EDITOR'S NOTE: Thanks to Bill Londrigan for sending us this. Actor Ed Asner died Sunday at his Tarzana, Calif., home. He was 91.
From President Londrigan:
I thought this was worthy of your attention. Of course, all of you know who Michael Moore is and he certainly has a great requiem for unabashed union man Ed Asner and I invite you to give it a read below. I have always admired Ed Asner as a stalwart supporter of unions and workers, and I remember an episode of Lou Grant featuring a strike by newspaper workers and how accurately and truthfully the show depicted the relationship between management and labor. I am sure this episode and Ed’s unwillingness to curtail his activism and trade union support were, as Michael Moore points out, the reason Lou Grant was cancelled. If only more of Hollywood’s elite would follow Ed’s lead and vocally and consistently stand up for unions and workers our movement and country would be much better off. RIP Ed Asner on behalf of the Kentucky State AFL-CIO.
In Solidarity, Bill
R.I.P. Ed Asner: Solidarity Forever
Michael Moore
Aug 30
When I was making my first film, “Roger & Me”, I was broke, really broke, so I, a nobody from Flint, wrote to some famous people to ask them for help with my movie.
Only one responded: Ed Asner.
“I don’t know you, kid, but here’s 500 bucks,” said the note attached to the check. “Sounds like it’ll be a great film. I was an autoworker once.”
Ed also eventually became a union president (SAG), the star of one of the best TV dramas ever (“Lou Grant”) and one of the best animated films — no, correction, one of the best MOVIES — of all time (“Up”). He always showed up: for a picket, a rally, getting arrested, participating in nonviolent civil disobedience, testifying at congressional hearings, supporting progressive/left movements all across the country. He took on Reagan and Charlton Heston and fought against the American support of right-wing Latin American dictators. Companies like Kimberly-Clark (Kleenex) and Vidal Sassoon, sponsors of his CBS drama, told the network that if they couldn’t get Ed to shut up and end his political activism, they’d pull their ads from his “Lou Grant” show. CBS told Ed to tamp it down. He wouldn’t, so the sponsors pulled their ads and the award-winning “Lou Grant”, starring the man who still holds the record for the most (male) Emmys ever, came to an end. He once told me, “Look, it’s never been easy in this country to speak out against the status quo. I’m not going to stop now.” He never did and I loved him for it.
It still isn’t easy, Ed, and we will miss you. You, as Lou Grant, once told Mary Tyler Moore on her show, “Mary, you know what? You’ve got spunk!” After the best pregnant pause in TV history, you finished your thought: “I HATE spunk!”
Hahaha! The funniest thing about that line was that YOU were nothing BUT spunk!
R.I.P. Ed Asner.
Solidarity forever.
Your friend,
Michael Moore