Ed Asner won five Emmy awards for portraying the character of Mary Tyler Moore's boss Lou Grant in The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970-1977), and a crusading newspaperman for the spin-off series Lou Grant (1977-1982). Asner's public persona is also that of a crusader, a celebrity activist considered left of center. During the 1980s he took on the administration of President Ronald Reagan and earned the enmity of conservative Americans, notably fellow actor/activist Charlton Heston. Asner also served as president of the Screen Actors Guild (1981-85).