5 memorable Charles Grodin movie performances

He was a Pittsburgher born and raised in Highland Park and a Peabody High School graduate. Though not as famous as fellow Peabody grad Gene Kelly, Charles Grodin also made many great movies.

Pittsburghers knew Grodin was from the Steel City because he kept a touch of his Yinzer accent through all of the strange and wonderful movie roles he played.

Born on April 21, 1935, Grodin died of bone marrow cancer on Tuesday at the age of 86.

Grodin earned a scholarship to study acting at the University of Miami but there is no drama school on the planet that could have taught him his quirky, deadpan approach to comedy and storytelling. While it’s been said of many actors, Grodin truly had a style of his own, one he no doubt fashioned from experiences he had growing up in the East End.

Here are five memorable screen performances by Charles Grodin.

Lenny Cantrow - The Heartbreak Kid (1972)

This is the movie that made Grodin a star. He plays Lenny Cantrow, a self-centered sporting goods salesman who is on his honeymoon when he meets another woman, played by a young Cybill Shepherd, who was then at the height of her modeling career. Lenny is smitten with Shepherd’s character Kelly Corcoran and pursues her in the most awkward way possible, telling outrageous lies to his wife so he can sneak off to spend time on the beach with his new love interest.

Grodin uses all of his comedic tools to make the movie both uncomfortable to watch and hilarious at the same time — from the awkward restaurant scene where he breaks up with his wife after only five days of marriage to the tension he creates with Kelly’s father, played by Eddie Albert.

Aarfy Aardvark – Catch 22 (1970)

In this blackest of comedies based on the novel by Joseph Heller, Grodin plays Aarfy Aardvark, a crazed U.S. Army captain stationed on an American base in the Mediterranean during World War II. Grodin summons all of his creepiest energy to play Aardvark, who commits a murder. When fellow Capt. John Yossarian, played by Alan Arkin, sees the dead girl’s body in the street, he rushes up to Aardvark’s room. The look on Grodin’s face tells the audience everything that need be known about what happened.

Jonathan “The Duke” Mardukas – Midnight Run (1988)

This is arguably Grodin’s best picture. He plays Jonathan “The Duke” Mardukas, an accountant arrested for embezzling millions of dollars from a Chicago mob boss. Bounty hunter Jack Walsh, played by Robert De Niro, is hired to find Mardukas and bring him in. Walsh accepts after he is told the job is an easy “midnight run.” Hilariously, it proves to be anything but.

Mardukas proceeds to get on De Niro’s nerves in a way that only Grodin could create. The chemistry between Grodin and De Niro is amazing, with Grodin’s constant chatter and De Niro’s slow burn producing much laughter. One of the funniest parts of the movie is when De Niro’s character refuses to speak to Grodin’s and says, “I got two words for you – shut the ____ up.” Grodin then proceeds to create a conversation between the two of them in which he speaks for his character and De Niro’s. It’s a great bit. As the two eventually begin to understand one another, they grow close and the ending is very touching.

Fred Wilson – King Kong (1976)

Folks might have forgotten about this movie or that Grodin was one of its stars. But the role of the sleazy Fred Wilson is one that Grodin was born to play. Wilson is travelling to a mysterious island looking for oil when he crosses paths with the gigantic ape known to inhabitants of the island as Kong. Wilson doesn’t get the oil but comes up with the idea of exploiting the ape by capturing him and taking him to New York where he is put on display for profit.

The character is cut from the same cloth as that of Carl Denham, played so well by Robert Armstrong in the original version of “King Kong,” from 1932. Like the original, this film needed a scheming opportunist to propel the story and Grodin plays him to the hilt.

George Newton – Beethoven (1992)

One doesn’t necessarily associate Grodin with family comedies, but this was actually one of his more successful movies and one that certainly warms the heart. Grodin plays beleaguered father George Newton, who feels he has enough to worry about between his job and his family and doesn’t want the responsibility of owning a dog, especially a St. Bernard. But that’s what he ends up with when Beethoven, so named because he barks along when one of George’s kids plays a portion of Beethoven’s Fifth on the piano, joins the family.

When an unscrupulous veterinarian played by Dean Jones tries to convince George that the dog is a danger to his family and should be euthanized, Grodin’s character proves to be a softie, realizing just how much he loves the dog. Just a part of the wide range he displayed as an actor.