Ed Asner’s great nephew shares his memories

Growing up in Minnesota, I was always interested in movies. I also was interested in my great uncle Ed Asner’s movies. I was inspired by his love for the movies and I started looking into his life story.

In grade school, I did a report on his career. In high school I took photography and film classes. I would watch Ed’s projects and study them. I decided to study cinematography in college and reached out to my relatives in Los Angeles including Ed and his daughter, Liza. They got me onto the set of NCIS LA to give me an intro to the business. I loved spending my day on set.

In college, I wrote a few papers in my cinematography course using Ed as a source, one of which was on the Hollywood Blacklistings. After I graduated, Ed and Liza asked if I would be interested in being on the crew of a film in Los Angeles called “Tiger Within,” in which Ed played an old Jewish man who helps a young girl find herself during hard times. I had a blast working with Ed. After returning home to Minnesota, I knew I wanted to find a way to get back to LA. When Ed and Liza came to Minnesota to perform the play “God Help Us,” they offered to let me come and live with them in LA.

Thanks to them, I was able to really dig in and meet people I would not otherwise meet. I went with Ed to a TV Academy event where I got to walk the red carpet with him and met Ron Howard, among others. He opened so many doors for me. In return, I helped Ed when it came to bringing him to events, appointments, helping him get from point A to point B, moving his e-mail to his outbox, watching him workout, helping him with Zoom events, taking him to jobs like the set of “Grace & Frankie” among others, and talking about the major news of the day. I also was able to work with him on a few other projects, including a pilot called “Scarlett,” a short called “Be Careful What You Wish For,” among others.

There were so many things I loved doing with him every day. However, it was hard when I had to help him up when he fell. I became very close to him, and saw him slowing down the last couple months of his life, but I did not think much of it at the time because he was dealing with a few ailments, being 91. He worked up until the very end, and loved what he did. He also was an activist, pushing for the rights of fellow actors in the SAG-AFTRA union to receive healthcare coverage.On the day he died, Membership First was allowed to push on with this legacy that Ed left behind. He left many memories that I will never forget and will pass on to keep his legacy alive. He was an inspiration to many including myself, and though gruff, made up for it in his own way.

I love you and you will be missed.