Cast Bios Edward Asner
CAST BIOS
EDWARD ASNER (Jack Green) – Actor/activist Ed Asner is perhaps best known for his Emmy® Award-winning portrayal of journalist Lou Grant in the classic sit-com “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.” He earned the same award reprising his role in the highly acclaimed series “Lou Grant” and garnered two additional Emmys® for his performances in the miniseries “Rich Man, Poor Man” and “Roots.”
Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Asner grew up in Kansas City, Kansas, the youngest of five children. He attended the University of Chicago, where he became a member of the campus dramatic group and was directed by a young Mike Nichols.
After a two year hitch in the Army, Asner returned to Chicago and joined The Playwrights Theatre Club. After moving to New York to pursue his acting career, he appeared in numerous off-Broadway productions, as well as in the American and New York Shakespeare Festivals.
In 1961, Asner moved to Hollywood, where be began making a name for himself as an accomplished film and television actor. His motion picture credits include “El Dorado,” “Skin Game,” “The Venetian Affair,” “Fort Apache The Bronx,” “They Call Me Mr. Tibbs,” “JFK,” “Daniel” and “The Bachelor.” Additional television credits include “Tender is the Night,” “A Case of Libel” and “Above Suspicion,” to name a few. Besides commercials and various books on tape, Asner has lent his voice to popular cartoon shows such as “The Simpsons,” “Max of Steel” and Disney’s “Recess.”
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JASON LONDON (Matt Flemming) – Jason London has an extensive background in film and television. His big screen credits include “Man in the Moon,” “A Safe Passage,” “To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar,” and “Broken Vessels,” “Dazed and Confused,” “Carrie II: The Rage,” “Poor White Trash,” “Dracula: Legacy,” “Grind,” “A Midsummer Night’s Rave” and “Broken Vessel,” winner of the Best Feature Award at the 2001 Los Angeles Independent Film Festival.
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On television, London has appeared in the series “The Outer Limits,” “Going to California” and “Night Vision: The Broker.” His telefilms include “Identity Theft: The Michelle Brown Story,” “Final Justice,” “I’ll Fly Away: Then and Now,” “The Barefoot Executive,” “If These Walls Could Talk,” “Friends ‘Til the End,” “Jason and the Argonauts” and “The Hound of the Baskervilles.”
Chosen by People magazine as one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world, London is the twin brother of actor Jeremy London (“7th Heaven” and “Party of Five”).
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MISSY CRIDER (Gwen) – Missy Crider was born in Columbia, South Carolina and raised in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. She first gained recognition as a country music singer when she was honored as Young Entertainer Of The Year by the OMA Music Awards Association in Branson, Missouri.
In addition to the award-winning “Lonesome Dove,” Crider was cast in three other projects while still residing in Arkansas. One month after moving to Los Angeles, she was cast in the Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation of “Jane's House.” Her other television credits include the miniseries “The Beast” and the telefilms “A Mother’s Revenge,” “Girls in Prison,” “Sins of the Mind” and “Love in the Dark Ages,” which earned her an Emmy® Award nomination. She was a series regular in the acclaimed drama “Murder One” and Steven Spielberg’s “The Others” and has had guest-starring roles in “CSI: Miami” and “The Guardian.”
Crider has starred in a number of films including “Powder,” “Stand-Ins,” “Reeseville,” “The Sex Monster,” “Mulholland Drive,” “Gigli” and “A Boy Called Hate,” which won the Grand Jury Prize at the Berlin Film Festival.
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MEREDITH SALENGER (Linda) – Born and raised in Malibu, California, Meredith Salenger’s first role was a small part as a "singing and dancing orphan" in the feature film “Annie,” directed by John Huston. She then landed her first starring role in the Disney film “The Journey of Natty Gann,” which was the first American movie to win the Gold Award at the Moscow Film Festival and garnered Salenger Best Actress in a Drama honors at the Youth in Film Awards.
After starring in four more films by the time she was 18, Salenger left Hollywood for Harvard, where she graduated cum laude with a degree in psychology. Upon her return to Los Angeles, Salenger resumed her acting career. Her recent credits include “Lake Placid,” “The Third Wheel,” “Grownups,” "Quality Time" and "Sparkle & Charm."
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MEL HARRIS (Mrs. Flemming) – Mel Harris is best known for her role as Hope Steadman on the Emmy® Award-winning “thirtysomething.” She also starred in the hit comedy series “Something So Right.”
Harris has starred in numerous made for television movies including “Another Pretty Face,” “Child of Rage,” “A Case for Life,” “My Brother’s Wife,” “Spider and the Fly,” “Desperate Journey,” “With Hostile Intent,” “Out of Time” and “The Secretary,” as well as the miniseries “The Burden of Proof,” “Cross of Fire” and “Grass Roots.”
Among Harris’ feature film credits are “Dynamite,” “Family Under Seige,” “Raising Cain,” “K-9,” “Wanted: Dead or Alive,” “The Pagemaster,” “Suture,” “Windancer,” “Sonic Blast,” “Firetrap,” “The Retrievers” and “Hangman’s Curse.”
Harris made her New York stage debut in “Empty Hearts” at The Circle Repertory, which earned a Theatre World Award, and has appeared at Los Angeles’ Canon Theatre in productions of “Love Letters” and “The Vagina Monologues.”
She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and her two children.
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