Poker Enthusiast Ed Asner Dies
Ed Asner, a long-time poker player and one of television’s all-time greats, died on Sunday. In the 1970s, the actor who played the role of Lou Grant on the “Mary Tyler Moore Show” died at the age of 91.
For decades, the late TV personality, who was born in Missouri’s Kansas City on November 15, 1929, was one of Hollywood’s most well-known celebrities. Many knew him as a charitable gentleman and as the Former President of the Screen Actors Guild. Beyond poker, he was recognized for his philanthropy, political activism, and numerous television and film appearances.
Asner’s yearly charity poker game, the Ed Asner & Friends Celebrity Poker Night, was also well-known in the poker world. The Ed Asner Family Center is a one-stop-shop for neurodivergent people and families seeking wholeness in all parts of life; gathered funds at the annual event, which featured a number of well-known celebrities and poker pros.
For the second year in a running, the ninth annual Ed Asner & Friends Celebrity Poker Night was held online because of the coronavirus. Poker-pro Maria Ho and former poker pro player Phil Gordon was the host for the charity game this year. Rosie O’Donnell and Brad Garrett, who were close friends with Asner, attended the event.
Because of his passion for poker, Asner used the game to raise funds for causes close to his heart. In a June interview with PokerNews, Matt Asner, son of Ed Asner, said that he learned how to play the game from his father and that he viewed it as a chance to get closer to him, so he picked it up and asked his father to help him learn it.
Matt Asner said that they developed the Ed Asner & Friends Celebrity Poker Night, considering their common enthusiasm for poker, and as a way for him to cooperate on a fundraising effort with his dad.
The actor will be remembered for the rest of his life for playing the role of Lou Grant on the “Mary Tyler Moore Show,” often recognized as one of the ’70s most successful television sitcoms. Ed Asner died on Sunday in his hometown of Los Angeles, in the company of his family.
