Charles Grodin, the actor from movies like “The Heartbreak Kid”, “Heaven Can Wait”, And “Midnight Run” died Tuesday in Wilton, Connecticut, from bone marrow cancer, his son, Nicholas Grodin, told Associated Press:
Known for his dead-pan style and everyday looks, Grodin also appeared in “Dave,” “The Woman in Red,” “Rosemary’s Baby” and “Heaven Can Wait.” On Broadway, he starred with Ellen Burstyn in the long-running 1970s comedy “Same Time, Next Year,” and he found many other outlets for his talents.
With bone-dry understatement, Grodin could steal entire scenes with just a look. His commitment, whether acting across De Niro or Miss Piggy, was unsurpassed. In his many late-night appearances, he once brought a lawyer with him to threaten David Letterman for defamation. (The lawyer instead took a shine to Letterman.) Hosting “Saturday Night Live,” he pretended to not understand live television, ruining all the sketches. Steve Martin, who co-starred with Grodin in 1984′s “The Lonely Guy,” remembered him as “one of the funniest people I ever met.”
USAToday reported that in his 2002 book, “I Like It Better When You’re Funny,” Grodin said too many TV programmers believe that viewers are best served “if we hear only from lifelong journalists.” He argued that “people outside of Washington and in professions other than journalism” also deserved a soapbox.
He had also become known for his playfully spiky chatshow appearances. Johnny Carson liked him so much that he put Grodin under contract as a guest in 1973. He would appear once a month, to the exclusion of all other talk shows. Their imitation of mutual hostility was so convincing that the programme always received letters of complaint about Grodin’s shabby treatment of his host.
He returned to the big screen in 2006 as Zach Braff’s know-it-all father-in-law in “The Ex.” More recent credits include “The Comedian” and appearances on the TV series “Louie.” His last credit was the 2017 movie, “An Imperfect Murder.”
Grodin and his first wife, Julia Ferguson, had a daughter, comedian Marion Grodin. The marriage ended in divorce. He and his second wife, Elissa Durwood, had a son, Nicholas.