Charles Grodin dies at age 86
Actor Charles Grodin, the star of comedy hits Midnight Run and The Heartbreak Kid, has died at the age of 86.
Grodin, who passed away on Tuesday at his home in Wilton, Connecticut, had been suffering from bone marrow cancer, his son Nicholas told The New York Times.
The acting legend famously turned down the title role in The Graduate, a part that made Dustin Hoffman a star, but his own career took off with a lead role in Elaine May's 1972 comedy The Heartbreak Kid.
Other notable early roles included playing a doctor in 1968's Rosemary's Baby and in Mike Nichols's 1970 war comedy Catch-22.
In 1975, he originated the role of George in Same Time, Next Year opposite Ellen Burstyn - the hit play which ran on Broadway for three years.
Grodin won new acclaim after playing the mob accountant forced into a road trip with Robert De Niro's bounty hunter in the hit 1988 comedy Midnight Run.
He also played a conniving assistant to Warren Beatty's billionaire in 1978's Heaven Can Wait, and won a generation of younger fans as the exasperated father dealing with an unruly St. Bernard dog in the Beethoven films.
His other credits include The Great Muppet Caper, The Incredible Shrinking Woman, and Seems Like Old Times.
Grodin, a popular guest on the talk show circuit, also scored his own show that ran from 1995 to 1998 on CNBC.
Most recently, the veteran star played a doctor on the series Louie and a victim of Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme in the 2016 mini-series Madoff.
