Does anybody remember the adorable boy with red hair and freckles known as ‘Borgasmord Kid’ who stole people’s hearts when he appeared in a number of commercials during the seventies?
If so then lets take a look at what Mason Reese is doing these days.
Mason’s parents were involved with the film industry, his father worked as a theater set designer and marketing service director, while his mother was famous actress Sonia Darrin, who would be known for her role in The Big Sleep.
Mason was familiar with cameras while he lived in New York and attended Saint Michael’s Montessori School, housed in St. Michael’s Episcopal Church on Upper West Side.
When he starred on the ivory Show he caught the public’s attention with his first commercial for a detergent company. Shortly after he became known as “the Ivory Snow Boy” and received awards.
In 1973, his father Bill told The Boston Globe, ”Mason can’t do every kind of commercial. He’s not a plastic person, or a pure, white Protestant boy.
There are people who think he’s gorgeous, and some who think he’s homely. But he’s a very sensual and tactile child – he loves to touch and kiss – and he puts out good vibrations.”
Mason was also offered a commercial for brand Underwood Deviled Ham which turned him into a star almost overnight.
Everybody was talking about the boy who mispronounced the word “smorgasbord” in the cutest way possible.
Mason shared the story behind it and recalled, “Obviously we all know the real word is, you know, smorgasbord. We all know that. And I remember that the guy who was the director, who was working with the ad agent, his name was Andy Doyle. It was Andy’s job to kind of wrangle me, you know, and get me to do what they needed right.”
“So I did not want to mispronounce the word smorgasbord because I knew the word and I wanted America to know that I was a smart kid and I knew what the real word was. So, but Andy was determined that I was going to mispronounce it. One way hook or by crook he was gonna get me to do it.
“So he took a yellow pad of paper and he wrote down 20 or 30 different words that sounded like smorgasbord. And I read threw them and I looked at the word borgasmord and I said, ‘I like this one.’ And Andy looked at me in this infinite wisdom and said, ‘Mason, you are not gonna believe this.’ I said, ‘What’s that?’ He said, ‘Borgasmord is smorgasbord in Swedish.’ Which it’s not. It’s a total lie.
“And I looked up at him and because I felt smarter than I really was, that’s the word we went with. So it really was not me, it wasn’t my imagination, it wasn’t my brilliance that came up with that. It really was this guy Andy Doyle who was a director working for the ad agency,” Mason said.
Mason began earning serious money as other offers lured in from other brands which include Post Raisin Bran, and Dunkin’ Donuts.’
When he was only thirteen Mason was considered acelebrity but he didn’t view himself that way.
”What? Who? I’m not a superstar. No — Sammy Davis, Robert Redford, Paul Newman, Dustin Hoffman, those guys, they’re big. Not me. I’m just someone who’s trying to do his little part in TV – I make this sound like a tragic soap opera. So far, I’ve been very successful, but I’m not a superstar,” he mentioned to The Orlando Sentinel in 1978.
Mason appeared on The Mike Douglas Show numerous times, ABC offered him several scripts for his own show, but Mason and his family decided to cancel even before it saw the light of the day.
Commercial offers became less as he grew older until he switched careers and became a restaurant entrepreneur.
All of his restaurants, the Pan-Latino restaurant located in Manhattan’s Lower East Side, the Destination Bar and Grille, as well as the sports bar The Luxury Box are now closed.
Fifty six year old Mason was reported to be dating several women, including models. In 2018, he dated model Sarah Russi who was half his age and the couple received heavy criticism as a result but are happy together.
Mason was as surprised when Sarah told him she wanted to get serious with him as he felt she was out of his league.
In an episode of Love Don’t Judge, she described him as the “most adorable person” she’s ever met.
Mason starred in the series Life Interrupted as well as the short film Whatever Happened to Mason Reese. He has a net worth of $1 million, as per Celebrity Net Worth.
