US actor Ed Asner, winner of a record seven Emmy awards, has died at the age of 91, his family said on Sunday.
“We are sorry to say that our beloved patriarch passed away this morning, peacefully. Words cannot express the sadness we feel,” his family wrote on Twitter. “With a kiss on your head — Goodnight dad. We love you.”
His publicist said Asner died of natural causes.
Photo: AFP
Asner originally made a name for himself playing newsroom boss Lou Grant on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, the iconic sitcom that ran from 1970 to 1977, and then later on a spinoff show centered on his character.
He won three of his seven Emmys for playing the character, and is one of only two actors to win a comedy and drama Emmy for the same role on different shows.
Asner won himself a new generation of fans with his portrayal of another tough guy with a heart of gold: widower Carl Fredericksen in the 2009 animated movie Up, which was nominated for the Oscar for best movie.
In the film, Asner voices a hardened old man who ties thousands of balloons to his house and flies it to South America, seeking to fulfill his late wife’s wish for adventure.
Edward Asner was born on Nov. 15, 1929, in Kansas City, Missouri.
The youngest of five children, he worked on his high-school newspaper — foreshadowing his stint playing an editor on the small screen — and played football.
As an adult, he worked on an auto assembly line, though he said in a 1973 interview that he had dreams of seeing South America — again foretelling a future character — or Alaska. He then served in the army before finally making his way into acting.
He appeared in a series of off-Broadway plays, television shows and movies before getting his big break with The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
A liberal, he participated in protests in support of labor unions and against the death penalty. He also served two terms as president of the Screen Actors Guild.
In May, Asner’s friend and The Mary Tyler Moore Show costar Gavin MacLeod passed away. Asner shared his grief on Twitter.
“My heart is broken. Gavin was my brother, my partner in crime (and food) and my comic conspirator,” he wrote.
“I will see you in a bit Gavin. Tell the gang I will see them in a bit. Betty! It’s just you and me now,” he added, referring to legendary actress Betty White, who is now the only living alum of the show.
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia
ON ALERT: A Russian cruise missile crossed into Polish airspace for about 40 seconds, the Polish military said, adding that it is constantly monitoring the war to protect its airspace Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and the western region of Lviv early yesterday came under a “massive” Russian air attack, officials said, while a Russian cruise missile breached Polish airspace, the Polish military said. Russia and Ukraine have been engaged in a series of deadly aerial attacks, with yesterday’s strikes coming a day after the Russian military said it had seized the Ukrainian village of Ivanivske, west of Bakhmut. A militant attack on a Moscow concert hall on Friday that killed at least 133 people also became a new flash point between the two archrivals. “Explosions in the capital. Air defense is working. Do not