Even at age 88, actor Ed Asner still hangs out at the comic-book store with his kid.
Early last week, the Asners could be spotted at Hollywood's legendary Golden Apple Comics. But they weren't shopping.
Instead, the two were promoting an internet comic-art auction to raise funds for The Ed Asner Family Center. The auction goes live Wednesday.
This Oct. 8, 2018 photo shows Ed Asner, right and his son Matt Asner posing for a portrait at Golden Apple Comics in Los Angeles to promote an internet comic-art auction that will be held Wednesday, Oct 17, to raise funds for The Ed Asner Family Center. (Photo by Rebecca CabageInvisionAP)
Founded earlier this year by the actor's son, Matthew, and daughter-in-law, Navah, the center offers programs and education for both special-needs children and their families.
The star of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," ''Lou Grant" and the lead voice in the Pixar animated favorite "Up," Ed Asner has a son and three grandchildren with autism.
"They're (all) beautiful people," the actor noted. "And, at the same time, they need all the help they can get maneuvering through life. The Family Center is designed to help them do that."
This Oct. 8, 2018 photo shows Ed Asner posing for a portrait at Golden Apple Comics in Los Angeles to promote an internet comic-art auction that will be held Wednesday, Oct 17, to raise funds for The Ed Asner Family Center. (Photo by Rebecca CabageInvisionAP)
Father and son have had a comic-book connection for decades, when the two would buy a couple of new comic books before the elder Asner would take his son to work on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show."
Matthew became a serious comic-art fan, so the idea of an auction to raise funds for a permanent home for the center came about organically. The pair caught a break when Matthew's tweet asking for donations got a response and assist by the revered, award-winning comic artist Kevin Nowlan.
"His tenacity helped us to get to some of the greatest artists in the business: Alex Ross, Sam Keith, Bill Sienkiewicz," said Matthew. Among auction highlights are rare original cover art from "Captain America," ''Astro City" books, as well as three donations from Nowlan himself.
Dad also enjoys comics: "My favorite cartoon or comic strip of all was 'Plastic Man,'" Asner recalled. "I adored his sense of humor. He had a great sense of humor. Perhaps that affected me in later years when I tried to develop one."
Eventually, he did. Asner may end up best remembered for playing hilariously crusty TV-news director Lou Grant on the sitcom classic "The Mary Tyler Moore Show."
"Lou Grant was a total birth of Ed Asner as a comedic personality," Asner commented. "With 'Mary Tyler Moore,' I learned to do comedy, which I had always feared and run from, ignoring the fact that people found me innately funny — just to look at."
When counting wins for work on both "Mary" and "Lou," the role earned Asner a total seven Emmy awards. But Asner acknowledged success came at too big a price. "During my career, I stiffed the family. I let them come in second all too often."
Asner said he deeply regretted not being around for his children, crediting ex-wife Nancy Sykes for Matthew's successes.
Matthew disagreed: "He likes to tell people he had nothing to do with making me who I am, but he had everything to do with making me who I am. He instilled a sense of fairness and a sense of fight for the underdog and a sense of really what's important in life."
Online: http://www.edadnerfamilycenter.org
Follow AP Entertainment writer Mike Cidoni Lennox online at Twitter: @CidoniLennox
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A Ukrainian court on Friday ordered the detention of the country’s farm minister in the latest high-profile corruption investigation, while Kyiv security officials assessed how they can recover lost battlefield momentum in the war against Russia.
Ukraine’s High Anti-Corruption Court ruled that Agriculture Minister Oleksandr Solskyi should be held in custody for 60 days, but he was released after paying bail of 75 million hryvnias ($1.77 million), a statement said.
Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau suspects Solskyi headed an organized crime group that between 2017 and 2021 unlawfully obtained land worth 291 million hryvnias ($6.85 million) and attempted to obtain other land worth 190 million hryvnias ($4.47 million).
Ukraine is trying to root out corruption that has long dogged the country. A dragnet over the past two years has seen Ukraine’s defense minister, top prosecutor, intelligence chief and other senior officials lose their jobs.
That has caused embarrassment and unease as Ukraine receives tens of billions of dollars in foreign aid to help fight Russia’s army, and the European Union and NATO have demanded widespread anti-graft measures before Kyiv can realize its ambition of joining the blocs.
In Ukraine's capital, doctors and ambulance crews evacuated patients from a children’s hospital on Friday after a video circulated online saying Russia planned to attack it.
Parents hefting bags of clothes, toys and food carried toddlers and led young children from the Kyiv City Children’s Hospital No. 1 on the outskirts of the city. Medics helped them into a fleet of waiting ambulances to be transported to other facilities.
In the video, a security official from Russian ally Belarus alleged that military personnel were based in the hospital. Kyiv city authorities said that the claim was “a lie and provocation.”
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that civic authorities were awaiting an assessment from security services before deciding when it was safe to reopen the hospital.
“We cannot risk the lives of our children,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was due to hold online talks Friday with the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, which has been the key international organization coordinating the delivery of weapons and other aid to Ukraine.
Zelenskyy said late Thursday that the meeting would discuss how to turn around Ukraine’s fortunes on the battlefield. The Kremlin’s forces have gained an edge over Kyiv’s army in recent months as Ukraine grappled with a shortage of ammunition and troops.
Russia, despite sustaining high losses, has been taking control of small settlements as part of its effort to drive deeper into eastern Ukraine after capturing the city of Avdiivka in February, the U.K. defense ministry said Friday.
It’s been slow going for the Kremlin’s troops in eastern Ukraine and is likely to stay that way, according to the Institute for the Study of War. However, the key hilltop town of Chasiv Yar is vulnerable to the Russian onslaught, which is using glide bombs — powerful Soviet-era weapons that were originally unguided but have been retrofitted with a navigational targeting system — that obliterate targets.
“Russian forces do pose a credible threat of seizing Chasiv Yar, although they may not be able to do so rapidly,” the Washington-based think tank said late Thursday.
It added that Russian commanders are likely seeking to advance as much as possible before the arrival in the coming weeks and months of new U.S. military aid, which was held up for six months by political differences in Congress.
While that U.S. help wasn’t forthcoming, Ukraine’s European partners didn’t pick up the slack, according to German’s Kiel Institute for the World Economy, which tracks Ukraine support.
“The European aid in recent months is nowhere near enough to fill the gap left by the lack of U.S. assistance, particularly in the area of ammunition and artillery shells,” it said in a report Thursday.
Ukraine is making a broad effort to take back the initiative in the war after more than two years of fighting. It plans to manufacture more of its own weapons in the future, and is clamping down on young people avoiding conscription, though it will take time to process and train any new recruits.
Jill Lawless contributed to this report.
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
Ukrainian young acting student Gleb Batonskiy plays piano in a public park in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, April 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
