Metro-area elementary principal has ties to Hollywood actor

When Emmy-award winning actor Ed Asner walked into Hillcrest Elementary School on Friday morning, he answered a long-standing wish of one of the school’s most well-known members.

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Q & A with Ed Asner

Emmy-award winning actor Ed Asner visited Hillcrest Elementary on Friday. Asner, who portrayed Santa in "Elf” and was featured in the animated hit movie "Up,” answered the students’ questions. .

Q: Did you like playing football?

A: I loved it but it’s not good for your knees. I’ve got bad knees.

Q: Did you really raise Buddy? (A character from the movie "Elf”)

A: No. It was a movie, it’s only pretend.

Q: Are you really always grumpy?

A: Absolutely. You don’t want to cross my path, pal!

Q: Who do you like more, Batman or Superman?

A : Superman is a little bland...

Q: Did you finish college?

A: No. I was stupid and quit college after a year and half. But you need a good education. You’ve got to go to college! I want to come back here and see that each and every one of you is a doctor.

Asner, 79, visited the school at Principal Betsy Davidson’s request. Asner, who was in town for a one-night performance at Rose State College, said it was a request he could not deny.

"Her granddad was one of the finest men in my life,” Asner said. "I treasure anything and everything about him including his granddaughter.”

Asner, 79, is a former student of the late Edward Ellis, a former teacher and football coach at Wyandotte High School in Kansas City, Kansas. Ellis was Davidson’s grandfather.

Asner, who is known for his roles in the "Mary Tyler Moore” show and hit movies such as "Elf” and "Up,” played right tackle on Ellis’ football team in the 1940s. Asner said the lessons that Ellis taught him in and out of the classroom shaped his character and changed the course of his life.

"He influenced me,” Asner said. "He was my football coach but he taught me in brief swatches a lot about life and I appreciate it.”

Davidson said she grew up hearing stories about the friendship that her grandparents shared with Asner, but she never got to meet him. Even after Asner became famous, he visited her grandparents and took them to events.

For his part, Ellis always kept a picture of Asner on his desk, Davidson said.

When her grandfather died, Davidson spoke with Asner briefly on the phone when he called to offer his condolences. She said meeting him Friday was a dream come true.

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