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Ed Asner Dies at 91: Emmy-Winning Star of ‘Lou Grant’ and ‘Up’ Passes on

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Updated on June 17, 2023

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Ed Asner, the famous actor, activist, and philanthropist, died quietly in his sleep on Sunday morning, surrounded by his family. He was 91 years old.

In an email to The Associated Press, Asner’s publicist confirmed the actor’s death. “We are sorry to say that our beloved patriarch passed away this morning peacefully. Words cannot express the sadness we feel. With a kiss on your head- Goodnight dad. We love you,” Asner’s children said on his official Twitter account.

Asner died of natural causes at his Tarzana home, according to publicist Charles Sherman.

Mr. Asner was also the president of the Screen Actors Guild from 1981 to 1985, and he was involved in politics both within and beyond the entertainment business. Unionism and animal rights were among the causes he supported over the years, while the American military presence in El Salvador was among the causes he opposed.

Before earning the role of WJM-TV news director Grant in “Mary Tyler Moore,” Asner, a veteran of Chicago’s comedy theater scene, was a well-known character actor. His character mellowed throughout the course of the show’s seven-year run, from gruff and snappish to a fan favorite, with his tie always unknotted and a bottle of whiskey at the ready.

Asner’s character had picked up from the first episode of “Mary Tyler Moore,” when he informed Mary, “You’ve got spunk…. I hate spunk!” Ted Knight played the dimwitted news presenter Ted Baxter, Gavin MacLeod played the caustic news writer Murray Slaughter, and Betty White played the manipulative, sex-obsessed home show hostess Sue Ann Nivens. Valerie Harper and Cloris Leachman, who played Mary’s neighbors, each had their own program based on their roles.

On Twitter, Star Wars actor Mark Hamill, who also appeared on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, paid tribute to Asner.

“A great man…a great actor… a great life. Thank you Mr. Asner. #RIP,” Hamill said.

With seven Emmy nods, Asner is the most awarded male actor in television history, with five of them for his role as Grant, the irascible yet lovable newsman. In 2001, he was also honored with the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award.

He’s one of just two actors (the other being Uzo Aduba) to win an Emmy for both comedy and drama for the same performance on different series.

“Lou Grant” was an unique instance, as it was a drama series based on a comedic character. Mr. Grant returned to his first passion, editing a big-city newspaper, with the program, and the scripts handled serious themes such as spousal violence, gang rivalries, neo-Nazi organizations, nursing-home scandals, and cults in the first season alone.

Asner continued to work in film and television after “Lou Grant” was canceled, appearing in shows including “Modern Family,” “ER,” “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip,” “The X-Files,” “The Good Wife,” “Grace and Frankie,” “Hot in Cleveland” and “Cobra Kai.”

He gained a new following in 2009 when he portrayed elderly widower Carl Fredricksen in the animated movie Up.

Asner’s extensive filmography also includes Elf, one of numerous films in which he played Santa Claus, UP, and arcs on multiple Emmy-nominated Netflix comedy shows, including Cobra Kai, in which he played Johnny Lawrence’s dad Sid Weinberg; Grace and Frankie; and Dead to Me.

Asner is the third member of the “Mary Tyler Moore” cast to pass away in recent months. MacLeod died in May and Leachman died in January.

Asner also won Emmys for his roles in two well-known ABC miniseries: Rich Man, Poor Man (1976), in which he portrayed an enraged German immigrant, and Roots (1977), in which he played the sea captain who brought Kunta Kinte to America.

Edward David Asner was born in Kansas City, Missouri, on November 15, 1929, and grew up in Kansas City, Kansas. He was the youngest of five children of Orthodox Jewish immigrants, Morris David Asner, a junkyard owner from Poland, and Lizzie (Seliger) Asner, from Russia.

Through a weekly radio program created by his high school, he initially became interested in acting. Before settling in Chicago, he served in the military, acted on Broadway, and then moved to California.

In addition to Up, Asner has voiced Joshua in Barbera’s and the Battle of Jericho (1986), J. Jonah Jameson in the Spider-Man series (1994–98), Hoggish Greedly in Captain Planet and the Planeteers (1990–95), Roland Daggett in Batman: The Animated Series (1992–94), Ed Wuncler in The Boondocks (2005–14), and Granny Goodness in various shows.

In the 1971 Erle Stanley Gardner NBC telefilm They Call It Murder, Asner played an irritable, comic police chief, which led to the part that transformed his life. Asner’s work in the dailies was noticed by MTM Enterprises CEO Grant Tinker, who recommended him for the part of gruff Grant on the new Mary Tyler Moore Show, which stars Tinker’s wife.

In his farewell interview with THR’s Scott Feinberg on Aug. 16, after being named a THR Icon, he reminisced on his lengthy life and work.

“If it weren’t for my bad left leg, I would feel younger,” Asner told the publication. “I’ve got many parts that need to be bolstered and refurbished. And I haven’t got time to undergo all those changes.”