Charles Grodin

Charles Grodin was an American actor, comedian, author, and television talk show host.

Grodin began his acting career in the 1960s in television. 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).

Often cast as a put-upon straight man, Grodin became familiar as a supporting actor in many Hollywood comedies of the era. 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, 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.

Grodin died May 18, 2021, in Wilton, Connecticut. He was 86.