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Aug. 5, 2002--When the DuPont Co. was looking for innovative ways to celebrate the company’s 200th anniversary, it hit on the idea of bringing E.I. du Pont, the company’s founder, back to life. The search began for a tall, blonde actor who could assume the role, appearing as E.I. du Pont at corporate anniversary celebrations and other special events across the country.
At the same time, Scott Mason, associate director of University of Delaware student centers and a well-known member of Delaware’s theatre community, was looking for funding for a show called “Shadows” he had written and was hoping to produce at the Wilmington Drama League.
The day after Mason gave his cast a pep talk on raising funds for the production, one of the cast members, a DuPont Co. retiree, got a call asking if she knew anyone who could “be” E.I. du Pont. The salary was almost exactly the amount Mason was looking for to finance “Shadows.” One thing led to another and Mason soon found himself playing one of the most unusual roles of his long and varied acting career.
The first week in January, Mason made his debut as E.I. during an international telecast hosted by Charles (Chad) Holliday Jr., DuPont Co. CEO and chairman of the board, from the Hotel du Pont. The event was televised worldwide via satellite, the web and audio cast. E.I.’s appearance was such a hit with employees that Mason was asked to expand the role for other events.
“Until now, we’ve kept my identity a secret,” Mason said. “No one knows who is playing E.I. Is it a DuPont employee? Is it an actor from New York? It’s a little like being Batman!”
Justin Cariso, DuPont Co. historian and speechwriter, coordinates E.I. appearances and scripts.
Mason says he was pretty much left to his own devices to develop the costume and mannerisms for his character. He settled on an outfit similar to one E.I. wears in the only surviving portrait of him, which was painted by Charles Wilson Peale. Everything about the costume worked but the boots–and the company had a more compatible pair made. Mason has du Pont speak in an accent that has overtones from his native France, and wears very little make up–basically just adding sideburns and a dimple in his chin.
In his initial appearance, E.I. spoke of how proud he was of the company, of the new materials it produces, and how pleased he is that safety has remained a key concern.
“The company’s emphasis on safety was born with E.I.,” Mason said. “It was his baby way back in 1802. Du Pont built his own house overlooking the powder mills because he could not ask his workers to face a danger–possible explosion–that he himself was not willing to face.
“And,” Mason added, “anytime a new piece of equipment was brought into the mills, du Pont made sure that he or one of his family members was the first to operate it so if something went wrong they would be the ones to suffer. He really cared for his employees. He provided a church for them on the premises and was one of the few manufacturers at the time to provide what we call employee benefits.
“To look at how the company started is fascinating,” Mason said. “E.I. was so multifaceted. He was only 28 years old when he left Paris, fleeing the Reign of Terror. Once in this country, he became incredibly well connected. He knew Thomas Jefferson, for example. He initially settled in Rhode Island but chose the Brandywine because of the power of the river and the weeping willow trees that grew there; he was a botanist and chemist and knew the willows would supply the mills with an extract they needed.
“By the time he died, E.I.’s mills were known as the most sophisticated manufacturers of gunpowder in the world,” Mason said.
Recently, Mason visited a DuPont plant in Mobile, Ala., to help celebrate both the company’s anniversary and that city’s 300th birthday.
Originally, he was to be joined on the platform by a Rockefeller descendant, an actor playing the founder of Mobile and a former Miss America, all at the opening of an exhibit “American Accents–300 Years of American Art.”
One by one, the others who were to appear dropped out and Mason was left on his own to open the show. He admits to a few anxious moments, “wondering why those Southerners would care that a dead Yankee was the only one there to open the show.” But, when he discovered works by Peale were included in the exhibition, he found a natural connection.
Mason made an appearance as E.I. du Pont at a grand 200th birthday party the company held for employees and their families July 20 at Winterthur Museum, Library and Gardens.
Playing E.I. du Pont has been professionally rewarding, Mason said, and there have been personal benefits, as well. He has discovered a common name in his own and the du Pont families’ background and hopes soon to study his family tree. A possible du Pont family connection intrigues him.
“Pete du Pont asked me if I had had a nose job for the part,” Mason says. “Mine is very similar.”
Article by Beth Thomas
Photograph by Greg Drew
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