Ed Asner, 85, Divorcing Wife He Separated From 8 Years Ago

At 85, actor Ed Asner apparently wants to feel really free so has has filed for divorce from his wife Cindy some eight years after the couple first separated, squashing speculation that the two had reconciled.

Asner, 85, who has had a long acting career that included co-starring in the 1970's "Mary Tyler Moore Show," married Cindy Asner in 1998 but reportedly separated in 2007, according People. TMZ wrote that the two reached a financial settlement in 2009.

"Ed tried to cut off her temporary spousal support the year after they separated, saying she was making no effort to become self-supporting," reported TMZ. "We don't know what motivated Ed to make the move, but clearly he does not want death to be the factor that parts them."

The Huffington Post reported in 2014 that Asner had put up his modest Studio City, California home for sale for $1.5 million.

"The 1954 home is small for a celebrity house – it measures in at 2,780 square feet," wrote the Huffington Post's Michelle Manetti. "And though it has beautiful exposed-beam ceilings, French doors, along with a pool and spa, the new owner will definitely have some updating to do. We hate to say this, Ed, but that wallpaper in the bathroom is so 1996 (the year he bought the house)."

Asner made a name for himself as Mary Tyler Moore's TV station boss in the "Mary Tyler Moore Show," which ran from 1970-1977 and continued to role in the drama spin-off "Lou Grant," from 1977-1982. Asner has continued a busy acting schedule, appearing in a guest role on the CBS series "The Good Wife" in January, wrote "Entertainment Tonight."

A winner of seven Primetime Emmy Awards, he remains the only actor to win both the comedy and drama Emmy for the same role with his Lou Grant character, CNN noted. Asner not only played Grant on "Mary Tyler Moore Show" and "Lou Grant," but the MTM spin-off "Rhoda" and "Roseanne."

He was awarded the Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award in 2002 and was the voice of lead animated character Carl Fredricksen in the movie "Up" in 2009, which went on to win the Academy Award for best animated film, noted CNN.

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