Lou Grant
Lou Grant is a fictional character played by Ed Asner in two television series produced by MTM Enterprises for CBS. The first was The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970–1977), a half-hour light-hearted situation comedy in which the character was the news director at fictional television station WJM-TV in Minneapolis. A spinoff series, entitled Lou Grant (1977–1982), was an hour-long serious dramatic series that frequently engaged in social commentary, featuring the same character as city editor of the fictional Los Angeles Tribune. Although spin-offs are common on American television, Lou Grant remains one of a very few characters played by the same actor to have a leading role on both a popular comedy and a popular dramatic series.
This article is about the character. For the television program, see Lou Grant (TV series). For the cartoonist, see Lou Grant (cartoonist).Lou Grant
"Love Is All Around"
September 19, 1970
"Charlie"
September 13, 1982
Male
City editor of The Los Angeles Tribune newspaper
Former News producer at WJM-TV Station
Former Reporter
Former Copy boy
John Simpson Grant (father)
Ellen Hammersmith Grant (mother)
Irene “Reenie” (cousin)
Edie Grant (divorced)
Ruth (daughter)
Jane (daughter)
Sara (daughter)
Fictional biography[edit]
Pre-WJM-TV[edit]
Although the setting of The Mary Tyler Moore Show might have implied that he was a native Minnesotan, Lou Grant in fact established that he was born in the fictional rural town of Goshen, Michigan[3] in 1925. [4] He was the son of John Simpson Grant and Ellen Hammersmith Grant; his grandfather was a pharmacist. At some point in his youth and early adulthood he developed a lifelong affection for westerns, particularly those starring John Wayne.[5][6] In high school, he was a tackle for his school's football team.[1] Soon after high school, he married Edie MacKenzie (Priscilla Morrill), at an age young enough to have four grandchildren before he turned 50.[1]
After marriage he became a combatant in World War II.[5] He served in both the Pacific and European Theatres. At one point, he was a sergeant in the Pacific-based 2nd Marine Division.[7] During another phase of his wartime service he was injured by a grenade in France, the last remnants of which were removed only in his late 40s.[8] He was also part of a unit that liberated an unknown town in Germany.[5] During the war he met and befriended Walter Cronkite.[9]
He attended college (although on several occasions he stated he never had the chance to attend), likely after the war.[10] He started his career in print journalism as a copy boy[11] but it is unclear whether this was in Detroit,[12][13] Minneapolis or San Francisco[13] as he worked for papers in all three cities. In this period of his life, he met and worked with Charlie Hume (Mason Adams) for the first time at the San Francisco Call-Bulletin, and worked with Jack Riley (Eugene Roche).[13]
WJM-TV[edit]
At some point in his late 30s he made the transition to broadcast journalism, and by the time of the 1966 elections he was working on a radio news show, as he explained to Mary Richards on the occasion of her producing her first news show all by herself at WJM-TV. He eventually became the head of the WJM news department. He worked in that capacity for 11 years.[11] For most of that period, Mary Richards served as his associate producer (later producer, with Lou having the title of executive producer, and she reported to him), Ted Baxter as his news anchor and Murray Slaughter as his head writer.
Of these relationships, the one with Richards was likely the closest. Except for one abortive attempt at romance, his general attitude towards Mary was paternalistic. A typical display of his affection for Richards came when his nephew, Allen, tried to put the moves on Mary. Lou became infuriated and said "Listen you, let me remind you of something, and remember this forever. I think of this girl here as if she were my own daughter and that means she is your cousin, you get my drift?"[14]
Reception[edit]
Asner won five Primetime Emmy Awards for his portrayal of Lou, with three of these awards for The Mary Tyler Moore Show and two for Lou Grant. Bravo ranked Lou 35th on their list of the 100 greatest TV characters.[22]