Charles Grodin

ActorDirectorWriterProducer

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. Description above from the Wikipedia article Charles Grodin, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

21-04-1935

Birthday

Taurus

Zodiac Sign

Genres

Total Films

Also known as (male)

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

Place of Birth

21-04-1935

Birthday

Taurus

Zodiac Sign

Genres

Total Films

Also Known As (male)

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

Place of Birth

Popular works

Media

Creative career

actor

55 Works

producer

2 Works

director

8 Works

writer

3 Works

other

0 Works

Waiting for Ishtar

A conversation about guilty pleasures turns into one man's quest to find others on a library waiting list, while simultaneously examining the fate of the famous Hollywood bomb Ishtar (1987).

0.0

Year:

2017

An Imperfect Murder

Successful actress Vera Lockman thrashes during a nightmare in which she struggles with, shoots and kills her drug-dealer ex-boyfriend. Jolted awake, she reveals in her journal that the killing actually occurred the day before and that Sal, dead, lies in a trunk in her living room.

3.7

Year:

2017

The Comedian

An aging comic icon, Jackie Burke, has seen better days. Despite his efforts to reinvent himself and his comic genius, the audience only wants to know him as the former television character he once played. Already a strain on his younger brother and his wife, Jackie is forced to serve out a sentence doing community service for accosting an audience member. While there, he meets Harmony, the daughter of a sleazy Florida real estate mogul, and the two find inspiration in one another, resulting in surprising consequences.

5.7

Year:

2016

While We're Young

An uptight documentary filmmaker and his wife find their lives loosened up a bit after befriending a free-spirited younger couple.

6.0

Year:

2015

The Humbling

Following a breakdown and suicide attempt, an aging actor becomes involved with a much younger woman but soon finds that it's difficult to keep pace with her.

5.1

Year:

2014

Brazzaville Teen-Ager

In a self-effacing attempt to save his father from a death by deterioration, a young man enlists his curmudgeonly boss and Kelis to perform a song, and a miracle.

5.7

Year:

2013

Char·ac·ter

A raw and candid dialogue about the life and craft of acting between longtime colleagues and friends Dabney Coleman, Peter Falk, Charles Grodin, Mark Rydell, Harry Dean Stanton and Sydney Pollack. Drago Sumonja's document takes us into the hearts, minds, and living rooms of some of America's greatest storytellers.

4.0

Year:

2012

Final Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen

A film where anything can happen - the hero and the heroine changes their faces, age, look, names, and so on. The only same thing: The love between man and woman... in an archetypical love story cut from 500 classics from all around the world.

7.5

Year:

2012

The Harmony Game

Half a century after its recording in 1970, this captivating documentary retraces the story of "Bridge Over Troubled Water", the final album, which has become cult, from the duo formed by Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel.

7.4

Year:

2011

Paul Simon and Friends | The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song

The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song will honor either a songwriter, interpreter, or singer/songwriter whose career reflects lifetime achievement in promoting the genre of song as a vehicle of artistic expression and cultural understanding. Paul Simon, one of America's most respected songwriters and musicians, was the recipient of the first annual Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. Named in honor of the legendary George and Ira Gershwin, the award recognizes the profound and positive effect of popular music on the world's culture.

6.2

Year:

2007

The Ex

When his lawyer wife, Sofia, becomes pregnant, chronic underachiever Tom Reilly must take a job at his father-in-law's advertising firm. Tom has to adjust to the demands of a very high-powered job, and he finds himself in an increasingly hostile office rivalry with Chip, Sofia's paraplegic former lover.

5.2

Year:

2006

The Ultimate Collection starring Johnny Carson - The Best of the 70s and 80s

Classic Carson monologues, visits from Carnac and Art Fern, comedians Eddie Murphy, Garry Shandling, Albert Brooks and Bill Maher. Hollywood legend Jimmy Stewart, child stars Drew Barrymore and Joey Lawrence, fan favorite Charles Grodin, wildlife from Jim Fowler and Joan Embery, Frank Hill's jewelry, Elizabeth "The Nut Lady" Tashjian, Johnny's impressions and much more!

0.0

Year:

2002

The World of Jim Henson

In this episode of PBS' Great Performances, the history and legacy of puppeteer Jim Henson is explored, from his six-second commercial beginnings to a five-season run on ABC of The Muppet Show to several theatrically released films, including five Muppet movies, The Dark Crystal, and Labyrinth.

7.3

Year:

1994

It Runs in the Family

It is now summer in the Parker family; and the usual amount of numerous events are happening in their separate lives. Ralphie is searching for the perfect top to use to beat the school bully with, the Old Man is in battle with their hillbilly neighbors, the Bumpus, while eagerly awaiting the discovery of the perfect fishing spot, and the Mother is attempting to collect all of the pieces of a glass china set at a local movie theater.

