Charles Grodin.

God, no. He's a pompous ass.

Why don't you just read it instead of soliciting others' opinion of the man?

Back in the day cnbc (Karl Rove?) gave Grodin an hour each weeknight to whine that republicans were being mean to Bill Clinton. And MY GOD did he whine. Literally.

"Leave my president alooooooone". Chris Crocker stole that bit, Grodin invented it.

part of an IMDB review:

[quote] What Grodin did was of course political, by definition, but more accurately personal. Sure, Regis complains every morning over every little incident in his life and Seinfeld made a billion out of reporting colorfully on the tiniest non-incident he encountered. But Grodin carried the Dick Cavett-style of over-the-top sincerity past the breaking point; a loyal viewer like myself was downright embarrassed at times about what was coming out of Grodin's mouth spontaneously. Often satirized at the time (he's sort of a sincere version of the blowhards that Martin Short can portray so effortlessly), Grodin's soapbox outbursts nightly were classic in a way. You either were riveted by his stream of consciousness and non sequiturs, or you quickly changed the channel, never to return.

Also with Steven Seagal and Milton Berle on the list of hosts banned from ever again appearing on SNL.

Cybill Shepherd slept with him, ergo Cybill Shepherd will sleep with anyone.

The ONLY host on a TCM Guest Host night to have the hubris to show TWO of his own movies....... And he was awful in both of them.

Pile on, my black angels!

Canned from The Graduate

[quote]God, no. He's a pompous ass.

That's why I found it interesting that time he was going around with Carol Burnett promoting being kind to others given how he was rumored to be a total asshole in real life.

I never knew he was an asshole. Keep the stories coming!

I enjoyed his books, OP. "It Would Be So Nice if You Weren't Here" in particular.

BAD TOUPEES

There is one semi-amusing movie he did. Pretty good for the first 40 min, Just Me and You (1978) with Louise Lasser.

At the end of Grodin's 1977 SNL hosting gig, John Belushi announced that he was "the worst host that we have ever had on this show!", and he wasn't kidding, either. Grodin didn't show up for rehearsals that week, so he stumbled and ad-libbed his way through the show, killing the jokes by stepping on the other actors' lines. As a result, he was the first person to be banned from the show, and his episode was kept out of syndication for years.

Damn, Charles Grodin is 82 now. I loved him when he hosted his own program, The Charles Grodin Show, in the mid- to late 90s, the early days of CNBC.

I found this regarding his SNL appearance:

[quote] It was believed for years that Grodin legitimately didn’t know the show was live and missed rehearsal, stumbling through all his performances. There was also an “urban legend” going that this caused Lorne to never ask him back again (or “ban” him as those less perceptive among us would say). However, Grodin himself revealed to The Onion AV club recently that he pitched that as an idea to the writers and they wrote the entire show around this suggestion. I would say he performed it brilliantly and I doubt anyone would argue that. He even mentioned that he had been asked back, but refused to host again just to keep the illusion going.

I liked him as the accountant in Dave. Also as the accountant in Midnight Run. I guess I like him when he plays accountants.

Sure, Jan/Chuck @ r14.

[quote]I enjoyed his books, OP. "It Would Be So Nice if You Weren't Here" in particular.

That's the one I have. Didn't know there were more.

I enjoy him as an actor. As a pundit or talk show guest? Insufferable.

Didn't he get in trouble on Letterman as well?

Charles Grodin played Dr. C.C. Hill, Rosemary Woodhouse's hot temporary obstetrician in "Rosemary's Baby".

The CNBC show was gruesome because he whined so much, mostly about Bill Clinton being persecuted but also about Howard Stern's boorishness. It was pathetic.

[quote]Charles Grodin played Dr. C.C. Hill, Rosemary Woodhouse's hot temporary obstetrician in "Rosemary's Baby".

A Mia connection! Points for that!

Bar none, he is the co-star with whom Robert De Niro had the most chemistry. Forget the much lauded Pacino/De Niro diner scene in "Heat", Grodin/De Niro in "Midnight Run" blows 'em away.

He was pretty funny with Steve Martin in The Lonely Guy. Their improvised scene about the price of haircuts still makes me laugh today.

Midnight Run is a fave, and so unintentionally homoerotic - it has to be intentional

R17, yes he had several. Amazon shows 3 others, I think I read two of them years ago and I remember enjoying them as well.

[R22] Thank you. Happy New Year!

Another vote for Charles' performance in Midnight Run.

When his and Deniro's characters are at the train station ticketing window, with Deniro's character trying to convince the ticketing agent he's a US Federal Marshall who has taken Grodin's character into custody; Grodin steals the scene with a mere head shake behind Deniro's shoulder.

Another favorite: Grodin's performance in "Heaven Can Wait." In one of the best scenes in this film, his character runs to stand behind a bedroom curtain a moment before Beatty's character's bursts into the bedroom. Beatty's character addresses Grodin's character while he's still behind the curtain. Grodin's character immediately answers him, without pulling back the curtain. Another scene stealer.

The full (HCW) movie is currently on YT, free. Fast forward to this scene to see even more of Grodin's comic genius.

Love him and his subtle comic touches! His comedic timing was perfection.

Taking Care Of Business is still one of my favorite movies. When Belushi hands him the phone, the way he's talking and answering still cracks me up all these years later.

He may seem to be a curmudgeon, but he is very nice and down to earth with his fans.

About 10 years ago, my friend worked at a bookstore frequented by Mr. Grodin. He might act cranky (at first), but he warmed up to my friend and they ended up having some nice (albeit brief) conversations about books.

I’m a Charles Grodin fan. And Midnight Run remains one of my favorite movies of all time.

He and his bad head rug were insufferable in “Seems Like Old Times” with Chevy Chase and Goldie Hawn.

Hung?

Remember those dreadful Beethoven movies?

Not that I ever saw one, maybe they were hilarious.

My favorite scene ever: Grodin having lunch with Cybill Shepherd and her parents in "The Heartbreak Kid", where he is trying to explain that he loves their daughter, but he's on his honeymoon with another woman. Although Eddie Albert says nothing, his reactions are priceless.

[quote] Remember those dreadful Beethoven movies?

[quote]Not that I ever saw one, maybe they were hilarious.

This post represents everything that's wrong with the Internet in one stinky "I hate it but I never tried it" turd.

I've always adored Charles Grodin, yes, including his ill-fated talk show.

What r28 said about "Heaven Can Wait", which is, imho, Warren Beatty's best film. I remember seeing it on the big screen. Julie Chistie's beauty took my breath away.

"Don't let any of Mr. Farnsworth's racial statements offend you..." - Grodin's character to Los Angeles Ram Deacon Jones still cracks me up because of Grodin's perfect delivery of the line.

[quote]This post represents everything that's wrong with the Internet in one stinky "I hate it but I never tried it" turd.

If you were sharper you'd realise that you often don't need to try something to know that it's bad.

Turd, indeed.

It's not just that you didn't try it, R37, but you felt it was important to share your uninformed opinion just to be snarky AND then you just had to drop in the faux-snooty ("Of course, I would never stoop to viewing such drivel").

Never met him, but I did sort of know his daughter, Marian. She was hilarious.