The American director, voice actor and former president of the Screen Actors Guild is Ed Asner. Ed Asner, or born as Yitzhak Edward Asner. He is notable for his role in the Mary Tyler Moore show and his spin-off Lou Grant shows in the 1970s and the early 1980s.
That made him one of the few TV actors to portray both a comedy and a drama as the same leading character. In the 1966 Western El Dorado, Asner was portraying John Wayne’s rival, Bart Jason.
In his fantasy movie Elf in2003 and its anime sequel Elf: Buddy’s Musical Christmas in 2014, he is still well-known for his role of Santa Claus. Asner has received seven honors and was the most prestigious male performer in the past of the Primetime Emmy Awards.
We are going to learn more about the personal life and career, of this famous American actor and possibly surprise you with some facts you didn’t know about.
Early Years
Ed Asner was born on is one of the most prolific American actors; born in 1929, the comedian has gone through the years, appearing in many feature films and a lot of series and TV movies. Still active in 2017, Asner, besides being a tireless worker, remains a committed player.
He was the president of the Screen Actors Guild between 1981 and 1985, fervently defending actors and artists. The American is also a fierce defender of human rights, the environment and political independence.
Asner became famous in the 1970s with his role as Lou Grant in The Mary Tyler Moore Show. He will continue to play this character in the spin-off, Lou Grant, from 77 to 1982. His career began in the late 50s, taking off in the 60s with appearances in cult series like The Incorruptible, The Invaders Mission Impossible or The Mysteries of the West.
In 1991, he lent his features to FBI agent Guy Banister in Oliver Stone’s JFK. The actor is also very involved in dubbing cartoons; it is notably he who doubles Roland Daggett in the animated series Batman of 92 and J. Jonah Jameson in Spider-Man, the animated 94. In 1998, he rubs Mulder and Scully in episode 6 of season 6 of X-Files, The Damned Lovers.
Ed Asner never stops and multiplies the roles during the 2000s, especially as a dubbing actor (The Griffin, The New Adventures of Spider-Man, Justice League Unlimited …) it is also he who doubles Fredricksen, the grouchy and endearing from up there (2009). The actor then continues to play the guests in hit series like Hawaii Five-O, The Good Wife or Criminal Minds.
On the cinema side, Asner was directed by Sydney Pollack in Thirty Minutes of Conditional, Sidney Lumet in Daniel or Blake Edwards in Peter Gunn, Special Detective.
Still active at the age of 87, Asner continues to be very prolific, whether on TV or in dubbing. Note that the legendary actor has won 7 Emmy Awards and 5 Golden Globes during his career.
Career Path
He has a difficult face to forget, with which he forged his popularity in the world of television, especially during the 70s.
His starring role was that of the journalist who starred in the series Lou Grant, but throughout his long career of more than 50 years he has participated in about three hundred productions, almost all television, several of which are among the most remembered of the small screen
Since 1957 he began to appear regularly in loose series chapters. He debuted in three episodes of Studio One and continued to participate in series such as Naked City (1961), Route 66 or Dr. Kildare.
Almost all the series where he appeared at that time did not have much impact, but he also worked on others that were highlighted, as in a chapter of Alfred Hitchcock presents (1962), several in The Untouchables (1962-1963) or The Virginian (series) in 1963. His debut in a film proper took place on the TV movie Fanfare for death Scene (1964), along with Burgess Meredith.
But the series were his thing and during that decade he continued working on them without stopping: The defenders (series), the congressman, or in some episodes of the most famous The law of the revolver, which had begun in 1955, The fugitive (1963), The invaders (series).
And in cinema he had a brilliant appearance as a secondary in the memorable western El Dorado (1967), by the great Howard Hawks. And the following year he won an important role from the hand of director Blake Edwards in the thriller Gunn. In 1959 he married Nancy Sykes, but they divorced 1988, after almost thirty years of marriage. After Asner has had several more relationships.
