# Charles Grodin dies at 86 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** celebrity-death\ **Created:** [May 18, 2021, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-grodin-dies-at-86/942385 "2021-05-18T18:55:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2021, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-grodin-dies-at-86/942385/1 "2021-05-18T18:55:20Z")
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**Author:** ![plankter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ba0ec/32.png) [@plankter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plankter)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2021, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-grodin-dies-at-86/942385/2 "2021-05-18T19:13:54Z")
I literally put down my first bite of lunch and said, “Oh! Damn!” when I saw the thread title. What a marvelous, deadpan, sardonic delivery he had. I need to watch “Midnight Run” in his honor. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2021, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-grodin-dies-at-86/942385/3 "2021-05-18T19:22:29Z")
> [@plankter](#): > > I need to watch “Midnight Run” in his honor. **Midnight Run** had one of my favorite exchanges in movies. “You don’t look like a criminal,” says the kid in the house of de Niro’s ex-wife. “I’m a white collar criminal,” Grodin explains gently. He did interview shows and, IIRC, a comment segment on the second 60 minutes show. I hadn’t realized he was that old, but Wikipedia says his first screen role was an uncredited one in the 1954 **20,000 Leagues Under the Sea** (!!) ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2021, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-grodin-dies-at-86/942385/4 "2021-05-18T19:51:08Z")
His fake-feud with Letterman was the way my family really saw him the most. He appeared multiple times, sometimes even two nights in a row. The two pretended to have a longstanding dislike for each other and both of them played it right. Grodin played the role of “disrespected actor who deserves more respect” and Letterman played the role of “sarcastic jerk who makes fun of the actor” and the two argued. [Here was the time he brought his lawyer with him.](https://youtu.be/IYN2w6NVChY) ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2021, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-grodin-dies-at-86/942385/5 "2021-05-18T19:56:23Z")
My first association with Charles Grodin was Steve Martin’s friend in “The Lonely Guy”. - You know what gets me? I go to get a haircut, they charge me, like, four bucks, which is the same amount of money they would charge anybody to come in. But say a guy like Michael Landon goes into the shop where I go, they would charge him four bucks, yet he’s got, like, a hundred times more hair than I do. By rights, they should be charging Michael Landon like four hundred dollars. - Dogs are great. They leap all over you. They lick your face. They don’t even have to like you. It’s their instinct. Hitler had a dog. That dog went crazy over him. ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2021, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-grodin-dies-at-86/942385/6 "2021-05-18T19:57:49Z")
Good grief, I had no idea he was so old. I always assumed he was part of my generation, not my dad’s. > [@Mahaloth](#): > > Here was the time he brought his lawyer with him. I was literally about to post that! I love how Grodin storms off the stage and the “lawyer” says, “He’s psychotic.” 😆 ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2021, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-grodin-dies-at-86/942385/7 "2021-05-18T20:11:07Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Wikipedia says his first screen role was an uncredited one in the 1954 **20,000 Leagues Under the Sea** (!!) A quick image search turns up this: [![](https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uVF5Z22VGyk/XtB_FfEMWjI/AAAAAAAAD7I/BOHc3NxCRAU1IEYtlXfmvkKft3q4omy7wCK4BGAsYHg/w640-h253/Grodin.jpg) ](https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uVF5Z22VGyk/XtB_FfEMWjI/AAAAAAAAD7I/BOHc3NxCRAU1IEYtlXfmvkKft3q4omy7wCK4BGAsYHg/w640-h253/Grodin.jpg) Apparently one of the sailors on the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln. Think that’s him? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2021, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-grodin-dies-at-86/942385/8 "2021-05-18T20:29:20Z")
> [@plankter](#): > > I need to watch “Midnight Run” in his honor. He was great in that one. Especially right at the end when he says “psst” and gives de Niro the money belt. Played it with just the right level of cool and calm, with a twinkle in his eye. And when, in all seriousness, he quashes de Niro’s enthusiasm for opening a restaurant: “Bad idea. Most new restaurants go under within 9.6 months.” (can’t remember the exact fraction, but you get the idea.) ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2021, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-grodin-dies-at-86/942385/9 "2021-05-18T20:44:00Z")
Wow he was way older than I ever thought he was. That would put him in his early 50s in “Midnight Run.” ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2021, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-grodin-dies-at-86/942385/10 "2021-05-18T20:49:21Z")
