Famed actor Ed Asner has passed away, the comedy legend peacefully died of natural causes at the age of 91 this morning and was surrounded by family.
Asner is best known for his role of Lou Grant on the iconic sitcom “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” for which he won five Emmys. He also won Emmys for mini-series like “Roots” and “Rich Man, Poor Man”.
The actor worked for decades with younger audiences knowing him for his roles as Carl Fredricksen in Pixar’s “Up”, Santa Claus in “Elf,” and recently in “Cobra Kai”.
Other roles include acting alongside Elvis in “Kid Galahad,” Sidney Poitier in “The Slender Thread,” and in movies like “JFK,” “They Call Me Mister Tibbs!” and “Daniel”.
Asner also served two terms as the president of the Screen Actors Guild from in the early 1980s and a staunch advocate of left-wing causes from single-payer health care to fighting AIDS discrimination and poverty. Asner famously would risk his status to fight for social causes, and was very public in his opposition of the U.S.-backed military dictatorship in El Salvador.
Of his causes, he once told The Post: “I always felt I was fighting for justice and equality. If I’m not doing that, I should be put out to pasture.” Asner fathered four children and was married twice.
Source: THR
