Amid 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. Actor Charles Grodin, whose comic characters were almost always hapless, and whose serious characters generally gave that There's no insincerity in those potatoes. |-- Ask the Administrators They didn't want you for the Nicholson part in that either. Each hour opens with 10 minutes of vintage Grodin: a monologue in which he settles an old score or cocks an impatient eyebrow at politics, movies, whatever is Do you care about anything? Well, most everything I say is written. Rest well, Charles Grodin. He retired from acting in the mid-1990s and went on to author various books while also becoming a talk show host on CNBC. Thanks for contacting us. Charles Grodin in a still-frame image from "Midnight Run" (1988). Home So when I'd come in and I'd say, you know, can I have a word with you? In an interview published just before he died, Jock Zonfrillo said he craved a simple life and not that of a TV personality. My wife and my daughter would talk about, is he fat or what? The most striking part is that I had never met Michael J. Its one of Grodins few leading roles, and only he could pull off such an excruciatingly cringey protagonist whos loathsome, yet weirdly charming, but someone you can never truly root for. The distractions are tremendous. At the end of the day, I went up to him and I said, you know, Roman, I was thinking about what you said, what you told me this afternoon and, you know, something. Grodin and his first wife, Julia Ferguson, had a daughter, comedian Marion Grodin. We and our partners use cookies to Store and/or access information on a device. As we said goodbye, I said to Michael, The next time were in a scene together, give me a couple of takes without doing the Parkinsons thing, and the fact that he laughed I took a chance with that is quite something.. but he's 70 now and picking his spots, I guess. He says, yes. GROSS: You played the gynecologist, the first gynecologist, in "Rosemary's Baby," which was directed by Roman Polanski. That same year, he won an Emmy for writing the Paul Simon special, in which he also appeared on camera playing that shows unbelievably obnoxious producer. Grodin received the William Kunstler for Racial Justice award and was cited by former New York Governor George Pataki for helping revise New Yorks Rockefeller Drug Laws, which were enacted in the early 70s and mandated harsh sentences for possession or sale of relatively small amounts ofdrugs. Charles Grodin, Midnight Run, Heartbreak Kid After moving to New York in the 1950s, he studied acting with Uta Hagen and Lee Strasberg while working as a cabdriver, night watchman and postal clerk. He became a familiar face in such comedies as Heaven Can Wait and Midnight Run, in which he played an accountant pursued by Robert De Niro after having embezzled from the mob. I'm David Bianculli, and this is FRESH AIR. Anyway, Clifford is a weird but necessary part of the Grodin repertoire and deserves to be seen as much as Ishtar, yes, thats right I said it. So we would sit there and maybe do that 100 times, which is a lot. Big Forums Now, the difference is I'm making up - I mean, these are not written lines that I'm saying to you. But essentially, it's the director who's in charge. One of a kind. . But you can almost see it in the movie of "The Heartbreak Kid" when I have a showdown scene with Eddie Albert and he tries to buy me away from marrying Cybill Shepherd. Copyright 2023 All Access Music Group. Many of the scenes were improvised, and the sincerity with which Grodin reacts to the ridiculousness around him is just epic Grodin. Thanks for being in touch. My job isnt to judge it. pic.twitter.com/mgK8oZmfLa. It's simple, you know. Charles Sykes/Invision/AP. Actors, he wrote, should think not so much about getting ahead as becoming as good as you can be, so youre ready when you do get an opportunity. GROSS: Well, this must be a constant source of anguish for an actor deciding whether you should go with your own intuition on how to play something or go with the director's advice. Listen to article. GRODIN: None whatsoever because what he does is - it just brings him to the point where he can be alive in the moment. The actor, beloved for his understated comic turns, specialized in playing world-weary businessmen and uptight fathers. JOHNNY CARSON: Absolutely, that's why I'm asking, yes. He was famous for his deadpan delivery and delighted in playing abrasive characters in scenes that were full of awkward moments and silences. |-- General Discussion That's why I think I spend so much time thinking about sports. He actually went on drug bust with a bulletproof vest because his character did this kind of thing. GROSS: You say that sometimes you tell a joke with such a straight face that people take you seriously. By that time, I had so much rejection in show business, I was very good at being menacing. The film was shot in 1990 and had an expected 1991 release date but was shelved for four years after Orion Pictures filed for bankruptcy. RIP Charles Grodin. R.I.P. Charles Grodin | National Review And then Roman Polanski, the director, leaped up and says, take out that pause. I go to overhear conversations about my looks - are they having them somewhere? GRODIN: There is something I'd like to say to you, and it's been on my mind. I invented a persona of somebody who was always unhappy about something, Mr. Grodin told the Los Angeles Times in 2004. |-- Political Videos I come from more of a street background than Robert De Niro does, Mr. Grodin once said. Universal Pictures If the best comedy is essentially very serious, or has a very serious basis, then that explains the career of Charles Grodin , an uncommonly intense and all-around uncommon performer who had his own unsettling point of view and style. He made his