Veteran actor Ed Asner — who starred as the hard-driving but loveable TV newsman Lou Grant on TV’s classic “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and then in his own “Lou Grant” spinoff — has died, his family said. He was 91.
“We are sorry to say that our beloved patriarch passed away this morning peacefully,” Asner’s official account tweeted Sunday afternoon. “Words cannot express the sadness we feel. With a kiss on your head- Goodnight dad. We love you.”
Asner won five Emmy Awards for his role as Grant, along with two more for his work in “Rich Man, Poor Man” and “Roots” — more than any other male actor in history.
Younger viewers are more likely to remember Asner for his later voiceover roles — including as curmudgeonly widower Carl Fredricksen in Pixar’s Academy Award-winning 2009 film “Up.”
The Kansas City native was a staunch advocate for left-wing causes and member of the Democratic Socialists of America. He served as president of the Screen Actors Guild from 1981 to 1985.