Quick answer: Niecy Nash-Betts, born Carol Denise Ensley, told The Oprah Podcast that at about seven or eight she walked up to Ed Asner on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and told him her name would be "right here on this ground." She says he answered, "Yeah, kid. Scram." When she got her own star, on July 11, 2018, Asner sent her a hand-drawn star with her name on it and then sat front row at the ceremony. She said the Walk of Fame was "the first and the last place I ever saw him."
Source episode: "Niecy Nash: The Power of Loving Yourself Out Loud," The Oprah Podcast with Oprah Winfrey, watch the full episode.
What Niecy Nash said on The Oprah Podcast
Nash remembers being "about seven or eight" on the Walk of Fame when she saw Asner. "I don't know his name, but I know he's on TV," she said. "Sir, I know you're on TV, but I'm going to be on TV, too. And my name is going to be right here on this ground," she says she told him. His reply, by her account: "Yeah, kid. Scram." As he walked away, she shouted, "Remember my name."
Decades later she reached out to Asner, and he wrote back: "I'm so grateful you didn't let a crotchety old man step on your dream," adding, "Of course I know your name." She said "he hand drew a little star and he wrote my name through it."
His team first told her he was "having some challenges" and wouldn't be able to come. Then, she said, "the day before my ceremony, they called and said, 'He will be there.'" He sat in the front row. "If I looked at him, I would have cried my fake eyelashes off," she told Oprah Winfrey.
How the story checks out
Nash has told this story consistently since 2018, with small differences.
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- The star is on record. Nash received the 2,639th star on the Walk of Fame, in the Television category at 6201 Hollywood Boulevard, on July 11, 2018 (Hollywood Walk of Fame).
- Asner was there. UPI reported that Asner attended the ceremony and quoted Nash: "He walked away, and I was yelling, 'Remember my name'" (UPI).
- The note. In 2018, Nash told Variety that after her star was announced, Asner sent her a card with a star on it and her name inside, with the line "Of course I know your name" (Variety). She told the Television Academy that his card read "Of course I remember your name" and that he drew a star with her name in the middle (Television Academy).
Small differences between versions: Nash has given her age as "about seven or eight" (Oprah), "maybe 8 or 9" (ABC News) and nine (Television Academy). She has quoted Asner's reply as "Yeah, kid. Scram" and "Okay, kid, whatever," and his note as "stand in front of" or "step on" her dream (ABC News; Television Academy). Only Nash's side of the original encounter has been told publicly; there's no independent account of it.
Ed Asner
Asner was best known as Lou Grant on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and its spinoff Lou Grant. He won seven Primetime Emmys, more than any other male performer (Reuters). He died on Aug. 29, 2021, at age 91 (AP News), about three years after Nash's ceremony. That fits her line that the Walk of Fame was the last place she saw him.
Real-name note
Niecy Nash-Betts was born Carol Denise Ensley on Feb. 23 (Television Academy bio). "Niecy" comes from Denise, and "Nash" is the surname from her first marriage, to Don Nash. She added "Betts" after marrying singer Jessica Betts in 2020. Sources disagree on where she was born: the Television Academy says Palmdale, others say Los Angeles, and she grew up in Compton (Gold Derby). Ed Asner's full name was Edward Asner.
More on RealNameOf: - Niecy Nash-Betts: real name - News about Niecy Nash-Betts - Ed Asner: real name - News about Ed Asner - Oprah Winfrey: real name - News about Oprah Winfrey
FAQ
What is Niecy Nash's real name? Carol Denise Ensley. She later took the surnames Nash and Betts through marriage.
When did Niecy Nash get her Hollywood Walk of Fame star? July 11, 2018. It was the 2,639th star and is in the Television category at 6201 Hollywood Blvd.
Did Ed Asner attend Niecy Nash's star ceremony? Yes. UPI reported that he attended, and Nash says he sat in the front row.
What did Ed Asner write to Niecy Nash? Nash says he wrote, "Of course I know your name," and drew a star with her name on it. In one 2018 interview she quoted it as "Of course I remember your name."