Ed Asner loved performing on Long Island 

Ed Asner was best known for his Emmy-winning role as gruff newsman Lou Grant on TV's "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and later "Lou Grant," but the veteran character actor who died Sunday never stopped working, even as he entered his 90s. In the past three years alone, he thrilled audiences in two decidedly different plays on Long Island.

In 2018, Asner had a meaty role as an elderly Holocaust survivor in "The Soap Myth," a drama presented at Hofstra University. Asner's character is determined to make known a little-known atrocity that the Nazis used the bodies of Holocaust victims to make soap.

Asner, who took pride in his Jewish heritage, told Newsday that his biggest hope for the play was that audiences recognize the need "to question authority."

In September 2019, Asner returned to Long Island where he played the title role in "God Help Us," a political comedy at Manes Studio Theater in Lindenhurst. The playwright would often revise the script, depending on news events of the day. Asner handled those changes like the pro he was, said co-star Angelo DiBiase, of Commack.

"He had played this part before, so he knew it," DiBiase said. "He was Ed Asner being God and he was great."

The actor acknowledged that Asner in real life matched his stage and screen persona, but there was more to him.

"He also really was a warm guy, very approachable, easy to talk with," DiBiase said. "We went out to dinner after the last show, and you would think he was someone’s father or grandfather talking at the table. I feel privileged that I got to spend time with on stage and off."