Peter Masterson, Exorcist actor and Best Little Whorehouse in Texas writer, dies at 84
Peter Masterson, a creative triple threat from Texas as an actor, director, and writer, died Tuesday from complications with Parkinson’s disease. He was 84.
Masterson, born Carlos Masterson, passed away at his home in Kinderhook, New York, his son Peter Masterson Jr. confirmed to the Associated Press.
As an actor, Masterson appeared in 1968’s Counterpoint, 1973’s The Exorcist, and 1975’s The Stepford Wives. As a director, he helmed the 1985 adaptation of The Trip to Bountiful, followed by titles like Full Moon in Blue Water in 1988, Night Game in 1989, and Arctic Blue in 1993.
He also famously wrote the book for the musical The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas with Larry L. King, bringing the story of a brothel known as the Chicken Ranch to Broadway in 1978. Masterson’s wife, Carlin Glynn, starred in the production and went on to win a Tony Award. Having also co-directed Whorehouse, Masterson received two Tony nominations himself.
A film based on the musical hit the big screen in 1982 with a cast featuring Dolly Parton and Burt Reynolds. Masterson was initially supposed to co-direct the adaptation, but those duties eventually went to Colin Higgins.
The last film Masterson directed was 2005’s Whiskey School, in which friends of an alcoholic playwright stage an intervention.
Masterson is survived by Glynn, Masterson Jr., and his daughter Mary Stuart Masterson, who made her film debut opposite her father in The Stepford Wives.
