Exhaustion blamed as Asner is hospitalized after abbreviated Gary show
Sun-Times Media March 13, 2013 11:00AM
Actor Ed Asner (left) leads a class with local theater students and instructors at the West Side Theatre Guild in Gary, Ind., Tuesday, March 12, 2013. Asner left the stage early due to illness later Tuesday during his Franklin D. Roosevelt performance at
Updated: March 13, 2013 11:13AM
Award-winning actor and activist Ed Asner has been hospitalized for exhaustion after cutting short his performance Tuesday at Marquette Pavilion in Gary, Ind.
Asner was taken by ambulance from the pavilion. Some people attending the show said Asner had difficulty speaking.
Asner’s publicist, Charles Sherman, told The Associated Press that the 83-year-old actor, who has been touring the country performing a one-man show for more than three years, was hospitalized with exhaustion.
Sherman said Asner was is “resting comfortably” and is expected to be released from a Northwest Indiana hospital later Wednesday.
The one-man show “FDR,” in which Asner portrays Franklin Delano Roosevelt, started about 45 minutes late, and Asner struggled with his lines as soon as the performance began. Backstage crew members intervened, and Asner spoke briefly before emergency medical personnel arrived and walked Asner off the stage about 15 minutes after the show began.
Asner had conducted as acting class at West Side Leadership Academy in Gary a few hours earlier.
One of those in attendance at Marquette Pavilion said Asner seemed confused and frustrated from the beginning of the show.
