Ed Asner

Ed Asner, sometimes known as Edward Asner and originally named Eddie Asner (from November 15, 1929 until August 29, 2021), was a well-known American actor and voice artist. He gained recognition from TV viewers for playing Lou Grant in both The Mary Tyler Moore Show and its spin-off series, Lou Grant. In the 1996 radio drama version of Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi, he lent his voice to Jabba the Hutt. He was adamant about recreating the character's Huttese lines without any digital enhancements. Later, in the 2003 video game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Asner voiced Jedi Master Vrook Lamar. Pat Fraley, who originally voiced the character, insisted on contacting Asner for the role after noticing his name listed as a reference for the character's voice. Asner would later reprise his role in the 2004 sequel, The Sith Lords.

Biography

Early life and Return of the Jedi

Born Eddie Asner on November 15, 1929, in Kansas City, Missouri, United States, Ed Asner was an American actor and voice actor. As a teenager, he worked as a voice actor in radio shows. He became well-known in the 1970s and 1980s for his role as Lou Grant in The Mary Tyler Moore Show and its spin-off, Lou Grant, and he received many awards for his work.

Ed Asner's first Star Wars role was as the voice of Jabba the Hutt (pictured) in the radio adaptation of Return of the Jedi.

In 1996, he was chosen to play the crime lord Jabba the Hutt in the National Public Radio (NPR) adaptation of the 1983 original trilogy movie, Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi. Because Asner was so well-known, his casting brought more attention to the production. He liked having the chance to work on a radio show like the ones he did when he was younger, even though he had never seen a Star Wars movie before. In an article about the radio show, writer Kevin Burke said that Asner's role as Lou Grant might have influenced how he played the big and aggressive Hutt.

Even though he wasn't sure how to play a role in a language other than English, Asner insisted on playing Jabba—whose lines are all in the made-up language of Huttese—without using any electronic effects. He also moved around a lot while recording his lines, saying that he puffed up like a bullfrog when he spoke. Because of this, his co-stars would crowd into the studio to watch him perform, even if they didn't need to be there. Anthony Daniels, who played the protocol droid C-3PO, would stretch his neck to watch Asner from his own booth down the hall.

During the recording sessions, Asner and some of the main actors recorded a funny message of goodwill for Brian Daley, the writer of the radio drama, who was sick with pancreatic cancer. Asner's part was to speak in Huttese before telling Daley to get better in slow English and then pretending to fall asleep and snore. The recordings took place throughout February 1996, ending on the 11th, and the radio show started airing on November 5, 1996. Asner was credited as "Edward Asner" in the show.

Asner later said in an interview about the Star Wars radio series that the recording studio had a very positive vibe. He joked that Daley and director John Madden had been added to his will. He also said that he would jump at the chance to play a slightly younger Jabba if they ever made adaptations of the prequel trilogy movies.

Knights of the Old Republic

Near the end of the BioWare and LucasArts video game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Asner's voice was used as a reference in the casting notes for the character of Jedi Master Vrook Lamar. Pat Fraley was first chosen to play the character, but when he got to the studio to record his lines, he offered to call Asner, since they lived across the street from each other. To the surprise and fear of voice-over director Darragh O'Farrell, who wasn't sure if LucasArts could afford the veteran actor, Fraley immediately called Asner, who quickly showed up at the recording studio.

The casting notes for Vrook Lamar (pictured) used Ed Asner's voice as a reference point, which resulted in Asner himself taking the role.

O'Farrell's attempts to describe the character as a Jedi were confusing to Asner at first, until he compared the character to "the Alec Guinness sort of thing," referring to the actor's portrayal of Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi in the original Star Wars movies. O'Farrell was too scared to ask Asner to take out the gum he was chewing when he got to the studio until Fraley stepped in. It took two hours to record all of the character's lines. O'Farrell was still nervous when he took out the paperwork for Asner to sign for his paycheck, but the actor just kept talking to the voice-over director and signed the paperwork without even looking at it.

On May 23, 2003, an article on the gaming website IGN confirmed that Asner would be playing Lamar. The article's author, Aaron Boulding, thought that his many film roles as "gruff and sometimes kind-hearted characters" would be a good fit for his role as a member of the Jedi High Council. Knights of the Old Republic was first released on the Xbox console on July 15, 2003. Later that year, Asner was interviewed about his role in the Return of the Jedi radio show in the article "Radio Days" by Rich Handley, which was in the seventy-third issue of Star Wars Insider magazine. It was mailed to subscribers on December 26, 2003, and released on newsstands on January 13, 2004. In the interview, he said that he was a Star Wars fan. Asner played Lamar again in the sequel to Knights of the Old Republic, The Sith Lords, which was first released on Xbox on December 6, 2004. Asner passed away at his home in Los Angeles, California on August 29, 2021.

Works

Discography

Gameography

Sources

Notes and references

External links

  • Ed Asner (@theonlyedasner) on Instagram (backup link)
  • Ed Asner ( @TheOnlyEdAsner ) on Twitter (backup link)
  • Ed Asner on Wikipedia
  • Ed Asner at the Internet Movie Database

Appearances