Legendary actor Ed Asner, who starred as Lou Grant in “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” and in the Disney movie ‘Up’, died at 91.
The news was confirmed in a tweet from Asner’s Twitter account. “We are sorry to say that our beloved patriarch passed away this morning peacefully,” it reads. “Words cannot express the sadness we feel. With a kiss on your head- Goodnight, dad. We love you.”
Ed Asner was born in Kansas City, Missouri and went to the University of Chicago for a brief time before being drafted into the Army in 1951, serving in France. After his service ended, he acted in several plays in Chicago and New York, including the Broadway play Threepenny Opera.
Asner was famous for his role as Lou Grant in ‘The Mary Tyler Moore Show’ in 1970 and was a mainstay of the show for seven seasons. He played the same role in a spinoff show titled ‘Lou Grant’. Ed Asner won seven Emmy Awards, making him the most awarded male performer of all time. Five of them playing Lou Grant, and the other two as a German immigrant in Rich Man, Poor Man, and as the sea captain in Roots.
Besides his acting career, Asner was the president of the Screen Actors Guild for two terms from 1981 to 1985 and was very outspoken about politics.
Ed Asner was not unknown to the world of comic books and superhero adaptations, voicing Roland Daggett in five episodes of Batman. Recently, he was featured in the movie ‘Elf’ as Santa Claus and in the movie ‘Up’ as the lovable voice of Carl Fredricksen.