Beyond the humor, the play won praise for deftly tracing the changes in their lives, and in society, from the 1950s to the '70s. He and Burstyn were two people who - though each happily married - meet in the same hotel once a year for an extramarital fling. His biggest stage success, by far, was "Same Time, Next Year," which opened on Broadway in 1975 and ran nearly 3½ years. "It's all a joke," he told The Los Angeles Times in 1995. I'm just delighted they wanted me."Īmid his film 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. "It's not like I have this stack of wonderful offers. "I'm not that much in demand," Grodin replied. Asked why he took up such a role, he told The Associated Press he was happy to get the work. "Beethoven" brought him success in the family-animal comedy genre in 1992. They're being chased by police, another bounty hunter and the Mob, and because Grodin is afraid of flying, they are forced to go by car, bus, even boxcar. 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 cross-country to Los Angeles. (The World Trade Center replaced the Empire State Building in the climax.) He was Warren Beatty's devious lawyer in "Heaven Can Wait," and Gene Wilder's friend in "The Woman in Red" (Less successfully, he appeared in May's 1987 adventure comedy "Ishtar," a notorious flop). In the next few years, Grodin played in a lavish 1976 film remake of "King Kong" as the greedy showman who brings the big ape to New York. He commented: "After seeing the movie, a lot of people would approach me with the idea of punching me in the nose." The movie was a hit and Grodin received high praise. He starred as a Jewish newlywed who abandons his comically neurotic bride to pursue a beautiful, wealthy blonde played by Cybill Shepherd. Grodin did have a small role in "Rosemary's Baby" and was part of the large cast of Nichols' adaptation of "Catch-22″ before he gained wide notice in the 1972 Elaine May comedy "The Heartbreak Kid." He also wrote plays and television 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. In the 1990s, he made his mark as a liberal commentator on radio and TV. Watch: Charles Grodin on "CBS This Morning" in 2013.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. Grodin died Tuesday at him in Wilton, Connecticut, from bone marrow cancer, his son, Nicholas Grodin, said. Charles Grodin, the droll, offbeat actor and writer who scored as a caddish newlywed in "The Heartbreak Kid" and later 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.
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