Remembering Ed Asner-- Part 3: He Is Best Remembered As Lou

LOU GRANT IN "MARY TYLER MOORE" and "LOU GRANT"

Ed Asner's most iconic role was that of veteran newsman Lou Grant -- a character who originated as the blustery but lovable, spunk-hating news director of the 1970 sitcom "The Mary Tyler Moore Show."

The "everyman" role earned Asner three Comedy Emmys and led to the hour-long dramatic series "Lou Grant," which ran on CBS from 1977 to 1982.  Asner's portrayal of the hard-nosed city editor of the Los Angeles Tribune earned him two Emmys for playing the same character in both a comedy and a drama.

"He radiates warmth, generosity and caring, someone who who reflects a toughness over a mound of Jell-O, a nice degree of intelligence but a working intelligence as opposed to an arrogant one," he said about his character in 1977.

One of my all-time favorite scenes was the one already alluded to earlier.  His interview with Mary Tyler Moore in the first episode of the sitcom had him looking at her and saying, "You know, you've got spunk."Then Mary took it as a complimet until he added, "I hate spunk."  Now, that was just too funny and the way her face changed was, well, just too funny.

--SpunkyCoot