Caramel Corn

Name
Charles Grodin

Known For
Acting

Birthday
1935-04-21

Deathday
2021-05-18 (86 years old)

Place of Birth
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

Biography

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.

Known For

Movies

Tv Shows

1968 Rosemary's Baby as Dr. Hill
1976 King Kong as Fred S. Wilson
1994 Clifford as Martin Daniels
1993 So I Married an Axe Murderer as Commandeered Car Driver
1993 Beethoven's 2nd as George Newton
1990 Taking Care of Business as Spencer Barnes
1988 You Can't Hurry Love as Mr. Glerman
1984 The Woman in Red as Buddy
1993 Dave as Murray Blum
1992 Beethoven as George Newton
1988 The Couch Trip as George Matlin
1978 Heaven Can Wait as Tony Abbott
1988 Midnight Run as Jonathan Mardukas aka “The Duke”
1979 Real Life as Warren Yeager
1981 The Incredible Shrinking Woman as Vance Kramer
1984 The Lonely Guy as Warren
1987 Ishtar as Jim Harrison
2006 The Ex as Bob Kowalski
1980 Seems Like Old Times as Ira Parks
1972 The Heartbreak Kid as Lenny Cantrow
1974 11 Harrowhouse as Howard R. Chesser
1981 The Great Muppet Caper as Nicky Holiday
1994 It Runs in the Family as Mr. Parker (The Old Man)
1985 Movers & Shakers as Herb Derman
1979 Sunburn as Jake
1978 The Meanest Men in the West as Arnie Doud, Harge Gang
2012 Final Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen as (archive footage)
2013 Brazzaville Teen-Ager as Father
1980 It's My Turn as Homer
2014 The Humbling as Jerry
1978 The Grass Is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank as Jim Benson
2012 Char·ac·ter as Self
2017 Waiting for Ishtar as Self
1977 It Happened One Christmas as Joseph
1986 Last Resort as George Lollar
1986 King Kong! The Living Legend as Self
1977 Thieves as Martin Cramer
1977 The Paul Simon Special as Self
2015 While We're Young as Leslie Breitbart
2002 The Ultimate Collection starring Johnny Carson - The Best of the 70s and 80s as Self (archive footage)
2011 The Harmony Game as Self
1954 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea as Drummer Boy (uncredited)
1970 Catch-22 as Captain Aarfy Aardvark
1964 Sex and the College Girl as Bob
2016 The Comedian as Dick D'Angelo
2007 Paul Simon and Friends | The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song as Self
2017 An Imperfect Murder as Arthur
1978 Just Me and You as Michael Lindsay
1969 Simon and Garfunkel: Songs of America as Self
1993 Heart and Souls as Harrison Winslow
1990 The Muppets at Walt Disney World as Quentin Fitzwaller
1994 The World of Jim Henson as Nicky Holiday (archive footage)
1983 Charley's Aunt as Lord Fancourt Babberly
1994 Sesame Street | All-Star 25th Birthday: Stars and Street Forever! as Chaz
1982 Night of 100 Stars as Self
2025 Charles Grodin: Rebel With a Cause
1989 Cranium Command as Left Brain (voice)
2026 Marty, Life Is Short as Self (archive footage)

1965 The F.B.I. ( 1 episode ) as Carl Platt
1996 The Daily Show ( 1 episode ) as Self
1988 LIVE with Kelly and Mark ( 1 episode )
1976 Laverne & Shirley ( 1 episode )
1966 Felony Squad ( 1 episode )
1962 The Virginian ( 1 episode ) as Arnie Doud
1965 My Mother the Car ( 1 episode )
1965 The Big Valley ( 1 episode ) as Mark Dunigan
1967 Judd, for the Defense ( 1 episode )
1961 The Defenders ( 1 episode ) as Thomas Martin
1966 Shane ( 2 episodes ) as Jed
1975 Saturday Night Live ( 1 episode ) as Self - Host
1999 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit ( 1 episode ) as Brett Forrester
1962 The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson ( 5 episodes ) as Self
1986 Fresno ( 5 episodes ) as Cane Kensington
2016 Madoff ( 4 episodes ) as Carl Shapiro
2013 The Michael J. Fox Show ( 1 episode ) as Steve Henry
1992 Shelley Duvall's Bedtime Stories ( 1 episode ) as Narrator (voice)
1967 The Guns of Will Sonnett ( 1 episode ) as Bells Pickering
1971 The Great American Dream Machine ( 34 episodes ) as Himself
1967 Captain Nice ( 1 episode ) as News Vendor
1971 Great Performances ( 1 episode ) as Jake
1964 The Young Marrieds ( 2 episodes ) as Matt Crane Stevens
1993 Late Show with David Letterman ( 1 episode ) as Self - Guest
1982 Late Night with David Letterman ( 2 episodes ) as Self - Guest
1982 American Playhouse ( 1 episode ) as Lord Fancourt Babberly

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