CHARLES GRODIN

He was good enough to get leading man roles, but he rarely did. He was unremarkable looking and he had a convincing deadpan delivery of his lines that landed him lots of work. Charles Grodin was a staple character actor, mostly in the 70's and 80's. 

I think his best role was as Jonathan (The Duke) Mardukas in Midnight Run (1988). The Duke stole money from the mob and is on every criminal’s hit list. Meanwhile, bounty hunter and ex-cop Jack Walsh (Robert DeNiro) is hired to bring The Duke back to Los Angeles. The Duke fakes a panic attack on a plane and the duo is required to travel by train. Lots of funny stuff occurs and the FBI gets involved. Walsh and Mardukas get nearer and nearer to becoming friends and there’s a surprise ending.

In Rosemary’s Baby (1968) Grodin plays Dr. Hill, the only good person in the whole movie outside of Rosemary herself. Dr. Hill is Rosemary’s personal physician and tries to help her as her mysterious pregnancy moves along. Grodin’s plain looks and demeanor play nicely against the other characters. Are the other residents of their apartment house members of a Satanic cult? Did they have something to do with the pregnancy and the resulting baby? Well, most of the world knows the answers already, but it’s still scary as hell. 

Grodin is the main character in a really good heist movie: 11 Harrowhouse (1974). Grodin plays Howard Chesser, a small-time diamond merchant in England. He is unexpectably given the chance to cut a large diamond owned by wealthy Clyde Massey (Trevor Howard). When the diamond is stolen, Chesser has to organize a complicated heist of raw diamonds to pay Massey back. His idea seems nuts but it might work.

The plot of Heaven Can Wait has been used many times using lots of titles. The 1978 version features a rookie guardian angel making the mistake of sending an NFL quarterback to heaven before his time. He has to be given another chance so another body has to be found for him. Joe Pendleton (Warren Beatty) is offered the recently deceased body of millionaire Leo Farnsworth, who has just been killed by his cheating wife (Dyan Cannon) and her sleazy boyfriend (Charles Grodin). Everyone is totally confused by the new Leo, whose body is now occupied by Joe Pendleton. After that it gets complicated. 

Charles Grodin may also be seen to good effect in The Lonely Guy (1984), Dave (1983) and The Woman In Red (1984). The only thing these films have in common is the presence of Mr. Grodin. All of them are pretty good.

All of the films in this article are available on DVD. All are for grown-ups.