Ed Asner

Ed Asner
Asner in 1977
Born
Eddie Asner

(1929-11-15)November 15, 1929
DiedAugust 29, 2021(2021-08-29) (aged 91)
Resting placeSheffield Cemetery, Kansas City
Alma materUniversity of Chicago (dropped out)
OccupationActor
Years active1955–2021
Known forLou Grant in The Mary Tyler Moore Show
WorksFull list
Political partyDemocratic
Spouses
Nancy Sykes
(m. 1959; div. 1988)
Cindy Gilmore
(m. 1998; div. 2015)
Children4
AwardsFull list
President of the Screen Actors Guild
In office
November 3, 1981 – June 20, 1985
Preceded byWilliam Schallert
Succeeded byPatty Duke
Military career
Service/branchUnited States Army
Years of service1951–1953

Eddie Asner[1] (/ˈæznər/; November 15, 1929 – August 29, 2021) was an American actor. He is most notable for portraying Lou Grant on the The Mary Tyler Moore Show sitcom and Lou Grant drama on CBS, making him one of the few television actors to portray the same character in both a comedy and a drama.

Asner is the most honored male performer in the history of the Primetime Emmy Awards, having won seven – five for portraying Lou Grant (three as Supporting Actor in a Comedy Television Series on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and two as Lead Actor in a Dramatic Television Series on spin-off Lou Grant). His other Emmys were also for performances in two miniseries: Rich Man, Poor Man (1976), and Roots (1977).[2]

Asner acted in the films El Dorado (1966), They Call Me Mister Tibbs! (1970), Fort Apache, The Bronx (1981), JFK (1991), and Too Big to Fail (2011). He also played Santa Claus in several films and voiced Carl Fredricksen in the Pixar animated film Up (2009).[3]

Asner starred in the ABC sitcom Thunder Alley (1994–1995), and Michael: Every Day (2011–2017). He also acted extensively in numerous television series such as The Practice, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, The Good Wife, Cobra Kai, Briarpatch, Working Class, and Dead to Me. He also voiced J. Jonah Jameson in Spider-Man: The Animated Series (1994–1998), and Uncle Ben in The Spectacular Spider-Man (2008).

  1. ^ Asner, Ed [@TheOnlyEdAsner] (August 31, 2019). "It's actually not. That is a strange mistake that floats out there. My Hebrew name is Yitzhak. My real name is Eddie Asner. Truth" (Tweet). Archived from the original on September 12, 2019. Retrieved September 3, 2019 – via Twitter.
  2. ^ "Ed Asner Fast Facts". CNN. November 7, 2016. Retrieved July 6, 2017.
  3. ^ "Ed Asner's Santa Complex". TV Guide. October 30, 2003. Retrieved June 28, 2019.