New Jersey.

He later moved to New York, performing Off-Broadway in The Alchemist, before traveling to England to study at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. Returning to the U.S., he appeared Off-Broadway in Arms and the Man and The Firebugs, and performed in repertory at both Trinity Square Theater in Providence, R.I., and Front Street Theater in Memphis.

Back in New York, Madison performed at La MaMa ETC and co-founded the folk group MorganMasonDowns, which played the legendary Greenwich Village clubs and recorded an album for Roulette Records. The group appeared on The Tonight Show and a CBS TV special, and toured nationally to promote their music.

During this period, Madison also appeared briefly on Broadway in Hair, before returning to theater in Diamond Studs, which later moved to Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. for a season.

Eventually relocating to Los Angeles, Madison went on to appear in over 130 film and television productions and more than 250 commercials, serving as national spokesman for Listerine, NAPA Batteries, McDonald’s, and as the memorable Shell Answer Man.

He was honored with the MovieGuide Award for his performance in Amish Grace.