You lied to me first… That dialogue from Midnight Run is one of my favorites. Like others have said I had no idea he was that old! RIP ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2021, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-grodin-dies-at-86/942385/11 "2021-05-18T20:51:08Z")
Just by way of comparison, Warren Beatty is 84 and Dustin Hoffman is 83. ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2021, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-grodin-dies-at-86/942385/12 "2021-05-18T21:06:03Z")
Supposedly, De Niro wanted to be legitimately jolted and amused for a scene in Midnight Run, rather than just faking the emotions. [From Vulture.com](https://www.vulture.com/2014/07/movie-that-made-robert-de-niro-bankable-midnight-run.html): Here’s an account from an item in the New York _Times_ : “It was understood that Mr. Grodin might have some opportunity to improvise. The ‘night boxcar scene,’ as Mr. Grodin calls it, was, he said, improvised entirely. The situation begins with Mr. Grodin as Mardukas shutting a boxcar door in Mr. De Niro’s face in an effort to escape him. Mr. De Niro, in the role of Jack Walsh, promptly boards the car from the other side — enraged. But, Mr. Grodin said of the scene, ‘We knew it had to end with De Niro revealing something personal about himself’ — the history of a wristwatch that has sentimental value. ‘How do you get to that point in a couple of minutes where he’s going to reveal himself? What do you say?’ Mr. Grodin went back to his motel and wrote down about 15 lines he thought might change the mood of Mr. De Niro, who tends to stay enraged when he becomes enraged. Back to the boxcar, with a crew of about 40 people looking on: comes the crucial moment. Mr. Grodin tries line No. 1: ‘When you get your money for turning me in, you might want to spend some on your wardrobe.’ ‘Not a glimmer of a smile,’ said Mr. Grodin. ‘Nothing. [Director Martin] Brest comes over: ‘I love you. You’ve got to find a way.’ ‘It took me ten days to get ready for Take 1,’ Mr. Grodin said. ‘All those people in the boxcar. It was a tough situation. Out of desperation I said, ‘What could I say to Robert De Niro to get him off the mood he was in?’ [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/stSweLZol7U/maxresdefault.jpg "Midnight Run (7/9) Movie CLIP - A New Watch (1988) HD") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stSweLZol7U) ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2021, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-grodin-dies-at-86/942385/13 "2021-05-18T21:17:39Z")
I remeber when he took over for tom snyder on cnbc when they had talk shows on from like 6-10 at night and there was a controversy that happened and he and cnbc parted ways very bitterly although i forget the exact incident … Did his career ever get infamous flosp “clifford” and "the couch trip ? " ? > **[The Couch Trip (1988) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094910/)** > > The Couch Trip: Directed by Michael Ritchie. With Dan Aykroyd, Walter Matthau, Charles Grodin, Donna Dixon. A burnt-out shrink needs a temp. A charming escaped convict takes over his practice and radio show. ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2021, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-grodin-dies-at-86/942385/14 "2021-05-18T21:27:03Z")
> [Charles Grodin dies at 86](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-grodin-dies-at-86/942385) And I bet he STILL hasn’t stopped bitching about it. 😃 He had a shtick that served him well. He and Carson used to ‘get into it’ quite a bit. Carson seemed to really enjoy his visits. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2021, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-grodin-dies-at-86/942385/15 "2021-05-18T21:41:07Z")
Sorry to disturb you, Mr. Farnsworth. Mrs. Farnsworth saw a mouse. She just saw a mouse? No. Before. Outside. But she relives it. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2021, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-grodin-dies-at-86/942385/16 "2021-05-18T22:11:12Z")
He had a small, but perfectly played, role in So I Married An Axe Murderer. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2021, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-grodin-dies-at-86/942385/17 "2021-05-18T22:21:12Z")
Ok, may I _please_ commandeer your car? ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2021, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-grodin-dies-at-86/942385/18 "2021-05-18T22:25:06Z")
Just epic sarcasm and eye-rolling. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2021, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-grodin-dies-at-86/942385/19 "2021-05-18T23:57:37Z")
From “Midnight Run”: _What’s the name of your establishment?_ Red’s Corner Bar. _Are you Red?_ Yessir. _Do you dye your hair?_ (Laughs) No. _Why do they call you Red?_ It’s short for redwood. My last name’s Wood. _What’s your first name?_ Bill. _(Cold stare)_ _Thank you for your cooperation Bill._ ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2021, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-grodin-dies-at-86/942385/20 "2021-05-19T00:37:36Z")
I know you don’t have the authority to do that. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-grodin-dies-at-86/942385.md?page=2)