Actor Ed Asner Hospitalized After Cutting Short Show In Gary
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Emmy-winning actor Ed Asner was being treated for exhaustion at a hospital in Gary, Ind., after he cut short a performance of his one-man show when he seemed to have difficulty remembering his lines.
Karen Lee, interim president of the Miller Beach Arts Committee, said Asner began feeling ill in his hotel room Tuesday night before performing his one-man show "FDR," in which he portrays President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Organizers and Asner's aides tried to convince him to cancel the performance at the Marquette Park Pavilion, but he wanted to continue because the show had been sold out, Lee said. He went on stage about 30 minute late, and once he started performing, he began repeating the same line over and over again, and said "I'm so confused."
Lee said paramedics took Asner to Methodist Hospital in Gary.
Asner's publicist said he was "resting comfortably" and should be released later Wednesday.
Lee said an aide talked to Asner on stage before he was taken to the hospital, and he seemed to relax. He received a standing ovation as he left the stage.
Asner – who won five Emmy Awards for his portrayal of the character Lou Grant on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," and its spinoff "Lou Grant" – had spoken to a group of students at Indiana University Northwest earlier in the day.
He has been touring the country for more than three years for the "FDR" show.
