Ed Asner, best known for his portrayal of Lou Grant -- first on the Mary Tyler Moore show from 1970-77, then on the spin-off Lou Grant from 1977-82 -- has accused CBS founder and chairman William S. Paley of canceling the Lou Grant series because of Asner's political activism at the time. In an interview with the website Fancast, Asner said, "Bill Paley was responsible for the cancellation of my show." Paley, he said, acted after Asner publicly supported a fundraising campaign for medical aid to leftist El Salvador rebels. "When I returned to L.A., I came under a tremendous amount of attack and the show was threatened with being blacklisted. Charlton Heston took me on and called me a 'dangerous, dangerous man' and then the show was indeed canceled." Asner did not disclose how he learned that Paley, who died in 1990, personally decided to cancel the show, which had won 13 Emmys. Asner said that, as a result of that experience, he has learned how "to pick and choose" his political causes. "I want to work as much as the next man," he said.
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