Charles Grodin, the droll, offbeat actor and writer who starred 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 aged 86.
Key points:
- Charles Grodin was remembered by Steve Martin as "one of the funniest people I ever met"
- He starred in the Beethoven comedies, later reflecting that he was "delighted" they wanted him to appear
- The actor also hosted talk shows and appeared on Broadway
Grodin died Tuesday in the US town of Wilton, Connecticut from bone marrow cancer, his son, Nicholas Grodin, said.
Known for his deadpan 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.
Steve Martin, who co-starred with Grodin in 1984's The Lonely Guy, remembered him as "one of the funniest people I ever met".
'I didn't suffer from the frustration of all the rejections'
In the 1990s, Grodin made his mark as a liberal commentator on radio and TV.
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.
Actors, he wrote, should "think not so much about getting ahead as becoming as good as you can be, so you're ready when you do get an opportunity".
"I did that, so I didn't suffer from the frustration of all the rejections," he wrote in his first book, It Would Be So Nice If You Weren't Here, published in 1989.
After a series of smaller roles, Grodin gained wider notice in the 1972 Elaine May comedy, The Heartbreak Kid.
He starred as a Jewish newlywed who abandons his comically neurotic bride to pursue a beautiful, wealthy blonde played by Cybill Shepherd. The movie was a hit and Grodin received high praise.
"After seeing the movie, a lot of people would approach me with the idea of punching me in the nose," Grodin told the A.V. Club in 2009.
"I thought the character in 'The Heartbreak Kid' was a despicable guy, but I play it with full sincerity."
His turn in 1981's The Great Muppet Caper was typically dedicated as a thief wooing Miss Piggy.
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.
Grodin and De Niro improvised in many scenes in the film, revered as among the greatest buddy comedies.
Often Grodin was genuinely trying to amuse his more intimidating co-star. One line he threw at De Niro: "You ever had sex with an animal, Jack?"
"I moved a little more toward drama and he moved a little toward comedy," Grodin said at the time. "And we met on a very good ground."
Beethoven brought him success in the family-animal comedy genre in 1992 as the father of a family that adopts a St Bernard puppy.
From TV to Broadway
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.
"It's all a joke," he told The Los Angeles Times in 1995. "It's just a thing. It was a choice to do that."
His biggest stage success, by far, was Same Time, Next Year, which opened on Broadway in 1975 and ran nearly three-and-a-half years.
He and Burstyn were two people who — though each happily married — meet in the same hotel once a year for an extramarital fling. Beyond the humour, the play won praise for deftly tracing the changes in their lives, and in society, from the 1950s to the '70s.
Critic Clive Barnes called Grodin's character "a monument to male insecurity, gorgeously inept".
After 1994s My Summer Story, Grodin largely abandoned acting. From 1995 to 1998, he hosted a talk show on CNBC cable network. He moved to MSNBC and then to CBS' 60 Minutes II.
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 films An Imperfect Murder and The Comedian and the TV series Louie.
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.
Multiple stars paid tribute to Grodin's life and career on social media.
AP