Special Event
Ed Asner as FDR
Sunday, April 21 - 4:30pm
Asner is best known for his character Lou Grant, who was first introduced on the The
Mary Tyler Moore Show in 1970. In 1977, after the end of The Mary Tyler Moore show,
Asner’s character was given his own show, Lou Grant, which ran from 1977-1982.
Asner is also known for his acclaimed role as Captain Davies, from the mini-series Roots,
a role that earned Asner an Emmy Award.
This one-man show takes us through Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s White House years
including the Depression, the steps leading up to WWII and the war years. Asner shows
us why this president was known as “that man in the White House,” scorned by many
and admired by most.
We see and hear his fireside chats; his controversial packing of the Supreme Court;
his personal life with Eleanor and his discreet but definite affair with Lucy Mercer; his
courage to break the Neutrality Act; his manipulation of Congress (in order to get the
country to have a draft); the Pearl Harbor controversy and the benevolent dictatorship
he called the presidency from 1933–44, which made him the first man in history to be
elected to four terms.
Ed Asner is magnificent as FDR and delivers a fearless performance of this dynamic and
powerful world leader.