Ben Masters

Benjamin Masters, born May 6, 1947, in Corvallis, Oregon, was an American actor whose career spanned stage, television, and film across more than five decades. He graduated from the University of Oregon with a degree in theater before relocating to New York City to pursue a career in performance. Masters died on January 11, 2023, at the age of 75, from complications of COVID-19 while also battling dementia.

Masters established his stage presence in New York through off-Broadway work before transitioning to Broadway, where he appeared in productions between 1972 and 1983. His off-Broadway credits included The Boys in the Band and a 13-month run in Kevin Wade's Key Exchange. On Broadway, he appeared in Captain Brassbound's Conversion alongside Ingrid Bergman, The Cherry Orchard with a cast that included Irene Worth, Raul Julia, and Meryl Streep, the comedy The Waltz of the Toreadors, and Plenty.

His television career began taking shape in the mid-1970s. In 1975, while working on the television film One of Our Own, Masters was involved in a car accident that broke his neck. The injury was initially misdiagnosed and he was sent home, but after consulting with a doctor on the production and at the urging of his costar George Peppard, he returned to the hospital, where a hangman's break was confirmed. Surgeons placed him in a halo traction brace, leaving visible scars on his forehead. Around the same period, he portrayed Nick, the older brother of the title character, in the 1976–1977 Saturday morning series Muggsy.

Masters entered daytime television in 1982, playing Vic Strang on Another World for three months. Later television work included the role of corporate raider Linc Bartlett in the 1988 miniseries Noble House, and a guest appearance in a May 1994 two-hour special episode of Walker, Texas Ranger titled "The Reunion."

In 1999, Masters signed with NBC's daytime drama Passions, taking on the role of Julian Crane, a womanizing billionaire. He remained with the series from its premiere on July 8, 1999, through its final episode on August 7, 2008, a run that continued after NBC cancelled the show in February 2007 and DirecTV picked it up for the 2007–2008 season. The role earned Masters Soap Opera Digest Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actor in 2001 and 2002, and for Outstanding Lead Actor in 2005.