Emmy-winning actor Ed Asner dies, aged 91

[NEW YORK]

ED ASNER , the burly character actor who won seven Emmy Awards - five for playing the gruff but lovable newsman Lou Grant in "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" - and later starred in film hits like "Up" and "Elf" - died Sunday at his home in Tarzana, California. He was 91.

His death was confirmed by his family via Twitter. No cause was specified.

Asner also served as president of the Screen Actors Guild from 1981 to 1985 and was active in political causes both within and beyond the entertainment industry. The issues he supported over the years included unionism (in particular the air traffic controllers' strike of 1981) and animal rights; those he protested against included the US military presence in El Salvador.

Asner was 40 when he was approached for the role of Lou Grant, the irascible but idealistic head of the fictional WJM television newsroom in Minneapolis and the boss of Moore's character, Mary Richards.

His place in television comedy history was secured when, during the first episode, he told Moore, an eager young job seeker: "You've got spunk," then paused and added, "I hate spunk."

"The Mary Tyler Moore Show" ran on CBS from 1970 to 1977, and Asner was nominated for the Emmy for best supporting actor in a comedy series every year. He won in 1971, 1972 and 1975. He went on to win twice for best lead actor, in 1978 and 1980, for the spinoff "Lou Grant", making him the first performer to have received Emmys for playing the same character in both a comedy and a drama series.

"Lou Grant" (1977-82) itself was an unusual case, a drama series developed around a sitcom character. In the show, Grant returned to his first love, editing a big-city newspaper, and the scripts tackled serious issues that included, in the first season alone, domestic abuse, gang rivalries, neo-Nazi groups, nursing-home scandals and cults.

In between playing Lou Grant, Asner also won Emmys for his appearances in the 1976 miniseries "Rich Man, Poor Man", as Nick Nolte's bitter immigrant father, and the groundbreaking, lavishly lauded 1977 miniseries "Roots", in which he played a slave-ship captain with scruples.

He also won five Golden Globes, one for "Rich Man, Poor Man" and two each for the two series in which he played Lou Grant.

Asner married Nancy Sykes in 1959, and they had three children. They divorced in 1988. Ten years later he married Cindy Gilmore, a producer; they separated in 2007 but did not divorce until 2015.

He is survived by two daughters, Liza and Katie Asner; two sons, Charles and Matthew, and 10 grandchildren.

In a 1999 interview, Asner looked back fondly on his long-running series.

"To me, the best performances come from those milieus where you create the family," he said. "Of bolstering each other, of love for each other's work, of trying to help each other, of trying to get the best out of each other. And I believe it pays off."

NEW YORK TIMES