Charles Grodin

Known for ActingBorn 1935-04-21Died 2021-05-18Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

Charles Sidney Grodin (April 21, 1935 – May 18, 2021) was an American actor, comedian, author, and television talk show host. Grodin began his acting career in the 1960s appearing in TV serials including The Virginian. After a small part in Rosemary's Baby in 1968, he played the lead in Elaine May's The Heartbreak Kid (1972) and supporting roles in Mike Nichols's Catch-22 (1970), the 1976 remake of King Kong, and Warren Beatty's Heaven Can Wait (1978). Known for his deadpan delivery and often cast as a put-upon straight man, Grodin became familiar as a supporting actor in many Hollywood comedies of the era, including Real Life (1979), Seems Like Old Times (1980), The Great Muppet Caper (1981), Ishtar (1987), Dave (1993), and Clifford (1994). Grodin co-starred in the action comedy Midnight Run (1988) and in the family film Beethoven (1992). He made frequent appearances on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and Late Night with David Letterman. In the mid-1990s, Grodin retired from acting and wrote autobiographies; he became a talk show host on CNBC and in 2000 a political commentator for 60 Minutes II. He returned to acting with a handful of roles in the mid-2010s, including in Louis C.K.'s FX show Louie and Noah Baumbach's film While We're Young (2014). Grodin won several awards, including the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special in 1978 for the Paul Simon Special alongside Chevy Chase, Lorne Michaels, Paul Simon, and Lily Tomlin. He was also nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for The Heartbreak Kid in 1972. He won Best Actor at the 1988 Valladolid International Film Festival for Midnight Run, and the American Comedy Award for Funniest Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture for his performance in Dave in 1993.Read more

Movies & web series

The Great American Dream Machine

Shelley Duvall's Bedtime Stories

Cranium Command

The Paul Simon Special

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Final Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen

The Harmony Game

Rosemary's Baby

Judd, for the Defense

The World of Jim Henson

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

Midnight Run

Sesame Street | All-Star 25th Birthday: Stars and Street Forever!

Laverne & Shirley

Heart and Souls

The Grass Is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank

Just Me and You

The Great Muppet Caper

Acts of Love and Other Comedies

Saturday Night Live

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

Dave

Night of 100 Stars

Fresno

Madoff

The Muppets at Walt Disney World

Heaven Can Wait

Catch-22

Late Show with David Letterman

The Daily Show

Real Life

The Heartbreak Kid

Paul Simon and Friends | The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song

Taking Care of Business

Felony Squad

While We're Young

The Woman in Red

The Virginian

Seems Like Old Times

King Kong

The Lonely Guy

The Michael J. Fox Show

So I Married an Axe Murderer

The Guns of Will Sonnett

Captain Nice

The Defenders

Late Night with David Letterman

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