Ed Asner

Edward "Ed" Asner (November 15, 1929 – August 29, 2021) was an American actor and voice artist renowned for his versatile performances across television, film, and animation over seven decades. Best known for embodying the curmudgeonly yet ethical news editor Lou Grant on the sitcom The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970–1977) and its dramatic spin-off Lou Grant (1977–1982), Asner garnered critical acclaim and multiple awards for these roles. He secured seven Primetime Emmy Awards, a record for any male performer, including five for Lou Grant characterizations, underscoring his dominance in portraying complex authority figures.

Beyond acting, Asner led the Screen Actors Guild as president from 1981 to 1985, championing labor rights for performers amid industry shifts, though his tenure ended amid internal divisions. His outspoken political engagement, rooted in opposition to U.S. military interventions in Central America and criticism of President Reagan's policies, sparked backlash in Hollywood, including advertiser boycotts and the abrupt cancellation of Lou Grant after its fifth season despite strong ratings. In later years, he voiced the widowed protagonist Carl Fredricksen in Pixar's Up (2009), earning a lifetime achievement Annie Award, and continued activism on labor and social justice issues until his death from natural causes in Tarzana, California.

Edward Asner, born Yitzhak Edward Asner on November 15, 1929, in Kansas City, Missouri, was the youngest of five children to Ashkenazi Jewish immigrant parents Morris David Asner and Lizzie (née Seliger) Asner. His father, born in 1879 in Lithuania (possibly near Eišiškės or Raduń), emigrated to the United States and established the Asner Iron & Metal Company, a scrap metal business in Kansas City, Kansas, which formed the basis of the family's working-class livelihood. His mother, born in 1885 near Odesa in what was then the Russian Empire (now Ukraine), managed the household after the family's relocation across the state line to Kansas City, Kansas, where Asner spent much of his childhood.

The Asner household adhered to Orthodox Jewish traditions, with the family operating a second-hand shop or junkyard tied to the father's enterprise, reflecting the economic realities faced by early 20th-century Jewish immigrants in the American Midwest. Asner later recalled a close bond with his mother, whose home-cooked dishes like potato latkes symbolized the cultural continuity of their Eastern European heritage amid assimilation pressures. His father's strong-willed demeanor and the competitive dynamics among siblings shaped a formative environment marked by discipline and resourcefulness, though Asner developed an early interest in performance as an outlet within this structured upbringing.