From the 70s he began his golden age, first in films like now they call me Mr. Tibbs (1970), drama with Sidney Poitier, the western The Globetrotters (1971), next to James Garner, the comedy the most similar girl to… (1973), with Stockard Channing, the familiar Gus (1976), from the Disney factory, or the police Apache District (1981).
With regard to the small screen, his appearances are already major words, because we enjoy him in Rich man, poor man (1976) or Roots (1977). That same year the character of the television reporter Lou Grant appeared in the series La chica de la tele, a serial that was on the air for nothing more and nothing less than seven years.
And the character of Lou Grant was so attractive that it gave rise to his own “spin off”. Edward Asner became the owner of the show in the series of his same name, from 1977 to 1982. Grant was in this case the chief editor of the local section of an important newspaper, Los Angeles Tribune, and the character reported to him to Asner two Emmy awards for best Actor.
In total, Asner has won a total of 7 Emmys throughout his television career, an incredible figure within the reach of very few.
During the 80s Asner intensified another facet of his life: his political activism. He was twice president of the Screen Actors Guild (the film actors’ union) and is known for his Democratic ideas and his involvement in various educational and solidarity tasks.
In 1983 he worked on the interesting film Daniel, drama from a novel by E.L. Doctorow, but in general Asner’s appearances took place on TV movies that went much unnoticed by the general public.
He highlighted, however, in 1991, with a small role in JFK, by Oliver Stone. He had more minutes in the expendable thriller Hard Rain, as well as in the romantic comedy El soltero (1999).
In recent times he has stood out as Santa Claus in Elf or putting the voice of old Fredricksen of the wonderful Up, in addition to many other lesser-featured films. However, the role that made him close to the audience was that of Angelo Roncalli in the movie Juan XXIII. The Pope of Peace (2002), care and beautiful biopic of one of the most emblematic Popes of the twentieth century.
Ed Asner has an estimated net worth of around 10$ million. Considering the fact that he hasn’t been active for a while, his net worth is still pretty high and he seems to be handling his money the right way.
Personal life
Eddie Asner was born on November 15, 1929 in Kansas City, in the US state of Missouri. He was the son of a family of Orthodox Jews of Russian descent. He studied at the University of Chicago and while doing military service, participated in various plays that were mounted in the camps in Europe.
On the way back, it seems he was clear about the work he wanted to do, because he joined a Chicago theater company and went to try his fortune in New York. After his success on Broadway with “Threepenny Opera”, he decided to make the leap to television, a medium that he never abandoned and reported his greatest successes.
Ed He married Nancy Sykes between 1959 and 1988. Thy three children: Matthew’s twins, Liza’s and Kate’s. In 1987, he and Carol Jean Vogelmann had a son named Charles. He is a father and grandparent of an autistic active baby and a deeply involved autism advocacy author.
Ed sat on the Chicago area advisory board, which provides technology engineers and programs for people with autistic spectrum disorders.
In 1991 he met Cindy Gilmore as a writer. On 2 August 1998, the pair became engaged. Gilmore submitted a civil separation petition on 7 November 2007.In 2015 Ed filed a divorce request.
For most of his life, Ed liked to keep his personal life as private as he could, so we don’t know much about him as a family man. One thing is for sure, he is definitely one of the greatest American actors and he will be remembered in the same light.
He hasn’t announced any new projects for the future, so we don’t know what he is planning to do next. Hopefully he is going to surprise us again, with a memorable role and make us love him even more. Ed Asner belongs to the Democratic Party and he is often vocal and has been, about his opinions about many actual topics.
Ed is also a big supporter of charity work, and he likes to participate in many charity organizations. Most notable one is the Exceptional Minds and the Defenders of Wildlife.
We can easily conclude what his positions on certain topics are, taking in consideration his charity organizations support.
Quick summary
Full name: Eddie Asner
Date of birth: November 15th 1929
Birthplace: Kansas City, Missouri
Age: 90
Profession: Actor, Voice Actor
Height: 1.75m
Weight: 80 kg
Net Worth: 10 $ million