Edward Asner

He was perfectly cast in UP.

Did he ever work with Eric Porter?

You know what, OP? You've got SPUNK.

R2 You've got to stop

Love everything about Ed Asner — he seemed like such an authentic human.

MARY!!!

R5 agreed. An everyman

R3, I hate spunk.

Edward Assy

Do you like his look here? A training film for the CIA!

He was hot especially when he was a young buck.

R12 He was a hot daddy too

R12- You make him sound like a deer

Oh deer

[quote] "He was hot especially when he was a young buck."

He was adorable always. But really only got hot in his late 30s & early 40s.

He was a liberal. That's how his show "Lou Grant" got cancelled. He spoke out against Ronald Reagan and the U.S' involvement in Latin America. He show was doing fine in the ratings but it was abruptly cancelled due due to his politics. A shame, because "Lou Grant" was a good show.

He threw a great fuck, you just know.

He was in this government short film about integrating office spaces with Black secretaries, which was controversial at the time. He plays Kurt, starting at 2:26, who's okay with the implementation, although some others are not.

(Eldergays will also recognize Gail Fisher, who plays the new secretary. She became known for also playing a secretary in the show Mannix years later.)

He appeared in 1969s Change of Habit which starred Elvis and Mary Tyler Moore

I admire these types so much. I can imagine him eating macaroni every night, working a shit job and living in some hellhole... and thinking, "What the hell have I done?". But he hung in there and one day made it big.

Like Bob Hoskins, he wasn't a conventionally attractive man but, boy, he was brutishly hot. And you just know he'd throw a great fuck.

My Mom and I would watch Lou Grant and she would always say that he look like my dad… And she was kind of right.

I imagine that he was completely furry.

You know his hole was savagely hairy.

Where’s that sexy football player shot of him from his office at WJM?

So hot and even more so with his balding.

Why did MTM hate him, they had great chemistry.

Damn, and I thought the DL was off the wall for being obsessed with Dabney Coleman’s ASS. Now we think Ed Asner was hot??

Not that I’m not a fan - but for other reasons.

Always wondered if there were bigger name actors up for Lou Grant (there must have been, right?), though, obviously, they made the right choice.

R27, I’d never heard that she didn’t like him. You have any detail? A link?

Thanks.

"I imagine that he was completely furry."

He was shirtless in some mini-series ("Roots"?) and completely covered in hair.

That body is the same as my dad’s; weight changes with each season.

He didn’t do well his first read for Lou, but they thought he was the right type and had him come back and make adjustments.

Gavin actually wanted the part of Lou.

Hahahahaha

Oh, Gavin. Sweet, bald, gay as a goose, Gavin.

Which reminds me, if he appeared in Change of Habit with Mary a year or so before, she must have known he had Lou’s qualities.

He spent two years at the University of Chicago, which is not very blue collar. Ditto for the Compass Players, which included not-very-blue collar Mike Nichols. Also he was brought up as an Orthodox Jew.

Brought Axel Jordache to life in the popular mini-series, "Rich Man, Poor Man" (1976).

The twins look just like him which is unfortunate for Lisa.

[quote]in the American middle west.

Mary!

Extremely short

5’5” is not extremely short. Some of us look perfectly normal from 20 feet.

You don't notice that in bed.

He was a genuinely decent guy.

Asner then fixed me with his intent gaze and said, “So you’re gay, right? You guys have a lot of sex?”

Instead of replying “Is the pope Catholic?,” I described my open relationship, which began when my partner and I fell in love while both otherwise involved. I said, “We were two korvas [whores] from the beginning, so I thought, ‘Let’s not bullshit each other here. We’re two men. In New York City. Temptation everywhere.’ So yeah, I have sex just about every day, and like you, I love it. I once gave someone a seven hour bj.”

Asner’s eyes widened.

“Really? And how do you know that word ‘korva,’ anyway?”

“Oh God, I’ve lived in New York for decades. I love and know more Yiddish than Korean! I just wish my parents had spoken more of it around the house, instead of only when they wanted not to be understood by me.”

“Well, it’s not too late. You could take language classes.”

“Well, I’m just so busy.”

And then, Lou Grant leaned in, and gave me the greatest quote of my journalistic career: “Suck less cock.”

Not much could follow that, so we wrapped it up. As we shook hands goodbye, his trademark crustiness dropped entirely, and he said, ‘Well, you’re a very warm and winning fellow. And if I ever decide to switch, I’m giving you a call.’”

WHAT a great TV show, and so much of it depended on the dynamic between Lou Grant and Mary, the rough and the delicate. And has there ever been a TV show where the secondary characters are so superbly drawn and terrifically realized by the actors? It always amazes me when it's not No. 1 on every list of the greatest shows of all time.

Such a hot bear

[quote]And has there ever been a TV show where the secondary characters are so superbly drawn and terrifically realized by the actors?

