Edward “Ed” Asner (born November 15, 1929) is an American film, television, and stage actor, voice actor, and a former president of the Screen Actors Guild.
Asner is primarily known for his role as Lou Grant during the 1970s and early 1980s, on both The Mary Tyler Moore Show and its spin-off series Lou Grant, making him one of the few television actors to portray the same leading character in both a comedy and a drama. He is also known for portraying Santa Claus in the 2003 comedy Elf.
In 2009, he starred as the voice of Carl Fredricksen in Pixar’s animated film Up, and made a guest appearance on CSI: NY in the episode “Yahrseit”. In early 2011, Asner returned to television as butcher Hank Greziak in Working Class, the first original sitcom on cable channel CMT. He starred in the Canadian television series Michael, Tuesdays and Thursdays, on CBC Television and has appeared in the 2013 television series The Glades.