Veteran Actor Asner ‘Scopes’ Out Harvard

Prolific actor and activist Ed Asner is accustomed to speaking his mind.

Asner recently played the role of William Jennings Bryan in Peter Goodchild’s “The Great Tennessee Monkey Trial,” which was hosted by the Institute of Politics on Monday night. Perhaps best known as Lou Grant on the “Mary Tyler Moore Show,” Asner has earned seven Emmys, more than any other male actor.

Produced by L.A. Theatre Works under the direction of Susan Albert Loewenberg, “Monkey Trial” is adapted from the transcripts of the landmark 1925 Scopes Trial which challenged a law that prohibited the teaching of the theory of evolution in Tennessee schools. Called the “trial of the century,” the case put three-time presidential candidate Bryan up against the pro-evolution politician Clarence Darrow (played by John de Lancie).

The play is presented in the form of a radio program broadcast directly from the courtroom. The actors read from the script, and the set is minimal.

As Bryan, Asner cites the Bible as he rails against evolutionism. Yet Asner is a self-proclaimed Darwinist.

As director Brendon Fox observes, “It’s always interesting to watch the reaction of the audience around the country who may have assumed that Ed’s politics was the same as his character’s.”

The Crimson spoke with Asner about his thoughts on playing Bryan as well as his views on evolution and creationism.



The Harvard Crimson: William Jennings Bryan was known for being maybe the most charismatic public speaker of his time. How do you take all of his background into consideration when you’re preparing to get in character?

Ed Asner: He was a supposed great orator; he could command crowds for hours at a time. One of the things that draws me to Bryan is that he was such an admirable man before he became so personally situated on this dilemma.

He was a great spokesperson for the farmer...he was regarded as a savior for the little man of this country. That’s one of the reasons I admire him, and lament his being painted so ludicrously in the Scopes Trial, not that he didn’t deserve it.



THC: Where do you stand on the debate over teaching evolution in public schools?

EA: I’m one of the minority. I believe in Darwinism.



THC: Is that really the minority?

EA: I’m afraid so. You find a lot of the populists out there. The best example I can give you is, we gave a matinee last year to a group, mostly home-schooled or private-schooled, an audience of about 500. At the end of the performance we had a discussion, and finally one of the actors asked how many of the audience members believed that the world was created in six days. I’d say 70 percent raised their hands.

I think that this is such a religiously influenced nation, probably the only one in the western world that thrusts the Bible at you with the vehemence it does.



THC: This was one of the first hugely sensationalized trials in the US. Is this the right way to go about a trial?

EA: It’s matter of fact that creationism was stirred more in the country. Being broadcast on the radio the way it was, Darrow did tend to make Bryan look like something of a goat, but then Bryan dying days after the trial made him a martyr.



THC: If Bryan hadn’t died, do you think Darrow would have been the moral victor?

EA: Oh yeah I think so, but there is that great appeal to all that ocean of people out there who want to believe in miracles. Darwin could be viewed as Lucifer, if they wish, denying them potential for their hopes. At that time creationism was hope, and Darwinism was certainly the furthest thing from hope.



THC: Do you feel that the play makes a political statement for or against the teaching of evolution?

EA: I think it does a good job of showing the reason why creationism or intelligent design maintains such a grip on so many of our people. The emotionalism, the rapture that it entails, science can’t give us. The fact that science becomes cut and dried and creationism provides us with mystery and thrill and alleviation of our by-the-numbers existence, it becomes a crapshoot for us: go to heaven, pray, and my life will be saved.



When the applause died down after the actors took their final bows, Asner was the last to leave the stage, making sure to collect all of his various props. He left his Bible behind.