# I Didn't Know Ed Asner Was Still Alive **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 4, 2021, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-ed-asner-was-still-alive/950071 "2021-09-04T00:15:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jim\_B](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jim_b/32/4338_2.png) [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2021, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-ed-asner-was-still-alive/950071/1 "2021-09-04T00:15:01Z")
My mother used to say this. When they said in the news some famous person had died, she said she didn’t even know they were still alive. My mother was an exceptional individual. So she wasn’t being morbid or cruel. She was just stating a fact. Same with me. Actually I for one really liked Mr. Asner. But honestly, I had no idea that he had lived so long. Anyone else have an example of a famous deceased person that you thought or exclaimed that when you heard of their (tragic) passing? Share it with us. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![mikecurtis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikecurtis/32/3284_2.png) [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2021, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-ed-asner-was-still-alive/950071/2 "2021-09-04T01:20:09Z")
Ya mean like in this thread? > [@Who are our current "Abe Vigodas"? (people you might be surprised to learn are still alive)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-our-current-abe-vigodas-people-you-might-be-surprised-to-learn-are-still-alive/919985): > > For many years. Abe Vigoda was the butt of the joke regarding shock over him still being alive. I even had the Firefox extension years ago that simply displayed his life status. He just looked so old in the Godfather. He is, alas, dead. Who are some people that kind of fill that role now? Who might some of us not realize are still living? I’ll go first. Willie Mays is still alive at age 89. And God bless him, a national treasure. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2021, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-ed-asner-was-still-alive/950071/3 "2021-09-04T15:53:49Z")
for me it’s more the opposite. I’ll look up a celebrity and see they died ten years ago and I didn’t know it. ---
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2021, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-ed-asner-was-still-alive/950071/4 "2021-09-06T20:54:08Z")
I think it’s kind of bad form to say this - or rather to write it in a public forum. Yes, it’s something, maybe the first thing, that leapt to mind when you heard the news - but saying so really means nothing, since famous people are often out of the public eye post-achievement or notoriety, and yes sometimes they do have long lives. Similarly, any old film clip you see on YouTube will sooner or later get someone to comment, “All these people are dead now”. Not an original insight. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2021, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-ed-asner-was-still-alive/950071/5 "2021-09-06T21:12:54Z")
Johnny Nash. I thought he died of cancer in the early 70’s, mainly because every TV ad for a musical compilation later in the decade always seemed to feature “I Can See Clearly Now”, couched in such a way that my tween mind inferred that he wrote said song after his diagnosis, bravely showing his optimism in the face of his fate. What actually happened of course is that he completely slipped off of the public radar after all of his subsequent singles failed to go top 40, and these comps were merely using the song to sell themselves. Nonetheless I was utterly shocked when I read about his 2020 death here. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2021, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-ed-asner-was-still-alive/950071/6 "2021-09-06T22:46:50Z")
Olivia de Havilland died in 2020 aged 104. She’d been essentially retired since 1980. I bet a lot of people didn’t realize she was still alive. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2021, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-ed-asner-was-still-alive/950071/7 "2021-09-06T23:04:39Z")
More than a few times, out of the blue, I’ll wonder if some past celebrity is still alive, confirm they are, and then within the week read their obituary. I then feel personally responsible for their deaths. Just one of many examples: [Sid Melton](https://m.imdb.com/name/nm0578412/?ref_=tt_cl_i_9). How often have you thought about Sid Melton? I did, on November 2, 2011. Only basketball great Bob Cousy and actress Glynis Johns are miraculously alive despite my lethal premonitions. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2021, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-ed-asner-was-still-alive/950071/8 "2021-09-07T04:05:29Z")
> [@Jim\_B](#): > > Same with me. Actually I for one really liked Mr. Asner. But honestly, I had no idea that he had lived so long. I guess you must not watch movies or TV anymore–see his 406 acting credits, with several already available from 2021 and more to come: > **[Edward Asner | Actor, Producer, Additional Crew](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000799/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1)** > > Known for: Up, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Elf ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2021, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-ed-asner-was-still-alive/950071/9 "2021-09-07T17:51:09Z")
He’s dead now, but when this awesome, Not-Safe-For-Work, um, “[tribute](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1IxOS4VzKM)” to Ray Bradbury came out in 2011, I was astonished that he was still alive. (He died in 2012.) ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2021, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-ed-asner-was-still-alive/950071/10 "2021-09-25T10:32:43Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > He’s dead now, but when this awesome, Not-Safe-For-Work, um, “[tribute](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1IxOS4VzKM)” to Ray Bradbury came out in 2011, I was astonished that he was still alive. (He died in 2012.) Coincidentally, Ed Asner’s most recent role was in episode 3 of [B.J. Novak’s The Premise](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10950616/reference), in which, > A pop megastar returns to his high school to pledge a donation to build a new library, but instead promises to have sex with the school’s valedictorian as an academic achievement prize.