It’s been a rough month for the Mary Tyler Moore Show. About a week ago, Valerie Harper told the world she has terminal brain cancer, and last night, her beloved co-star, Ed Asner, had to be taken off stage and rushed to the hospital. The eighty-three-year-old Up actor taught an acting class earlier in the night and seemed fine, but something must have happened right before the curtain went up on his one-man show FDR.
According to Reuters, audience members got concerned not long after the performance started because Asner reportedly appeared disoriented. Emergency personnel were eventually called in, and after meeting with the beloved actor, they decided to take him to a local hospital and treat him for exhaustion. He’s expected to be released this afternoon with a clean bill of health, but at this point, it’s unclear whether he’ll take some time off, continue with any scheduled dates or even if he’ll make up this aborted performance in Gary, Indiana, the birthplace of Michael Jackson.
Thanks to his beloved character, Lou Grant, Asner might be best known as a cantankerous curmudgeon, but by all accounts, he’s a very sweet guy in real life with a whole lot of positivity about him. Hopefully, with a little rest and some fluids, he’ll be back on his feet in the near future, touring the United States and offering a lot of happiness to theater-goers. Pop Blend’s sincerest thoughts go out to him during this trying time.
