Charles Grodin
PMP Network Presents
Charles Grodin, a versatile actor known for his roles in film and television, reflects on his career trajectory. He shares insights into how he landed early roles and the public perception of his on-screen personas. Grodin also touches upon the subjective nature of audience taste in entertainment.
Charles Grodin
About Charles Grodin
Charles Grodin was an American actor, comedian, and author whose deadpan delivery and understated humor defined a distinctive screen presence across five decades. He earned acclaim for roles in The Heartbreak Kid, Midnight Run, and Beethoven, often playing exasperated or self-absorbed characters. Grodin also appeared on Broadway, hosted talk shows, wrote an autobiography, and won an Emmy Award for writing in 1997.
In this interview
- Recalls being cast by Roman Polanski after casting director saw him on Broadway
- Reflects on playing jerks in movies and how audiences believe on-screen personas
- Discusses Taking Care of Business as modest success, comparing it to Trading Places
- Explains taste is subjective, using classical music and Albert Brooks as examples
“Oftentimes people do believe what they see you do, and that would be true of talk shows as well.”— Charles Grodin, in this interview
Since this interview
Grodin continued acting into his eighties, appearing in FX's Louie, Noah Baumbach's While We're Young, and ABC's Madoff miniseries through 2016. He died on May 18, 2021, at age 86 in Wilton, Connecticut.
