Charles Grodin

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.

Most Known For

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

as Brett Forrester

The Daily Show

as Self

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

as Self

Saturday Night Live

as Self - Host

Great Performances

as Jake

LIVE with Kelly and Mark

The Virginian

as Arnie Doud

The Big Valley

as Mark Dunigan

The F.B.I.

as Carl Platt

The Defenders

as Thomas Martin

Laverne & Shirley

Felony Squad

The Guns of Will Sonnett

as Bells Pickering

Judd for the Defense

The Great Muppet Caper

as Nicky Holiday

Thieves

as Martin Cramer

So I Married an Axe Murderer

as Commandeered Car Driver

Catch-22

as Captain Aarfy Aardvark

Rosemary's Baby

as Dr. Hill

The Michael J. Fox Show

as Steve Henry