Edward Edsel Crosswire, called Ed (Born May 8th), is a businessman who sells used cars for his used-car dealership Crosswire Motors and the coach of the Lakewood Elementary Soccer Team since "Muffy's Soccer Shocker". He is the father of both Muffy and Chip Crosswire and the husband of Millicent Crosswire. He is also Elwood City's wealthiest business man, whose catering gigs are highly lucrative. His grandfather, Edzel E. Crosswire, was the founder of the Crosswires' automotive empire, and was mentioned in "Arthur and the True Francine".
Appearance[]
Ed is a monkey depicted with a pale complexion, short combed orange hair; and wears a suit consisting of a light pink shirt, pink necktie, a light blue blazer, bluish-green dress pants, a belt buckle, and brown shoes.
His original design was seen in a Crosswire family portrait inside of a tent at camp on a page in the book "Arthur Goes to Camp", first published in 1982. In his original design he had clumps of hair and brown monkey fur, and wore glasses and a suit and tie. He was absent from the Arthur franchise for more than ten years, then was brought back in the television series for Season 1, completely redesigned and no longer wearing glasses. He is thought to be around forty to fifty years old, like most other parents in the series.
Personality[]
Ed is somewhat like his daughter, Muffy, in the way that he can be a snob at times. Ed also seems to spoil Muffy, as seen in "The Cherry Tree". He is, however, kind and a good parent as seen in "How the Cookie Crumbles". He had talked to Muffy about her situation where she wasn't giving her friends any credit and he had said: "A lie is a lie even when you get away with it." Muffy had then said "And being a car salesman, he won't stand for any lying!", which can be interpreted as her father being a fair man who doesn't scam people into buying his cars. He is known to sternly lecture Muffy.
He purchased Castle Manor in "The Fright Stuff", which is haunted. Even though Muffy was right about it being haunted, many of her friends and rivals were pranking each other, of which he did not approve. He also did not approve of her interrupting Ms. McWord. When made head coach of the Lakewood Elementary Soccer Team, he stressed the importance of honest play and practice. He did not show favoritism to his daughter but did provide positive encouragement.
Despite his high-class lifestyle, Ed showed good grace when staying in a shelter in "Shelter from the Storm".
