Questions with Answers from Edward Asner
The following questions were posed by email by Andrew Szym to Edward Asner in November, 2000. Here are the questions and his responses. MTMShow.com graciously extends thanks to Mr. Asner for his contribution, and to his personal assistant Patty Egan for organizing the email discourse.
ACS: How much of you is like Lou Grant? In what ways are Edward Asner and Lou Grant alike/not alike?
Asner: I am a great deal like Lou Grant from the "Lou Grant Show". I'm not the shy, modest creature he was, but pretty much of me was there. The comedic Lou Grant was dictated very much by my aping of my two older brothers. The Lou Grant character was more straight forward than I. When he didn't like you it was almost impossible for him to conceal. Lou Grant had a constancy of character that would be pretty hard to match in real life.
ACS: How was the Lou of Minneapolis different from the Lou of "The Trib"?
Asner: Lou of the Trib is less bombastic, less of a party individual. By that I mean he does not drink as the Lou Grant of Minneapolis did. Lou of MTM lived in an outwardly loving, familiar atmosphere, of which he was a great part. Lou of the Trib was more of a loner & the family was less intensely emotional.
ACS: Would you have liked to see Mary Richards and Lou marry? Why/why not?
Asner: I might have liked to have seen it just to see Lou in possession of that fabulous creature, but I don't know where you would go in terms of further shows.
ACS: Describe how you got the part of Lou. What was your first reaction upon reading the very first script, "Love is All Around"?
Asner: I was recommended by Grant Tinker, Mary's then-husband, who had seen me in something comedic at 20th Century Fox at that time. Ethel Winant, V.P. of Talent, recommended me. I read for the producers and I was finally cast. I had been in L.A. for nine years and "Love is all Around" was the best script I had read and the best character for me that I ever had.
ACS: Was your first meeting with Mary on "Change of Habit"? What was your first impression of her?
Asner: I never met Mary on "Change of Habit". I first met Mary when I went in to read for the MTM show and my first impression was "awesome!"
ACS: Describe briefly how you got into the acting biz.
Asner: I loved jumping on stage playing a character, but never thought as I got older I'd make it my career. I gradually came to understand that it worked well for me as a form of therapy, and at the same time it provided me with safe adventure.
ACS: What did Betty White and Cloris Leachman bring to the show?
Asner: They brought vivacity in both cases. They're both "pepper-pots" in their own way.
ACS: The episode where Mary reveals your secret about the affair with Sue Ann offers some of your finest acting in the series. Was that a pivotal point in the relationship between Mary and Lou?
Asner: It was for me. I took a 90 degree turn playing the role for that show. It tended to show a man with a broken heart, and really got deadly serious with her for her betrayal of me...until the very end when she "chuckles" me out of it.
ACS: Describe what the opening title sequence of "Lou Grant" means to you.
Asner: The opening of Lou Grant suggests print, the business of the city, business of the presses and the middle class lives most of lead. In the end all our endeavors at the Trib land in the bottom of the bird cage.
ACS: What are your favorite "Lou Grant" and "Mary Tyler Moore Show" episodes?
Asner: The one described earlier, and I guess "Chuckles the Clown Bites the Dust". As far as I'm concerned, all the Lou Grant episodes were beauties. I certainly found a couple of the Vietnam Veterans shows excellent and the show on the atomic holocaust - stunning. Also the show that pre-dated the Karen Silkwood story I found to be a phenomenal show. I thought our last performance, ending our MTM run, was a very fitting show.
ACS: Describe a bit why Jay Sandrich was a great director, in comparison to many others. How did he manage to get so much out of the cast?
Asner: Once we became a family and once the rough edges were worn off each of us, Jay still found ways to direct us meaningfully in a way that guest directors just couldn't do. We had great material to deal with and a bevy of writer/producers hovering over his shoulder who would not take anything less.
ACS: What, in your opinion, was the greatest attribute of the Mary show? What did it do for society, if anything?
Asner: It was never cheap. It gave people something warm and cuddly to watch on Saturday night if they were with someone, and would console the viewer who might be watching alone.
ACS: How did Ted Knight feel about playing Ted Baxter...or, as he might say it, "Bed Taxter"? Was it hard for him, as many say it was?
Asner: He had difficult times in the beginning worrying that people would think he was indeed that dope and it bothered him. When the rewards began to come in he enjoyed them, and he was able to place in his own heart that he wasn't Ted Baxter.
ACS: Did you enjoy coming to work every day? Were there on-set conflicts? Was there a happy atmosphere to Sound Stage 2?
Asner: I loved coming to work every day. Ted & I would stop speaking occasionally - professional conflicts. The vast majority of the time the atmosphere was very happy.
ACS: Finally, how did your experiences on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and "Lou Grant" change you, if at all?
Asner: It gave me a security and respect for my work that I didn't previously have.
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