Hollywood debut with an uncredited bit part as a drummer boy in Disney's "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" (1954). But the original sponsor pulled out and Simon later called the little-noticed effort a tragedy.. I mean, I really don't like to mislead people or to fool people or anything like that. Now there is a slight complication, he tells the girlfriends parents in an awkward meeting over dinner. Grodin became a star in the 1970s, but might have broken through years earlier: He auditioned for the title role in Mike Nichols The Graduate, which came out in 1967. Throughout the course of his six-decade career, Grodin moved stealthily between the absurd (1976s King Kong remake with Jessica Lange) to the cult-classic sublime (1988s Midnight Run, an anti-buddy-comedy with Robert De Niro). GRODIN: Well, we were very good friends off screen, and we really had a lot of laughs off screen. Many years before Larry David portrayed at exaggeratedly abrasive version of himself on "Curb Your Enthusiasm," Charles Grodin pulled a similar stunt almost any time he showed up on TV. I was certainly aware of him, and hes really quite inspiring. An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. (Imitating Ted Knight) Yes. If you would like to change your settings or withdraw consent at any time, the link to do so is in our privacy policy accessible from our home page.. Harrison Smith contributed to this report. And even though he was nowhere near the first choice to play the role (at one point, the studio wanted Cher no doubt that would have been much different movie) its impossible to think of anyone but Grodin playing the dry, neurotic Jonathan The Duke Mardukas. Charles Grodin, who died recently at the age of 86, never won a major award for acting which is a shame considering his many memorable performances, including The Heartbreak Kid, Heaven Can Wait and yes, Midnight Run. He easily could have won for any of those roles, most certainly the latter two since he steals nearly every scene from his co-stars and honestly, could and should have won something for one of his infamous Tonight Show appearances. Beethoven brought him success in the family-animal comedy genre in 1992. He was 86 years old. I actually wrote down all these things in hopes you'd ask some of these questions. [Heins ] dad came and stayed at our house, and it became a lifelong thing, Nicholas Grodin told The Times. And, you know, one of the blessings is that you don't hear all the things that they're saying. This is a totally honest meal. :). The best moment was at the end of our 14-hour day, he said. (The World Trade Center replaced the Empire State Building in the climax.) I don't want to try to be in charge. He was a playwright and the author of seven books of memoirs and humorous essays. Mia Farrow comes to me for help and says that she feels that these witches and demons, whatever it is, are pursuing her. I'm not trying to put something over on people. The entire collection is in seven parts but well worth the time. In fact, you know, many people, you know, have been uncomfortable. I didnt know you could get nominated as a guest, he said. Maybe - would you put that a different way? All rights reserved. In the film, which was directed by Elaine May with a screenplay by Neil Simon, Mr. Grodin played a cad who, while on his honeymoon, falls in love with another woman, played by Cybill Shepherd. Charles Grodin, who died recently at the age of 86, never won a major award for acting which is a shame considering his many memorable performances, The cause was bone marrow cancer, said his son, Nicholas Grodin. Winds sent visibility to near zero. What a legend. He was 86. I mean, in life. He and his second wife, Elissa Durwood, had a son, Nicholas. He was famous for his deadpan delivery and delighted in playing abrasive characters in scenes that were He was the obstetrician who gave Rosemary's Baby to a coven of witches, the dog owner who couldn't control his enormous Saint Bernard in the Beethoven movies, and the man who met the girl of his dreams just a little bit late in The Heartbreak Kid. (incidentally, Grodin at one point wrote a piece for Vulture in which he reveals his tryst with Miss Piggy, and well its something.). One of the great cranky comedic geniuses. GRODIN: I mean, we hope the show goes on forever. I don't even know what I'm doing. As we said goodbye, I said to Michael, The next time were in a scene together, give me a couple of takes without doing the Parkinsons thing, and the fact that he laughed I took a chance with that is quite something.. pic.twitter.com/TL6BRVM6sg, This story originally appeared on NY Post and has been reproduced here with permission. And I really don't like that. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. So a lot of us were good villains. And I don't really do that. Lightfoot is the first elected Chicago mayor in 40 years to be denied a second term. It's not more believable if you have a pause. Grodins son, Nicholas, confirmed the news to the New York Times, saying he passed away in his home in Wilton, Connecticut. And Ted kind of used, like, an English accent on the show. And I'm not really wanting to do jokes. Charles Grodin, star of Midnight Run, Heartbreak You couldn't get a job on your own. And you be in charge and you choose and you make the judgment. Charles Grodin, deadpan comic actor known for 'Midnight GRODIN: (As Lenny Cantrow) Exactly. The last mayor to suffer that indignity was Jane Byrne, Chicagos first and only other female mayor. Oh, good, good. When not working in films, Grodin directed plays on Broadway, including Lovers and Other Strangers in 1968 and Thieves in 1974 with Marlo Thomas. Have you ever overheard anything about your wife? Most of the humor that comes out of me has nothing to do with a funny line.