Seeing all the news figures at Tim Russert’s memorial brought back memories of a time when the public read newspapers, made a point of watching the nightly news, and respected figures like CBS’s Walter Cronkite, the Washington Post’s Ben Bradlee and Lou Grant. Lou Grant? Yes, although fictional, he was, as played by Ed Asner, a giant of post-Watergate era journalists – first, as Mary Richard’s crusty but loveable boss on The Mary Tyler More Show and then as the Bradlee-like city editor at the Los Angeles Tribune. Asner, now 78 and as feisty and busy as ever, talked Mary, media, the presidential election, and of course Lou with Fancast’s Debbie L. Sklar in order to help users rediscover the late (1977 to 1982) and still great Lou Grant series. You can see 22 episodes from the first season here.
Q: You were known as Lou Grant for so many years ... do people still call you that?
A: Actually, yes, that’s what people have come to recognize me as, which is a good thing because he is a better man than me.
Q: Why would you say that?
A: Well, because he is. He is as solid as the day is long and when he feels any kind of guilt, it eats him up. I’m the opposite: I’m a sinner, I’m deceitful and a trickster.
Q: People told me you were a tough one to interview … you are known to be gruff and an ‘old curmudgeon.’
A: [Laughs] they must have been a bad interviewer … but yes, an old curmudgeon is my stock in trade.
Q: You are well-known for your opinions about politics?
A: In the California Primary, I voted for Hillary Clinton and I then I became disappointed in her. Now, I am an Obama supporter, but he’s gonna’ have to do more than just be a good speaker ... he’s going to have to accomplish a repair to the damaged United States of America thanks to George Bush.
Q: Where did your passion for politics start?
A: I guess as a kid growing up and being a Jew in Kansas City, I kept a lot of things inward. Also, I was totally wrapped up in the War and the defeat of the Axis. I was delighted at the foundation of the State of Israel and stuff like that. I went to the University of Chicago and I got taught to see what the real world was like. It was where I first began to question authority and I have been questioning it ever since … I don’t have much hope for it.
Suggested "Lou Grant" episodes:
1. Cophouse (the pilot): Lou, hired as city editor on the faltering Los Angeles Tribune, has to deal with a crisis when investigative reporter Rossie alleges the paper’s police reporter is covering up a police scandal.
2. Henhouse: Lou orders new “women’s section” reporter Billie Newman off a murder story.
3. Nazi: Billie probes anti-Semitic activities of an American fascist group. Look for a young Brian Dennehy.
Q: Your show, Lou Grant, was cancelled in 1982 ... It's said that was due to your political views … can you refresh us?
A: Yes, Bill Paley [former CBS Chief Executive] was responsible for the cancellation of my show. When I came out and announced the contribution to medical aide for El Salvador at that press conference, I was asked by a reporter that said I was in favor of free elections in El Salvador because it's a Communist government. I gave him a lame answer and moved on to the next question, but I was so troubled by my lame answer that I came back and said, ‘I didn’t like what I told you, but what I would like to say is that the people of El Salvador should be able to elect the government of their choice.’ Nobody ever questioned that particular statement, but I knew I was signing my death warrant in terms of show business.
Q: So, what happened after that press conference?
A: When I returned to LA, I came under a tremendous amount of attack and the show was threatened with being blacklisted. Charlton Heston took me on and called me a ‘dangerous, dangerous man’ and then the show was indeed cancelled.
Q: Were you upset?
A: I knew they were out to get me ... and I was prepared strangely enough to go down in that good fight. But they kept attacking me and every time that happened, I responded. Years later, my agent said that he thought the only thing that kept me alive was the fact that I kept appearing in the press and responding to those attacks.
Q: To this day are you still vocal?
A: You get tired of being vocal, so you learn to pick and choose. I want to work as much as the next man.
Q: What do you think about today’s journalism?
A: It sucks.
Q: What would Lou Grant say about it?
A: ‘Where are the basics: who what, when, where, why, how and how important is it?’ The papers always lead off on page one with the little old lady beating off a robber with a golf club rather than the lady who was on welfare and shot to death being buried on page 30.
Q: I heard you like comic book heroes … who would you be if you could be a Superhero?
A: I’d like to be Plasticman because he had a great sense of humor, better than any other Superhero. He wasn’t possessing in terms of strength but I liked the fact that he could slide under a door or go through a keyhole and do funny things at the same time. He was my favorite Superhero.
Q: You do voice-over work; do you like it vs. a regular TV Show?
A: No, but it’s fun and a wonderful interim while you are waiting for the next TV show. I’ve done more crap on TV than I have on cartoon shows.
Q: What do you consider crap?
A: A show with bad writing.
Q: How do you regard The Mary Tyler More Show?
A: It had the gold standard.
Q: Do you talk with Mary?
A: Yes, we just had a reunion on Oprah, it went beautiful, and people loved it. I only talk with her once a year.
Q: On the episode ‘The Boss Isn’t Coming to Dinner’ you were asking Mary her advice on separating from your wife on the MTM Show …
A: I was always asking Mary for her advice or she was offering it.
Q: Would Lou Grant or MTM make it on TV today?
A: Absolutely not without [the network execs] running them into the gutter.
Q: Who did you like working with on those shows?
A: Gavin MacLeod. He was one of the nicest and gentlest people to be around. He was always supportive and a dream to work with.
Q: What about the late Ted Knight?
A: Me, Ted and Gavin were known as the three companereos. We’d go to lunch and on Friday nights out with our wives to have a late dinner. Ted was the funniest man I had ever crossed by far.
Q: What about Heston ... it’s no secret like you said that you clashed with him …did you got to his funeral?
A: It would have been phony for me to do that, we didn’t like each other.
Q: What about Ted’s funeral?
A: We were very close. I was out of town, but I sent a message. He would occasionally get paranoid on me and we’d fall out when I was winning awards and he wasn’t getting any early on during the show. But we would make up quickly.
Q: Would you have been a good journalist in real life?
A: I was a high school journalist and wanted to go into it because it was dashing and exciting. One day in college, my instructor, whom I revered, passed by my desk and said, ‘Are you thinking of journalism as a career?’ And I said, ‘yeah.’ She came back and said, ‘I wouldn’t … you can’t make any money at it.’ With that, I washed away any plans that I had, but as I tell the story, I also became an overnight sensation as an actor.
Q: You’ve had the best of both worlds, TV and journalism …
A: Yes, I played a journalist on TV; I think that was the last show where they actually had typewriters in the newsroom. Not until the end of the series did we start working on computers.
Q: Do you type with one finger like most men?
A: No, actually, I got a good grade in typing class and can type pretty well.
Q: What do you like to do for fun?
A: Read emails from fans, read my NY Times, do my crosswords and I’m either preparing, reading or rehearsing a reading or acting someplace.
Q: Do you watch much TV now?
A: Not at all. I liked Deadwood, but the last episode, I think [creator] David Milch sold out. I watch the Lakers when they are on TV. But mostly, I’m busy writing back to fans.
