Charles Grodin, an American actor, comedian, author, and television talk show host, passed away Tuesday after battling cancer, at his home in Wilton, Connecticut. He was 86.
He died of bone marrow cancer, according to his son, actor Nicholas Grodin.
Grodin’s comic characters were always hapless and his serious characters gave that trademark haplessness a sinister twist.
He was a versatile actor who was best known for his roles in Same Time, Next Year on Broadway, and popular movies like The Heartbreak Kid, Midnight Run, and Beethoven.
Grodin also had his own talk show for a time in the 1990s and was a frequent guest on the talk shows of others, making 36 appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and more than 40 on David Letterman’s NBC and CBS shows combined, according to The New York Times.
He was also an author who wrote a number of plays and books. He never won a prestige acting award, but he did win a writing Emmy for a 1977 Paul Simon television special, per the news outlet.
Grodin had managed to land a smattering of stage and television roles when, in 1962, he received his first big break, landing a part in a Broadway comedy called Tchin-Tchin, which starred Anthony Quinn and Margaret Leighton, according to The New York Times.
Born on April 21, 1935, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Grodin attended the University of Miami but left without graduating to pursue acting.
Grodin’s first marriage to Julie Ferguson ended in divorce. They shared a daughter, the comedian Marion Grodin. In 1983, he married Elissa Durwood, who survives him, along with his son Nicholas. For a period in the 2000s, Grodin had to give up show business so he can become a stay-at-home dad to his children.
