 Ed Asner, best known for playing fictional TV newsman Lou Grant, has died at the age of 91. His family said the actor whose roles also included voice and the lead in the Pixar film op passed away peacefully on Sunday morning. The character Lou Grant was first introduced as Mary Richard's bus on the Mary Tyler Moore show in the 1970s. Actor Ed Asner has died at the age of 91. According to editors at Deadline, the TV legend, perhaps best known for his role as Lou Grant during the 70s and early 80s, on both the Mary Tyler Moore show and its spin-off series, Lou Grant, peacefully passed away. No further details were shared. After landing the part of Grant, Asner went on to have a prolific Hollywood career with appearances in Rich Man, Poor Man as well as Roots in the late 1970s. Most recently, he provided the voice of Carl Friedrichsen in the Oscar-winning Pixar film Up in 2009 and also played Santa Claus in several films, notably 2003's Elf. Asner received several honorary awards, including a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award.