Rest in Peace, Actor Charles Grodin (‘The Heartbreak Kid’, ‘Heaven Can Wait,’ More): 1935-2021

Charles Grodin, the acclaimed actor known for his roles in motion pictures such as The Heartbreak Kid, Midnight Run, Heaven Can Wait and the Beethoven series of family films, has died at the age of 86, it was reported by numerous outlets on Tuesday.

The New York Times reported that Grodin’s son said his father died of bone marrow cancer.

Variety‘s look back at Grodin’s career notes that while he was rarely the center of his films, he was quite often among the strongest elements, citing Roger Ebert’s review of the 1988 adventure comedy Midnight Run, in which Grodin co-starred with Robert De Niro:

“De Niro is often said to be the best movie actor of his generation. Grodin has been in the movies just about as long, has appeared in more different titles and is of more or less the same generation, but has never received the recognition he deserves — maybe because he often plays a quiet, self-effacing everyman. In ‘Midnight Run,’ where he is literally handcuffed to De Niro at times, he is every bit the master’s equal, and in the crucial final scene it is Grodin who finds the emotional truth that defines their relationship.”

Grodin also hosted his own talk show on CNBC from 1995 to 1998, even welcoming Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel to the show for its series premiere:

An interesting tidbit in the career of Charles Grodin was that he turned down the starring role in The Graduate, which eventually helped launch Dustin Hoffman to stardom.

R.I.P. Charles Grodin. A brilliant comedy actor. I had the wonderful experience of working with him in my first feature “Real Life” and he was amazing. Rest In Peace, Chuck.

— Albert Brooks (@AlbertBrooks) May 18, 2021

May Charles Grodin rest in peace.

RIP Charles Grodin, an absolute genius pic.twitter.com/11YBdTYrdD

— Steve Agee (@steveagee) May 18, 2021