Robin Masters

Robin Masters was a fictional character on the American television series Magnum, P.I. He was portrayed by Bruce Atkinson and voiced by Orson Welles. He was the alleged celebrity author/multi-millionaire owner of , the estate mansion where Magnum and Higgins resided, and was the owner of the Ferrari that Magnum drove. Much like the character of in Charlie's Angels, Robin Masters's face remained unseen throughout the series, though he had been seen from the side and back like Charlie.
Identity
Near the end of the series, it was implied that Higgins and Robin Masters might be secret collaborators. The fact that he is an actual person (in the context of the series) is not in doubt. One example was when Thomas, T.C, Rick and Higgins were placed in a local jail. The jail officer says that they were bailed by a Mr. Masters and Higgins replies, "unlike you I made use of my call." It is obvious Magnum has access to Mr. Masters. Early in the series, Higgins was somewhat mollified when he found Magnum had given a favorable report to Mr. Masters regarding Higgins' security arrangements. This was from the first episode having to do with the "theft" of the Ferrari which was a security exercise. The security was to prevent the theft of the car.
Another time Mr. Masters lost use of his estate to a rival in a card game. At the end of the episode, it was revealed this obnoxious guest had actually cheated. He is confronted on the estate by Robin who is seen only from the chest down. (He was also seen playing cards with his rival at the beginning of this episode but only the chest and abdomen.)
In the series finale, Higgins claims to be the actual author of the Robin Masters novels, but at the very end of the episode, he whimsically tells Magnum that he had lied about being Robin Masters, leaving viewers to wonder which version was the truth. Since the writers of the show never revealed Masters' "true identity" to the audience, it will most likely never actually be known.
According to IMDB's trivia on Magnum P.I, producers eventually wanted Orson Welles to be revealed as Robin Masters, but he died before the series ended its run.
References in the show
*In the beginning of season 1, episode 4, we hear Higgins answer a phone call and address the caller as "Mr. Masters." Since our view is limited to a television screen, we have no way of knowing whether someone was in the room with Higgins and he was continuing the charade for their benefit, or whether he was actually talking to Masters. If the former is the case, it brings up the question: who was the caller?
*In season 1, episode 17 we see the back of a chair on a Lear jet in route, the voice of the person sitting in the chair is that of Robin Masters while Higgins is back at the Estate.
*Also, in season 1, episode 17, Thomas Magnum actually helps the man referred to as Robin Masters get out from a helicopter that has landed on the estate's lawn. Also, in 1982's episode entitled "Italian Ice", a young woman fondly recalls watching both Higgins and Robin Masters play chess with her father.
*In an episode entitled "The Big Blow" (Season 3, Episode 22) a person, seemingly acknowledged as Robin Masters, appears with Magnum in a bedroom at the estate confronting a guest who shot several rounds from a gun into a figure on a bed, believing the figure to be Mr. Masters. When she is confronted by Magnum and this other person, she addresses this other person in a manner that indicates she recognises him as Robin Masters.
*In season 3, episode 17, entitled "Birdman of Budapest", Magnum asks Higgins for the yearbook of Robin Masters to solve the case. If Magnum never met Masters in person, he would have looked in the yearbook to see the true face behind Robin Masters.
*In season 4, episode 7, entitled "Squeeze Play" Magnum meets a person who is believed to be Robin in person as he is returning to the estate after being cheated in a card game.
*In season 4, episode 9, entitled "The Look". Magnum quotes a phone call he had with Robin Masters. "It was Robin Masters idea, he had called me from Zürich and told me to spare no expenses".
*In season 5, episode 10, entitled "Luther Gillis: File #001" Magnum receives a message on his voicemail. Robin Masters calls him in person to investigate a fraud case at a bank.
*In season 6, episode 8, entitled "The treasure of Kalaniopu'u" Magnum mentions several times that he showed Robin some locations for a book on the island. This suggests that Magnum has actually met Robin in person.
*In season 6, episode 2, Magnum and Higgins travel to England to arrange a party at one of Robin Masters' estates named Robin's Nest. In a short scene Higgins is seen answering a phone call. The man on the phone is Robin Masters and he and Higgins have a short conversation, with no-one else in the room with Higgins.
*In 1986's episode "Mad Dogs and Englishmen", Robin Masters fires Higgins because of some missing funds from Robin's account; Magnum speaks to Robin on the phone and Robin is seen from the side lying in a bed with a young woman in the room.
Strangely, however, later episodes conveniently overlook these seemingly obvious clarifications in an effort to play on speculation that Higgins was Robin Masters. An example is 1986's episode "Paper War", in which Higgins calls the Ferrari "my Ferrari" and differentiates between "The Memoirs and The Novels" referring to his memoirs and Robin's novels, leading Magnum to accuse Higgins of hiring an actor to portray Robin Masters so that Higgins could indulge his secret identity without suspicion.
Fictional bibliography
The following are metafictional novels authored by Robin Masters, ordered by their mention in the series:
* Babes in Babylon (also a film)
* Fruit of Passion
* The Golden Spike
* The Kauper Conundrum
* Tahiti Kill (also a film)
* The Seamy Side of Dawn
* Golden Tradewinds
* Pfeiffer Paradoxes
* Blood of the August Kitten
* Die and Die Again
* The Treasure of Kalaniopu'u
* Serpent's Whisper
* A Biography of Hollywood Hancock
* Echoes of Ecstasy
* Transitions

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See Also

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