Nick Grodin said, “I know he was proud of the Simon and Garfunkel special he directed, because it has to do with human rights and social issues that were not very popular at the time.” and All That,” and directed the 1969 Simon and Garfunkel TV special “Songs of America.” He also cowrote and directed an off-Broadway play, “Hooray! It’s a Glorious Day. He appeared on Broadway and in several TV shows in the 1960s and had a small role in “Rosemary’s Baby” in 1968. Despite his droll sophistication, he never graduated from college, dropping out of the University of Miami to pursue acting and study with Lee Strasberg and Uta Hagen in New York. I think Johnny Carson really appreciated it.”Ĭharles Grodin was born in Pittsburgh on April 21, 1935. A lot of people did not think it was a joke. “He didn’t think it was very interesting to just go on and say, ‘Oh, I’m in this movie coming out,’ so he adopted this comedic persona where he would be angry. “That was a comedy persona he adopted for when he would go on talk shows,” said Nick Grodin, who confirmed his father’s death to The Times. He extended that to his many talk-show appearances, in which he seemed uncomfortable and even reluctant to be there - all an act, according to his son, Nick. Known for leading or coleading classic comedies such as “The Heartbreak Kid” and “Midnight Run” and for ruthlessly stealing scenes in “Heaven Can Wait,” “Dave” and “The Great Muppet Caper,” Grodin cultivated a screen persona that mined his own discomfort for laughs. The performer, who leaves behind a catalog of memorable performances and a legacy of lasting activism, was 86. It’s a joy to watch but also acts as a painful reminder of a time when this icon of the screen was still cropping up in material equal to his talent and not beneath it.Charles Grodin, the urbane actor who made his roles as a curmudgeon seem cool, died Tuesday at his home in Connecticut of bone marrow cancer. His work in this scene is easily up there with the more feted, showy acting evident in the likes of Raging Bull and Taxi Driver. The emotional awkwardness of this strained encounter, and Walsh’s reaction to his daughter offering her long-absentee father the little money she’s amassed from babysitting, is truly heart-breaking and deeply moving. Father and daughter: De Niro and Danielle DuClos in Midnight Run This is best illustrated in the middle of the film where Walsh is forced to pay his estranged ex-wife and teenage daughter a visit for help. While director Martin Brest manages to sneak in some unexpected moments of pathos and ends with a scene of earned bromance which is hugely touching, none of this would work without the great odd couple chemistry De Niro and Grodin have, and the former’s adept ability to balance humour with empathy. Midnight Run was released on 20 July, 1988īut key to the film’s success undoubtedly lies in De Niro’s Walsh. Gaining a fair amount of infamy for its excessive cursing, Midnight Run is now considerably tamer than anything produced in the contemporary Hollywood landscape, but it remains a hugely entertaining and good-natured romp. Initially believing his job to be a midnight run (industry slang for easy delivery) Walsh’s work is cut out by a horde of FBI on his tale, a belligerent competitor (John Ashton), his scheming bondsman (Joe Pantoliano) and the criminal who has been embezzled (Dennis Farina). In the film, De Niro’s jaded lawman chances upon his juiciest score in the form of crooked accountant Jonathan Mardukas (Charles Grodin) who has been caught skimming off the mob and has skipped bail. De Niro and Charles Grodin aka Jack Walsh and Jonathan Mardukas Plugging into the immensely popular buddy movie sub-genre of that era, 1988’s Midnight Run saw De Niro showcase a looser, more humorous side to his screen persona (but no less watchable) as ex-cop turned bounty hunter Jack Walsh. In reality, his greatest comedic turn occurred 12 years previous to that film, and was both subtler and much more affecting than anything he brought to ‘ Parents’ and it’s two subsequent sequels. His role as the vigilant ex-CIA father in Meet the Parents was the film which alerted a mainstream audience to the latent rib-tickling talents of celebrated method heavyweight Robert De Niro.
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