ED ASNER HATED LIFE IN MARY’S SHADOW!
LOU Grant legend Ed Asner, 91, took a terrible grudge to his grave: He resented playing second fiddle to Mary Tyler Moore! “Mary was not just Ed’s sitcom co-star, she was also his boss because her husband Grant Tinker ran MTM Enterprises and produced the groundbreaking show about a TV news department,” dishes an insider. “Ed always felt he had to prove himself.” Ed played Mary’s newsroom boss in the series, which ran from 1970 to 1977. But Mary hogged the limelight, which ticked Asner off. He griped about hating his status as “the last in the class.” The Emmy winner’s cranky character — spun off into his own five-year stint headlining the drama series Lou Grant — wasn’t much different than his real-life persona. Revealing the secret to his success before he died Aug. 29, the curmudgeon declared, “I want to entertain myself. I don’t care about you!”