HOT FOR MRS. C
Sitcom pairs Asner with a ‘sweetheart’
Here is how Vicki Lewis describes two of her co-stars in an evolving sitcom project called “I’ve Got a Life in Kalamazoo”:
“Ed is ... just a grumpy old man. And Marion is so lovely and holds her own against him. I wasn’t worried about me, but I thought, ‘Oh, frail Marion. I feel sorry for her.’ [But] she just knocked him around.”
The Broadway actress and former “NewsRadio” cast member is referring to Ed Asner and Marion Ross, a couple of America’s most beloved television personalities — Asner, 83, for his Emmy-garnering portrayal of cantankerous newspaper editor Lou Grant on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and its spin-off “Lou Grant,” and 84-year-old Ross for her 11 seasons as Richie Cunningham’s doting mother (also named Marion) on “Happy Days.”
This weekend, the “Kalamazoo” cast (which also includes co-producer Patrick Ziegler and “Blue Bloods” actor Gregory Jbara) will stage and tape two live performances at Chicago’s Museum of Broadcast Communications. The tapings, along with viewer feedback, will be used to help sell the program to networks.
“Kalamazoo” marks the first time Asner — who got his start in Chicago a half-century ago with Second City predecessor Playwrights Theatre Company — and Ross will occupy the same stage in their decadeslong careers. Appropriately enough, they’ll play the temperamentally disparate parents of Lewis’ character Nilah Hoyer, who shelves her dreams of showbiz stardom to care for Mom and Dad.
Lewis, 53, says both veteran actors are still “right on their game.” They seem to have an easy rapport as well, and it’s evident during a phone call earlier this week.
“I’ve always loved your silent films, Marion,” Asner says. That gets a giggle. “Don’t tell him,” she says, “but I’ve been dying to do a series with Ed Asner.”
Asked if they’re still typecast because of their TV roles, Asner replies, “You need a gypsy lover? I can do that. I can play my Hungarian rhapsody for you.”
Ross broke the Marion Cunningham mold with her turn as a Jewish-American matron in the 1991-93 CBS drama “Brooklyn Bridge.” For much of her career, she says, “I was playing the kind of women that I saw growing up in Minnesota.”
“If I had met a broad like that in Kansas City,” the Missouri-born Asner says of Ross, “I never would’ve left.”
Although he praises “Kalamazoo’s” writing as “really good stuff,” Asner declares Ross the real reason he signed on for this gig. Otherwise, “I just want to go to sleep.”
But he claims to feel fine. After a recent fright in Gary, where he was rushed to the hospital after becoming sweaty and discombobulated during a performance of his one-man play “FDR,” he’s up for another challenge.
His Gary wooziness, Asner reveals, was due in part to “a touch of E. coli.” Its origins, he says, are a mystery. “I must have kissed somebody who was fragrant.”
At the end of our conversation, Ross and Asner remain on the line. “I’ll see you Thursday, Ed,” Ross says. “My sweetheart,” Asner coos gruffly, informing her he’s coming in a day earlier. Chortle. “What’s your room number, honey?” the gypsy lover inquires.
There’s a pause as the connection breaks up.
“Marion! I’m talking to you!”