The news just came across my Facebook newsfeed that actor Ron Masak died at age 86, and this is the classic case of why I do these Absent Friends posts.
Who is Ron Masak, you may ask? Well, the news articles about his death highlight his role as Sheriff Mort Metzger in "Murder, She Wrote".
Ron Masak
1936-2022
Masak appeared in over forty episodes off that series over the years, and he is one of those guys who makes you say "Who is that guy and what else have I seen him in?" His IMDB profile lists 120 acting credits spanning the 1950's up through 2018. Name any major television series from that era, and he probably made an appearance on it. He also made over twenty-five feature films, and, like many such actors, he made a killing doing commercials. His obits refer to him as the "King of Commercials."
However, what I remember about Ron Masak is his appearance in a film called "Second Effort".
In it, Masak plays a stumbling, bumbling salesman, who, in the opening scene of the film, fails to make a sale to an unseen guy across the desk from him. That guy turns out to be Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi, who asks, "Ron, do you know why you didn't just make this sale?" Lombardi then uses the rest of the film instructing Ron in what it takes to be successful in sales, showing that the same principles that made him and his Packers such successes on the football field can be applied to any walk of life, being successful sales person, in this instance.
"Second Effort" was made in 1968, and it instantly became the most successful sales motivational film of all time. If you made your living as a salesperson, chances are you have seen this movie. I probably saw it a half dozen times over the course of a thirty-five year career. My biggest takeaway from the film? The concept of Lombardi Time. If the schedule says the team bus leaves at 8:00 AM, Lombardi Time says you better be on that bus by 7:45. So, if your next business appointment is for 10:00, not only should you not be late for it, you damn well better be there at least - AT LEAST - ten minutes before 10:00.
I once read an interview with Masak wherein he says that more people had seen him in that film than in just about any other role he ever had.
Like I have said before, stars are stars, but you can't make movies or TV shows - or sales motivational films - without people like Ron Masak.
RIP Ron Masak.
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