Actor Ed Asner, TV’s Blustery Lou Grant, Dies at 91

Ed Asner, the burly and prolifi c character actor who became a star in middle age as the gruff but lovable newsman Lou Grant, fi rst in the hit comedy “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and later in the drama “Lou Grant,” died Sunday. He was 91.

Asner’s representative confi rmed the actor’s death in an email to The Associated Press. Asner’s offi cial Twitter account included a note from his children: “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.”

Built like the football lineman he once was, the balding Asner was a journeyman actor in fi lms and TV when he was hired in 1970 to play Lou Grant on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.” For seven seasons he was the rumpled boss to Moore’s ebullient Mary Richards (He called her “Mary,” she called him “Mr. Grant”) at the fi ctional Minneapolis TV newsroom where both worked. Later, he would play the role for fi ve years on “Lou Grant.”