5.3

Year:

1994

Sesame Street | All-Star 25th Birthday: Stars and Street Forever!

Sesame Street All-Star 25th Birthday: Stars and Street Forever! was a 1994 TV special that aired on ABC to celebrate Sesame Street's 25th anniversary. It was originally broadcast on May 18, 1994. The show featured Joe Pesci (as Ronald Grump), Corbin Bernsen (as real estate attorney, Arnie), Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman (as a Worm TV hosts), John Goodman (as Tough Guy Helpline operator), Charles Grodin (as Chaz), Julia Louis-Dreyfus (as reporter Kathie Lee Kathie), Rosie O'Donnell (as the Good Hope Fairy), Susan Sarandon (as Bitsy), Barbara Walters (reporting for 25/25), and Regis Philbin and Kathie Lee Gifford (as themselves).

7.0

Year:

1994

Clifford

When his brother asks him to look after his young son, Clifford, Martin Daniels agrees, taking the boy into his home and introducing him to his future wife, Sarah. Clifford is fixated on the idea of visiting a famed theme park, and Martin, an engineer who helped build the park, makes plans to take him. But, when Clifford reveals himself to be a first-rate brat, his uncle goes bonkers, and a loony inter-generational standoff ensues.

5.0

Year:

1994

Beethoven's 2nd

Beethoven is back -- and this time, he has a whole brood with him now that he's met his canine match, Missy, and fathered a family. The only problem is that Missy's owner, Regina, wants to sell the puppies and tear the clan apart. It's up to Beethoven and the Newton kids to save the day and keep everyone together.

5.5

Year:

1993

Heart and Souls

A fateful night in 1959, four people die when the bus they are riding crashes. They continue as ghosts; their souls become eternally entwined to the life of a child born at the moment of their deaths as his guardians. Baby Thomas grows up to be a businessman who has memories of his playmates, but assumes they are products of his youthful imagination. When the ghosts realize they need Thomas' help to move on to the afterlife, they decide to make an appearance once more.

6.9

Year:

1993

So I Married an Axe Murderer

Just after a bad breakup, Charlie MacKenzie falls for lovely butcher Harriet Michaels and introduces her to his parents. But, as voracious consumers of sensational tabloids, his parents soon come to suspect that Harriet is actually a notorious serial killer -- "Mrs. X" -- wanted in connection with a string of bizarre honeymoon killings. Thinking his parents foolish, Charlie proposes to Harriet. But while on his honeymoon with her, he begins to fear they were right.

6.1

Year:

1993

Dave

A sweet-natured Temp Agency operator and amateur Presidential look-alike is recruited by the Secret Service to become a temporary stand-in for the President of the United States.

6.7

Year:

1993

Beethoven

The Newton family live in their comfortable home, but there seems to something missing. This "hole" is filled by a small puppy, who walks into their home and their lives. Beethoven, as he is named, grows into a giant of a dog... a St Bernard. Doctor Varnick, the local vet has a secret and horrible sideline, which requires lots of dogs for experiments. Beethoven is on the bad doctor's list.

5.8

Year:

1992

Taking Care of Business

An uptight advertising exec has his entire life in a filofax organizer which mistakenly ends up in the hands of a friendly convict who poses as him.

6.3

Year:

1990

The Muppets at Walt Disney World

Filmed right after the merger between Disney and Jim Henson productions, the Muppet's are featured heading to the greatest place on earth, Walt Disney World. Kermit and Robin take the gang to the swamp for a vacation in Califorina. It is the annual Bug Fry and it's a journey to the roots again for Kermit and Robin. However, the rest of the cast is less than excited about being in a stinking bog. When it is mentioned that they can see the fireworks from Disney, everyone is excited and wants to go to the park instead of being at the bug fry. Kermit says the'll take a short peak and be right back. As the Muppets accidentally break into the park, security tries to round them all up as they visit all of the parks. Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Disney/MGM. Finally, after being round back up, they get a chance to meet the one and only Mickey Mouse and show a huge musical number at the end.

6.4

Year:

1990

Midnight Run

A bounty hunter pursues a former Mafia accountant who embezzled $15 million of mob money. He is also being chased by a rival bounty hunter, the F.B.I., and his old mob boss after jumping bail.

7.2

Year:

1988

You Can't Hurry Love

Aspiring director Eddie moves from the Midwest to Los Angeles, where he rooms with his cousin and attempts to establish himself in advertising — but he doesn't have much luck. Seeking something worthwhile, Eddie decides to shift his focus to looking for love through a video dating service. He goes through one bad date after another, but the only thing he finds interesting about the service is Peggy Kellogg, one of the employees.

