Actor Ed Asner treated for exhaustion in Chicago following Gary - Chicago News and Weather | FOX 32 News

Award-winning actor and activist Ed Asner cut short his performance Tuesday at Marquette Pavilion in Gary after having difficulty speaking, according to people who attended the sold-out show.

Asner was taken by ambulance from the pavilion. A report on his condition was not immediately available.

The one-man show "FDR," in which Asner portrays Franklin Delano Roosevelt, started about 45 minutes late, and Asner struggled with his lines as soon as the performance began. Backstage crew members intervened, and Asner spoke briefly, before emergency medical personnel arrived and walked Asner off the stage about 15 minutes after the show began.

Asner, 83, had conducted a spirited acting class at West Side Leadership Academy in Gary a few hours earlier during an event hosted by MAS Media 7 and West Side Theatre Guild artistic director Mark Spencer.

Lake County Surveyor George Van Til, one of those who attended the Marquette Pavilion performance, said Asner seemed confused and frustrated from the beginning. He said Asner was conscious as he left the stage but was not speaking clearly — although Van Til said Asner apologized to the audience and promised to return when he could.