Deaths 2022

Deaths 2021

Deaths 2020

Deaths 2019

Deaths 2018

Deaths 2017

Deaths 2016

Deaths 2015

Deaths 2014

Deaths 2013

Deaths 2012

Deaths 2011

Deaths 2010

Deaths 2009


Full list by date of death

Charles Grodin

Actor

Born - 21 April 1935, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Died - 18 May 2021

Shy-looking, chubby, fuzzily dark-haired, eternally young American actor, good at light comedy and comedy-thrillers and seemingly on the edge of top stardom in the mid 1970s. That didn't quite happen, and he later seemed content to lend his diffident cynicism as back-up to the stars in Tony Randall fashion. A witty raconteur, he later headed a successful talk show on TV in the 1990s, a decade that also saw him as the dog-hating dad in the 'Beethoven' film comedies. Born Charles Grodinsky, he dropped out of university to pursue an acting career, and made a fleeting film debut in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea in 1954. His next film, Sex and the College Girl (1964), wasn't released until 1970, by which time he had got a foothold in films and TV: Rosemary's Baby (1968), Catch-22 (1970), a first leading role in The Heartbreak Kid (1972), 11 Harrowhouse (1974), King Kong (1976), Heaven Can Wait (1978), Seems Like Old Times (1980), The Incredible Shrinking Woman (1980), The Great Muppet Caper (1981), The Lonely Guy (1983), The Woman in Red (1984), Movers & Shakers (1985), The Couch Trip (1987), Midnight Run (1988), Filofax (1990), Beethoven (1991), Dave (1993), Beethoven's 2nd (1993), The Ex (2006), While We're Young (2014), The Comedian (2016) and An Imperfect Murder (2017), his last. He died from bone marrow cancer, survived by his (second) wife of 37 years, Elissa, and by two children.