4.6

Year:

1988

The Couch Trip

The escaped delinquent John W. Burns, Jr. replaces Dr. Maitlin on a radio show, saying he's the psychiatrist Lawrence Baird.

5.4

Year:

1988

Ishtar

Two terrible lounge singers get booked to play a gig in a Moroccan hotel but somehow become pawns in an international power play between the CIA, the Emir of Ishtar, and the rebels trying to overthrow his regime.

4.5

Year:

1987

King Kong! The Living Legend

Documentary special to promote the release of King Kong Lives, the grand opening of the King Kong attraction at Universal theme park, as well as a look back at the history of King Kong in the movies.

0.0

Year:

1986

Last Resort

George Lollar takes his family on vacation with "Club Sand", a shoddy and untrustworthy company. On their tropical island, they find soldiers everywhere, an unhelpful staff, inhospitable accomodation and undesirable holiday makers, but everyone except for George manages to have fun in the sun.

3.4

Year:

1986

Movers & Shakers

Studio head Joe Mulholland promises his dying producer and mentor, Saul Gritz, to adapt a popular sex manual into a film, despite his better judgment. Unable to figure out how to turn the nonfiction book into a narrative movie, Mulholland enlists the services of Herb Dorman, a screenwriter of popular romantic films with a bad marriage, and volatile director Sid Spokane to help him create a movie.

3.9

Year:

1985

The Woman in Red

When a happily married family man, who would never consider an affair, meets a beautiful woman in red, he is totally infatuated and desperate to make her acquaintance. However, as he tries out various schemes to sneak out to meet her, he realizes that adultery is not quite as easy as it looks.

6.2

Year:

1984

The Lonely Guy

A writer for a greeting card company learns the true meaning of loneliness when he comes home to find his girlfriend in bed with another man.

6.3

Year:

1984

Charley's Aunt

Charley's Aunt is a farce in three acts written by Brandon Thomas. The story centres on Lord Fancourt Babberley, an undergraduate whose friends Jack and Charley persuade him to impersonate the latter's aunt.

0.0

Year:

1983

Night of 100 Stars

The most glittering, expensive, and exhausting videotaping session in television history took place Friday February 19, 1982 at New York's Radio City Music Hall. The event, for which ticket-buyers paid up to $1,000 a seat (tax-deductible as a contribution to the Actors' Fund) was billed as "The Night of 100 Stars" but, actually, around 230 stars took part. And most of the audience of 5,800 had no idea in advance that they were paying to see a TV taping, complete with long waits for set and costume changes, tape rewinding, and the like. Executive producer Alexander Cohen estimated that the 5,800 Radio City Music Hall seats sold out at prices ranging from $25 to $1,000. The show itself cost about $4 million to produce and was expected to yield around $2 million for the new addition to the Actors Fund retirement home in Englewood, N. J. ABC is reputed to have paid more than $5 million for the television rights.

6.5

Year:

1982

The Great Muppet Caper

Kermit and Fozzie are newspaper reporters sent to London to interview Lady Holiday, a wealthy fashion designer whose priceless diamond necklace is stolen. Kermit meets and falls in love with her secretary, Miss Piggy. The jewel thieves strike again, and this time frame Miss Piggy. It's up to Kermit and Muppets to bring the real culprits to justice.

6.8

Year:

1981

The Incredible Shrinking Woman

After being exposed to a bizarre mixture of household chemicals, Pat Kramer begins to shrink. This baffles scientists, makes parenting difficult, warms the hearts of Americans, and captures the attention of a group of people who want to take over the world. This evil group plots to kidnap Pat and perform experiments on her so that they can eventually shrink everyone.

5.3

Year:

1981

Seems Like Old Times

After being falsely accused of robbing a bank, a writer seeks the help of his lawyer ex-wife to clear his name. However, hilarity ensues when he must hide from her husband, who’s throwing a party for law enforcement officials.

6.3

Year:

1980

It's My Turn

A successful but stressed mathematics professor goes to her father's wedding and falls in love with her father's bride's son, a prematurely retired pro baseball player. She must choose between him and her current boyfriend, between Chicago and New York, and between research and administration.

5.8

Year:

1980

Sunburn

A model and a private eye help a New York insurance investigator on a deadly case in Acapulco.

5.0

Year:

1979

Real Life

A pushy, narcissistic filmmaker persuades a Phoenix family to let him and his crew film their everyday lives, in the manner of the ground-breaking PBS series "An American Family".

6.5

Year:

1979

The Grass Is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank

A comedy-drama about a New York couple who decides to dump the hassle of the big city, pack up the kids and move to what they think is the easy life of suburbia.

