Who is Matthew Asner?
Matthew Asner was born in Los Angeles, California USA, on 9 September 1963 – his zodiac sign is Virgo, and he holds American nationality. He’s an actor, film producer, director and a musician, but who’s perhaps known best for being the son of the late American actor Eddie ‘Ed’ Asner, who remains remembered as the former president of the Screen Actors Guild.
Early life and education
Matthew was raised in Los Angeles alongside his twin sister Liza, and their younger sister Kathryn ‘Kate’ Asner (born on 17 September 1966) by their father, and their mother Nancy Lou Sykes; Nancy was also involved in the film industry, mostly serving as craft service assistant, but she was more focused on staying home and raising her children.
Matthew became interested in acting at a very early age, mostly because he looked up to his father, and was also encouraged by him to pursue a career in the film industry; he often watched Ed perform on the set of “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”.
He studied at a local high school, and around that time became interested in music; Matthew then began travelling around California, and performed in various clubs and bars as a member of two popular post punk bands, called Grand Manner and Insect Idol.
He matriculated in 1981, and although he hasn’t spoken of his further education, it’s widely believed that he attended college, from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1985.
Acting career
Matthew has only 10 acting credits, as he’s mostly been focused on producing and directing since the launch of his career.
He made his debut TV series appearance in the 1985 episode “Partners” of the comedy “Off the Rack”; it starred his father Ed, Eileen Brennan and Pamela Brull, and follows several people who are working at a garment company. Matthew made his debut film appearance in the following year, with his portrayal of Stringbean, in the popular horror science fiction thriller “Neon Maniacs”, directed by Joseph Mangine, and which starred Clyde Hayes, Leilani Sarelle and Donna Locke. The movie follows a couple of teenagers who have discovered that monsters are living in a Golden Gate Bridge’s tower, but nobody believes them.
Matthew was then cast to appear in the 1986 episode “Jason’s Rib” of the family comedy series “Growing Pains”, four episodes of the drama series “The Bronx Zoo” in 1987 and ‘88, and the 1989 horror movie “Night Life”. The following year saw him play Hotel Clerk in the episode “Her Cup Runneth Over” of the critically acclaimed romantic series “Thirtysomething”, and in 1991, Matthew appeared in the mystery movie “Femme Fatale”. It was directed by Andre R. Guttfreund, starred Colin Firth, Lisa Zane and Billy Zane, and follows an artist whose wife has abandoned him, while he’s now discovered that she’d been leading a double life the entire time.
Matthew has only three other acting credits: he appeared in the 1991 episode “Hello and Goodbye” of the drama series “L. A. Law”, the 2009 drama movie “Sideways”, and the 2020 video “The 8th Annual Ed Asner and Friends Celebrity Poker Night”.
Writing, producing and directing
Matthew has 10 writing, 32 producing and 25 directing credits.
Some of the most popular movies and TV series which he has written include the 2003 short documentary comedy film “Newsbeat Segment DM-1509”, the 2003 episode “The Bible Code: Predicting Armageddon” of the historical documentary mystery series “History’s Mysteries”, and the 2006 reality series “The ArchiTECHS”.
https://www.instagram.com/p/rUxehsIzvD/
His producing debut was the 2001 documentary film “In Search of Peace – Part One: 1948 – 1967”, and he has since mostly been focused on producing documentaries, such as the 2003 video “Eight Characters in Search of a Sitcom”, the 2006 short video “The Visual Effects of ‘Scary Movie 4’”, and the 2010 movie “100 Voices: A Journey Home”.
Matthew has directed most of the movies and TV series which he’s also produced, while some of his most recent directing credits include the short comedy movie “Mr. 10%”, the documentary film “Next Nostradamus” both in , and the 2010 documentary movie “100 Voices: A Journey Home”.
Awards and nominations
In 2011, Matthew and Danny Gold were nominated for a Warsaw International Film Festival Award for Best Documentary, for “100 Voices: A Journey Home”.
Other works
It was in 2012 that Matthew decided to become less active in the film industry, and to focus on being there for his son Will, who was diagnosed with autism four years earlier.
Matthew then became the executive director of the autism advocacy and research organization Autism Speaks, and has since been trying to help those suffering from the disorder. In 2014, he became the organization’s director of corporate development, and has orchestrated several successful national campaigns.
Matthew became Autism Society of America’s vice president of development in September 2016, and has been credited with launching the international movie festival Autfest, which premiered in April 2017.
In the following year, Matthew, his wife and his father launched The Ed Asner Family Center, which aims to help children with special needs.
He’s today the host of the talk-show “On The Spectrum”.
Love life and wife Navah Paskowitz
Matthew has married thrice. He exchanged vows with his first wife, Jules in 1992, but the two divorced in 1996.
Matthew married his second wife Joyce Batiste on 31 December 1998 – the date of their divorce remains undisclosed.
On 1 November 2014, he married his third wife Navah Paskowitz, after they had been together for over a decade. They have six children together – their three sons aged 13, 18 and 19 are autistic.
Neither Matthew nor Navah have spoken of any other people whom they might have been with, and as of January 2022, Matthew’s married to his third wife Navah Paskowitz, and they have six children together.
Hobbies and other interests
Matthew is highly active on Instagram, and seems to be enjoying the attention which he’s receiving from his more than 1,000 followers. Most of the people following him are those whose family members are autistic, and those who want to contribute to his cause.
He’s into travelling, and has been to nearly all US states, mostly because of his work related to autistic people; Matthew has also been to Europe and Asia on a number of occasions, but his dream travel destination remains San Francisco, California.
He’s a huge lover of animals, and has had a couple of pet dogs and cats.
Matthew likes to watch movies late at night – his favorite actors and actresses are Tom Cruise, Dustin Hoffman and Julia Roberts, while a couple of his favorite films include “Rain Man”, “The Last Samurai”, and “Notting Hill”.
Age, height and net worth
Matthew’s age is 58. He has short brown hair and brown eyes, his height is 5ft 8ins (1.7m) and he weighs around 145lbs (65kgs).
As of January 2022, his net worth has been estimated at over $5 million, while his father’s net worth, at the time of his death in August 2021 was estimated at over $10 million.
