Charles Grodin at the Time You Didnt Know I Was Lying
Charles Grodin, the droll, offbeat actor and writer who starred as a caddish newlywed in The Heartbreak Kid and afterward had roles ranging from Robert De Niro's counterpart in the comic thriller Midnight Run to the bedeviled father in the Beethoven comedies, has died anile 86.
Fundamental points:
- Charles Grodin was remembered by Steve Martin as "one of the funniest people I ever met"
- He starred in the Beethoven comedies, later reflecting that he was "delighted" they wanted him to appear
- The player also hosted talk shows and appeared on Broadway
Grodin died Tuesday in the US town of Wilton, Connecticut from bone marrow cancer, his son, Nicholas Grodin, said.
Known for his deadpan style and everyday looks, Grodin too appeared in Dave, The Adult female in Red, Rosemary'southward Baby and Sky Can Wait.
On Broadway, he starred with Ellen Burstyn in the long-running 1970s one-act Same Time, Next Year, and he found many other outlets for his talents.
With bone-dry understatement, Grodin could steal entire scenes with but a look.
His delivery, whether interim across De Niro or Miss Piggy, was unsurpassed.
Steve Martin, who co-starred with Grodin in 1984'south The Lonely Guy, remembered him as "one of the funniest people I always met".
'I didn't suffer from the frustration of all the rejections'
In the 1990s, Grodin made his mark equally a liberal commentator on radio and TV.
He also wrote plays and boob tube scripts, winning an Emmy for his work on a 1997 Paul Simon special, and wrote several books humorously ruminating on his ups and downs in show business.
Actors, he wrote, should "think not so much about getting ahead equally becoming equally good equally you tin can be, then you lot're ready when you do get an opportunity".
"I did that, so I didn't endure from the frustration of all the rejections," he wrote in his get-go book, Information technology Would Be So Nice If You Weren't Here, published in 1989.
After a series of smaller roles, Grodin gained wider notice in the 1972 Elaine May one-act, The Heartbreak Child.
He starred as a Jewish newlywed who abandons his comically neurotic bride to pursue a cute, wealthy blonde played past Cybill Shepherd. The picture show was a hit and Grodin received high praise.
"I thought the character in 'The Heartbreak Kid' was a despicable guy, but I play it with total sincerity."
His turn in 1981's The Great Muppet Caper was typically dedicated as a thief wooing Miss Piggy.
In 1988's Midnight Run, Grodin was a bail-jumping accountant who took millions from a mobster and De Niro was the bounty hunter trying to bring him cantankerous-country to Los Angeles.
Grodin and De Niro improvised in many scenes in the film, revered as among the greatest buddy comedies.
Often Grodin was genuinely trying to amuse his more intimidating co-star. Ane line he threw at De Niro: "You e'er had sex activity with an animal, Jack?"
"I moved a picayune more toward drama and he moved a petty toward comedy," Grodin said at the time. "And we met on a very good ground."
Beethoven brought him success in the family-fauna one-act genre in 1992 as the father of a family that adopts a St Bernard puppy.
From TV to Broadway
Amidst his picture show gigs, Grodin became a familiar face on late-night TV, perfecting a character who would confront Johnny Carson or others with a fake aggressiveness that made audiences cringe and laugh at the same time.
"Information technology'south all a joke," he told The Los Angeles Times in 1995. "It's just a affair. It was a choice to exercise that."
His biggest stage success, past far, was Same Fourth dimension, Adjacent Yr, which opened on Broadway in 1975 and ran nearly three-and-a-half years.
He and Burstyn were two people who — though each happily married — meet in the aforementioned hotel in one case a twelvemonth for an extramarital fling. Beyond the humor, the play won praise for deftly tracing the changes in their lives, and in club, from the 1950s to the '70s.
Critic Clive Barnes called Grodin'south character "a monument to male insecurity, gorgeously inept".
After 1994s My Summer Story, Grodin largely abased acting. From 1995 to 1998, he hosted a talk show on CNBC cable network. He moved to MSNBC and then to CBS' hour II.
He returned to the big screen in 2006 as Zach Braff'due south know-it-all father-in-police in The Ex. More recent credits include the films An Imperfect Murder and The Comedian and the TV series Louie.
Grodin and his first wife, Julia Ferguson, had a girl, comedian Marion Grodin. The marriage concluded in divorce. He and his second wife, Elissa Durwood, had a son, Nicholas.
Multiple stars paid tribute to Grodin's life and career on social media.
AP
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Charles Grodin at the Time You Didnt Know I Was Lying
Source: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-05-19/charles-grodin-dead-heartbreak-kid-midnight-run-beethoven/100148212
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