This.

It’s always a good indication of great character development when one of the characters is unseen on the other end of a phone call and you just know what they look and sound like by the reaction of the visible character.

Also fun when two characters that aren’t of the same social circle are thrown together in a scene and as soon as they encounter each other, the audience can’t stifle their enjoyment of what they know is about to go down.

This is especially apparent on the MTM show.

Any of Mary’s work friends meeting Rhoda.

Lou babysitting Bess.

Phyllis and Sue Anne competing for Lars.

Ted and anyone (but especially Cronkite)

My touch with greatness x2: 1. Back in the early 70s I worked at NBC local news when Ed came to visit. You’d a thought that the real Mr. Grant arrived: producers and writers just as starstruck as “civilians”. I found it amusing... 2. A few years later I did get to know him through mutual friends (well, at least he knew my name and face). And yes, a pretty nice fella. Very family oriented - even after divorced.

Well of course there is gay slash fiction about Ed Asner.

Three of his children are autistic and one of them has an autistic child. Needless to say, he's a big supporter of autism charities, gives time and money.

He died 8/26/2021 and was 5'7"

Also he appeared in The Wild Wild West episode "The Night of the Amnesiac"

I remember him from Fort Apache the Bronx

A true everyman character actor who was adored by everyone. One of those actors you cannot say a bad thing about.

I had a friend who was in love with Ed Azner. He said he’d watch MTM as a kid and get super jealous when’re Sue Anne Niven made a play for Mr Grant.

He confessed this to me years ago and I still laugh at the memory of him telling the story. He was still jealous decades later and wished the worse for Betty White.

Ed appeared in an episode("The Mind of Stefan Miklos") of the original "Mission: Impossible" TV series. Not his finest performance but it was a treat to see him as a younger man.

I read the first part of the fan fiction, thank you for posting it r48. Smokin'.

Hairy, beefy and the bull-like head and shoulders all combined to stir my loins whenever I saw him. I sometimes picture him in football gear. Slurp!

Adept at comedy as well as drama. A tireless advocate for causes he believed in. And a staunch liberal. Just the sort of man I'd love to share a beer, or a hotter, with. What's not to like?

Gone too soon.

^^^^or a hottub, with.

GIF.

HIs tiny tits are a big disappointment.

Tell me about it.

I bet had had an average sized boner.

In the ABC tv movie "The Girl Most Likely To" he shares a passionate kiss with Stockard Channing. I think that's the only time I ever saw him in a passionate kiss with any actress.

I can’t unsee him as Ed Wuncler.

R62, I’ve owned that on vhs, dvd, and cloud. I don’t even bother watching the whole thing - two or three scenes.

He was great as Johnny's mean step-father in Cobra Kai

[quote] I’ve owned that on vhs, dvd, and cloud. I don’t even bother watching the whole thing - two or three scenes.

You should watch the whole thing, it's very amusing. Stockard Channing deserved an Emmy for her performance. So did whoever did her "before" makeup. The makeup and hair styling people created a truly hideous to look upon young woman. They did an amazing job.

He was great in UP

He is Edward Asner!

I first noticed him guesting on episodic tv dramas like The Fugitive, Route 66, et al. I think he appeared on all of them at least once, so he was familiar when MTM premiered. He was a versatile, working character actor and although he reached a higher level of stardom, he doesn't seem to have ever stopped being willing to play all kinds of parts. I like that he had a background in Compass and Second City, as well as an ability to do drama.

Fun fact he only had 6 toes.

The great everyman

Would STILL lick his shitter.

He looked older at 45 than most people do at 70

I was shocked to discover he was only 39 when MTM debuted. He always had seemed so much older - maybe mid-50s.

he's perfect

R35. Are you saying Orthodox Jews are not blue collar? And what on earth do his education and profession have to do with whether he grew up in a blue collar home or not?

[quote] He appeared in 1969s Change of Habit which starred Elvis and Mary Tyler Moore

That’s interesting actually — the old stories about him being cast as Lou Grant are that Mary didn’t like his reads or his personality when he came in, and he came very close to not getting the job.

But she worked with him before, which raises some questions about that old tale. Did he have any scenes with him in the nun picture?

In about 1980 I took him room service, and he opened the door wearing nothing but boxer shorts, a sleeveless t-shirt, and black socks with those old man garters. He said "Go ahead and put it on the bed" and added 15% when he signed the check.

(Not a great Ed Asner story, but it's the best I've got)

My mother went to the same high school as he did but not in the same class -She says she did not know him. Wyandotte High - Kansas City, KS

Asner & Moore were reunited in 1997 as stars of this formulaic made-for-TV movie about police brutality.

Edward Asner narrates 𝐓𝐚𝐱 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐢𝐜𝐡: 𝐀𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐞 (𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐝):