I always meant to write to Ed Asner. The various lockdowns gave me the time to do so. I’m pleased I did. Sadly he passed away on Sunday at the age of 91. I drew this quick drawing of Ed in his defining television role as Lou Grant, the burly, blustery but lovable newsman and sent it to him at his Tarzana home in Los Angeles in April this year. He signed, dedicated and returned it within a week, along with my postage money.

On his twitter page, Ed described himself as an “Actor, author, activist, warm, lovable, gruff, leftie, patriot.” I’m sure many kind words will follow in the coming days from his millions of admirers. During his illustrious career, Ed was an outspoken supporter of a number of humanitarian and political causes, including trade unionism and animal rights. He served two terms as President of the Screen Actors Guild.

The US Army veteran made his Broadway debut with Jack Lemmon in FACE OF A HERO at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre in 1960, before moving to Hollywood, becoming a prolific character actor with over 400 screen credits.

Ed was the most honoured male performer in the history of the Primetime Emmy Awards, winning seven – five for his portrayal as the hard drinking, tough-talking Lou Grant in the MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW (3) and its spin-off series LOU GRANT (2) in the 1970’s and 1980’s. His other two Emmys were for the miniseries RICH MAN, POOR MAN and ROOTS.

Documentary film-maker Michael Moore wrote in his Twitter tribute that when he was making his first film, ROGER & ME, he was broke and wrote to a number of famous people to invite them to invest in it. Only one replied: Ed Asner. “I don’t know you kid, but here’s 500 bucks. Sounds like it’ll be a great film. I was an autoworker once.”

Thanks and RIP Ed.