According to a Wikipedia entry updated yesterday, Academy Award-winning actor Richard Dreyfuss is now a Brother Mason in the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia F&AM. The ceremony was performed by M:.W:. Jesse Villarreal, Grand Master.
Making a Mason "at sight" is a power and prerogative in many jurisdictions (but not all) for a Grand Master to declare a man to be a Master Mason with an abbreviated ceremony, and without necessarily requiring the candidate to participate in the traditional initiation, passing and raising. In some grand lodges it is perfectly acceptable, while in others, it is forbidden. Such events are quite rare, and usually reserved for very special cases. The practice dates back to at least the 1730s in England, and was named by Dr. Albert Mackey on his list of Landmarks of Freemasonry. These Landmarks are not by any means universal.
Brother Dreyfuss won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1977 for The Goodbye Girl.
In 2001, he was the on-camera presenter in a documentary entitled Mr. Dreyfuss Goes to Washington, which was co-sponsored by the Grand Lodge of D.C., and co-produced by Past Grand Master Akram Elias.
Congratulations, Brother. And welcome.
On June 10, 2011, Richard Dreyfuss was made a Master Mason "at sight" by the Grand Master of Masons of the District of Columbia at the Washington DC Scottish Rite building, as well as a 32nd Degree Scottish Rite Mason. That evening he spoke at a banquet celebrating the 200th Anniversary of the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia, about the Dreyfuss Initiative, a Research Society promoting civics and enlightenment values to be headquarterd in Charleston, WV.
Making a Mason "at sight" is a power and prerogative in many jurisdictions (but not all) for a Grand Master to declare a man to be a Master Mason with an abbreviated ceremony, and without necessarily requiring the candidate to participate in the traditional initiation, passing and raising. In some grand lodges it is perfectly acceptable, while in others, it is forbidden. Such events are quite rare, and usually reserved for very special cases. The practice dates back to at least the 1730s in England, and was named by Dr. Albert Mackey on his list of Landmarks of Freemasonry. These Landmarks are not by any means universal.
Brother Dreyfuss won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1977 for The Goodbye Girl.
In 2001, he was the on-camera presenter in a documentary entitled Mr. Dreyfuss Goes to Washington, which was co-sponsored by the Grand Lodge of D.C., and co-produced by Past Grand Master Akram Elias.
Congratulations, Brother. And welcome.
