Mason Storm: Deadpool Actor, Tommy Rettig’s Son and Bio

Mason Storm, born Mason Healey Best on April 30, 1977, in San Luis Obispo, California, is an American actor, stuntman, martial artist and musician. He is best known for his work in Deadpool (2016) and Deadpool 2 (2018), as well as for fronting the funk/rap band The Jigawatts. He is the son of Tommy Rettig, the child actor best remembered for playing Jeff Miller on the original Lassie television series in the 1950s, who later became a successful computer software engineer and author.

Quick Bio

Attribute	Details
Full Name	Mason Healey Best
Known As	Mason Storm
Date of Birth	April 30, 1977
Age	49 years old (as of 2026)
Birthplace	San Luis Obispo, California
Nationality	American
Profession	Actor, stuntman, musician
Father	Tommy Rettig, actor
Band	The Jigawatts (lead singer, songwriter)
Martial Arts	2nd degree black belt, Kenpo Karate; Muay Thai; MMA instructor
Former Spouse	Melissa Maurene Dalton (m. 2004, div. 2009)

Who is Mason Storm?

Mason Storm is an American actor, stuntman and musician best known for his roles in Deadpool and Deadpool 2, and for his career as a martial artist and MMA instructor. He is the son of Tommy Rettig, who played Jeff Miller on Lassie from 1954 to 1957 before leaving Hollywood to become a successful computer software engineer and author.

Storm built a career that spans acting, stunt work, martial arts instruction and music, drawing on a background shaped by both his father’s entertainment legacy and his own decades of training in Kenpo Karate and Muay Thai.

Early Life and Background

Childhood and Family

Storm was born Mason Healey Best on April 30, 1977, in San Luis Obispo, California, one of three sons of Tommy Rettig. His father had left behind his own child acting career by the time Storm was born, having transitioned into computer programming and software development after his years on Lassie. Storm grew up alongside brothers Tom and Deane, in a household shaped by his father’s unusual path from 1950s television stardom to the tech industry.

Education and Early Training

Storm began training in Kenpo Karate and Muay Thai from a young age, eventually earning a 2nd degree black belt and going on to work as an MMA instructor. This martial arts background, developed over many years, later became central to his stunt work in major action and superhero films, giving him a physical skill set that translated directly into on-screen combat and choreography work.

Career Journey

Before Fame

Before his film breakthrough, Storm worked steadily as a martial arts instructor and stunt performer, building experience in smaller television and film roles. His early industry work combined performance training inherited from his father’s entertainment background with the physical discipline of his martial arts practice, a combination that shaped the type of roles he pursued.

How Mason Storm Got Started

Storm’s early screen credits include the 2007 film Pongerz, where he worked as an actor and writer before moving into larger stunt and acting roles. His martial arts credentials gave him an advantage for physically demanding roles, allowing him to work both in front of the camera and as part of stunt teams on larger productions.

Breakthrough Moment

Storm’s highest-profile work came with Deadpool in 2016, followed by Deadpool 2 in 2018, both major studio releases that placed his stunt and acting work in front of a global audience. His involvement in the Deadpool franchise, one of the highest-grossing R-rated film series of the 2010s, marked the clearest commercial peak of his screen career to date.

Music Career

Alongside acting, Storm is the lead singer and songwriter for the funk/rap band The Jigawatts. His music career runs parallel to his acting and stunt work rather than following it, reflecting the same range across disciplines that defines his martial arts and screen career. Industry biographies describe him as someone who moves fluidly between performance mediums rather than committing to a single specialty.

Career Today

Storm continues to work across acting, stunt performance, martial arts instruction and music, maintaining active involvement in each field rather than concentrating on one. His MMA instruction work continues alongside his screen career, and he remains active as a performer with The Jigawatts.

Family Background: Tommy Rettig

Storm’s father, Tommy Rettig, was a prominent 1950s child actor best remembered for playing Jeff Miller in the first three seasons of Lassie, a role he held from 1954 to 1957. Rettig also appeared alongside Marilyn Monroe and Robert Mitchum in River of No Return and worked with Richard Widmark in The Last Wagon. He struggled to transition into adult acting roles and later left Hollywood entirely, becoming an early employee of software company Ashton-Tate and eventually founding his own software consulting firm.

Rettig died of heart failure in 1996 at age 54. Storm and his brothers, Tom and Deane, were among the family members who survived him. Storm’s career path, blending performance with a separate area of technical or physical discipline, echoes his father’s own unconventional trajectory from child stardom into an entirely different professional field.

Martial Arts and Stunt Career

Storm’s martial arts credentials, including his 2nd degree black belt in Kenpo Karate and his Muay Thai training, form a central part of his professional identity beyond acting. As an MMA instructor, he has trained others in combat sports while also applying that expertise to stunt choreography and action sequences in his film work, a dual role common among performers with serious martial arts backgrounds.

This combination of formal martial arts credentials and screen combat experience is relatively rare, and it positioned Storm for stunt and action-adjacent roles on major productions like the Deadpool films, where physical performance and precise choreography are central to the material.

Personal Life

Marriage

Storm was previously married to Melissa Maurene Dalton from 2004 to 2009. Public information about the marriage is limited, and both parties have kept most details private since their divorce.

Interesting Facts About Mason Storm

• His father, Tommy Rettig, was the original Jeff Miller on the Lassie television series in the 1950s.
• He performs under the stage name Mason Storm; his birth name is Mason Healey Best.
• He holds a 2nd degree black belt in Kenpo Karate and works as an MMA instructor.
• He is the lead singer and songwriter for the funk/rap band The Jigawatts.
• He appeared in both Deadpool and Deadpool 2, two of the highest-grossing R-rated films of the 2010s.
• His father transitioned from child acting into a career as a computer software engineer after leaving Hollywood.

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Mason Storm’s full career history appears alongside other entertainment industry biographies on Leakshaven.