Ed Asner biography

Synopsis

Mary Tyler Moore Show

Actor, activist. Born on November 15, 1929, in Kansas City, Missouri. For more than a decade, Ed Asner delighted television audiences with his portrayal of the tough, grumbling, but ultimately lovable newsman, Lou Grant. This award-winning actor started on his chosen career path in college, appearing in productions at the University of Chicago.

After serving in the U.S. Army's Signal Corps in the early 1950s, Asner moved to New York to pursue his acting career. While he landed a few stage roles and made some appearances on television, Asner's career did not really take off until he landed a part on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. The situation comedy followed the travails of Mary Richards (Mary Tyler Moore), a professional woman in her thirties working in television news in Minneapolis. The show was groundbreaking at the time, showing an independent woman focused on her career. Asner played her boss, Lou Grant, a tough producer who, despite his hard facade, was more of a teddy bear than a grizzly bear. Audiences adored his portrayal of the character. Reviewers and his peers did too. Asner was nominated for an Emmy Award seven times for his work on the show, winning the award three times - in 1971, 1972, and 1975. Although still popular, the series ended in 1977. In its final episode, most of the news staff at the television station were fired after new management took over.

Lou Grant

While The Mary Tyler Moore Show was finished, the character of Lou Grant lived on. He moved to Los Angeles to become the city editor for a Los Angeles newspaper on the dramatic series Lou Grant. Asner's character often went head-to-head with the newspaper's publisher Margaret Pynchon (played by Nancy Marchand). While the show had its share of lighter moments, it took on many important issues, including gun control and child abuse. In the later years of the series, Asner himself became known for speaking out on numerous social and political topics, especially in opposition to the U.S. involvement in Central America. The show was cancelled in 1982 reportedly due to poor ratings while some - including Asner - have speculated that his activism may have influenced the decision as well.

More Television Roles

While it may have lost some of its audience over the years, Lou Grant remained a critically success, winning the Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series in 1979 and 1980. Asner himself was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series every year the show was on the air and took home the Emmy Award twice - first in 1978 and then again in 1980. Throughout the rest of the 1980s and 1990s, Asner worked on a variety of projects. He returned to series television a number of times, making appearances on Hearts Afire with John Ritter, Thunder Alley with Haley Joel Osment, and The Closer with Tom Selleck. He has also appeared on The Practice and held a regular role on Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. In 2011, he returned as the star of his own series, Working Class. In this CMT original series, Asner stars as a butcher who befriends a struggling single mom.

Big Screen Work

Asner has also brought his talents to feature films, including a comic turn as Santa Claus opposite Will Farrell in the 2003 comedy, Elf. In 2007, Asner received an Emmy Award nomination for his work on the television movie, The Christmas Card.

Over the years, Asner has also lent his trademark voice to a number of animated series, such as Fish Police, The Magic School Bus, and Spider-Man. His voice most notably starred in the award-winning Pixar film Up in 2009.

In addition to his acting work, Asner served as the president of the Screen Actors Guild from 1981 to 1985. He has been married twice and has three children, Matthew, Liza, and Kate, from his first marriage to Nancy Sykes. Asner has a son, Charles, from his relationship with Carol Jean Vogelman. He married to Cindy Gilmore in 1998, but the couple divorced in 2007.

© 2012 A&E Television Networks. All rights reserved.