0.0

Year:

1978

Heaven Can Wait

Joe Pendleton is a quarterback preparing to lead his team to the superbowl when he is almost killed in an accident. An overanxious angel plucks him to heaven only to discover that he wasn't ready to die, and that his body has been cremated. A new body must be found, and that of a recently-murdered millionaire is chosen. His wife and accountant—the murderers—are confused by this development, as he buys the L.A. Rams in order to once again quarterback them into the Superbowl.

6.6

Year:

1978

Just Me and You

A salesman travels cross country with a quirky New Yorker.

5.0

Year:

1978

The Meanest Men in the West

Bronson and Marvin star as murderous half-brothers who are running from the law as well as each other. A climatic confrontation proves to each of them just how mean the other can be. "The Meanest Men in the West" is actually an amalgam of two episodes of the hit 1960's TV series, "The Virginian." In one installment, a wealthy man's daughter is kidnapped by a nasty gunslinger. But the crime is only just a means for the ruffian to draw the tough title character into a blood- thirsty revenge scheme. In the second, a drifter burglarizes the Shiloh ranch. Then an unhinged girl relies on the man to aid in her flight from home.

4.1

Year:

1978

It Happened One Christmas

It's Christmas Eve 1944 in the small town of Bedford Falls, New York. A despondent and suicidal Mary Bailey Hatch is praying for guidance on what to do about an incident no fault of her own which threatens her name and the community standing of her longtime family business, the Bailey Building and Loan, which she took over after the passing of her father. What Mary does not know is that most in town, including her husband George Hatch and their children, are also praying for her. All the prayers are heard by Joseph, God's gatekeeper of prayers. As there are no other angels available on such a busy day, Joseph assigns Clara Oddbody, angel second class (i.e. she has yet to receive her wings), to Mary's case, which he reluctantly does as Clara has never been assigned a case on her own in the two hundred years she's been in heaven for good reason.

3.7

Year:

1977

The Paul Simon Special

Paul Simon just wants to perform his songs although an arrogant director keeps on interrupting him with crazy ideas.

8.0

Year:

1977

Thieves

Martin and Sally Cramer grew up on the hardscrabble Lower East Side, where Sally still teaches; meanwhile, Martin's the head of a fancy private school. Romantic dalliances with others convince them that they're meant to be together despite their differences, a decision that's cemented, oddly enough, by an over-the-top argument that draws the police.

3.7

Year:

1977

King Kong

An oil company expedition disturbs the peace of a giant ape and brings him back to New York to exploit him.

6.2

Year:

1976

11 Harrowhouse

A small time diamond merchant jumps at the chance to supervise the purchase and cutting of a large first class diamond. But when the diamond is stolen from him, he is blackmailed into pulling off a major heist at the Diamond Exchange, located at 11 Harrowhouse.

5.7

Year:

1974

The Heartbreak Kid

Three days into his Miami honeymoon with needy and unsophisticated Lila, Lenny meets tall, blonde Kelly. This confirms his fear that he has made a serious mistake and he decides he wants to be with Kelly instead.

6.6

Year:

1972

Catch-22

A bombardier in World War II tries desperately to escape the insanity of the war. However, sometimes insanity is the only sane way to cope with a crazy situation.

6.7

Year:

1970

Simon and Garfunkel: Songs of America

“Songs of America” shows the two on stage, in the studio and on a concert tour across a turbulent country. Their ambitious Bridge Over Troubled Water album had yet to be released and the glorious title song was heard here by the general public for the very first time. The program showed news clips of labor leader/activist Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers, the Poor People’s Campaign’s march on Washington, the assassinations of Martin Luther King, JFK and Robert Kennedy and other events that were emblematic of the era. “Songs of America” was originally sponsored by the Bell Telephone Company, but the execs there got cold feet when they saw what they’d paid for—legend has it that they looked at the footage of JFK, RFK and MLK during the (powerful!) “Bridge Over Troubled Water” segment (approx 12 minutes in) and asked for more Republicans! (Not assassinated Republicans, just more Republicans...you know, for balance!) The special was eventually picked up by CBS.

0.0

Year:

1969

Rosemary's Baby

A young couple, Rosemary and Guy, moves into an infamous New York apartment building, known by frightening legends and mysterious events, with the purpose of starting a family.

7.8

Year:

1968

Sex and the College Girl

This early 1960s film depicts the trivial pursuits and relationships of two college age girls on a weekend vacation to a luxury resort in Puerto Rico.

4.0

Year:

1964

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

A ship sent to investigate a wave of mysterious sinkings encounters the advanced submarine, the Nautilus, commanded by Captain Nemo.

7.0

Year:

1954