Charles Grodin, ‘Midnight Run’ and ‘Beethoven’ Star, Dead at 86

Actor Charles Grodin, who captured audiences’ hearts in films such as The Heartbreak Kid, Midnight Run and the Beethoven movies, has died. Grodin died at the age of 86 Tuesday of bone marrow cancer at his home in Wilton, Connecticut, his son, Nicholas, told The New York Times.

Grodin’s TV, film and Broadway credits are numerous, but he first really stepped into the spotlight in 1972’s The Heartbreak Kid, where he played sporting goods salesman Lenny Cantrow, who would fall for another woman, played by Cybill Shepherd, while on his Miami honeymoon. The Pittsburgh native opened up about his breakout role in a 2009 interview with The A.V. Club, saying, “I thought the character in The Heartbreak Kid was a despicable guy, but I play it with full sincerity. My job isn’t to judge it. If it wasn’t for Elaine May, I probably would never have had that movie career.”

Grodin’s arguably most mainstream role was playing opposite Robert De Niro in the action-comedy Midnight Run, in which he portrayed an accountant convicted of embezzlement being transported across the country to face the consequences of his actions. Then his role in the 1992 family comedy Beethoven and its 1993 sequel cemented Grodin as a household name after his straight man role to the family’s dog created laughs at every turn.

Grodin’s self-described questioning nature didn’t come from being a desire to be “a wise guy,” he continued to The A.V. Club, but more from a desire to know the answers to those questions. “I really say what I’m thinking,” he said at the time. “I remember the first Beethoven movie, the director complimented me after a scene and said what he particularly liked about what I did, and I said, ‘Thank you, but I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t do that, because that will tend to make me self-conscious. I’m not aware of what I’m doing; I’m just trying to be involved in the situation.’”

After 1994, Grodin took a large step back from film, appearing in 2006’s The Ex as well as 2014’s The Humbling and While We’re Young in rare appearances. He also penned a column for the New York Daily News for nearly a decade and was the author of several books, including 1989’s It Would Be So Nice If You Weren’t Here, 1992’s How I Get Through Life, 1993’s Freddie the Fly and 2009’s How I Got to Be Whoever It Is I Am.