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https://variety.com/2021/film/news/olympia-dukakis-dead-dies-oscar-winner-moonstruck-1234964478/
And by reading that news, I also learnes that actor Johnny Crawford (The Rifleman's son in the western TV series) has also passed away, aged 75 :
https://variety.com/2021/tv/global/johnny-crawford-dead-dies-the-rifleman-1234963779/?cx_testId=49&cx_testVariant=cx_1&cx_artPos=4#cxrecs_s
https://www.cbr.com/john-paul-leon-dies-static-earth-x/
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/05/05/entertainment/nick-kamen-dies-intl-scli-gbr/index.html
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/andre-maranne-actor-in-pink-panther-movies-dies-at-94-1234949284/
Actress and model Tawny Kitaen has passed away, aged 59 :
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/05/08/entertainment/obituary-tawny-kitaen-dies-trnd/index.html
Thanks for sharing that. I had no idea he was the guy in TB giving a financial report. It's always fun watching shows like The Saint and other ITC productions that had those types of familiar faces.
I always liked him as the buffer between Chief Inspector Dreyfuss and Clouseau in the Pink Panther films, amused and annoyed at once by Clouseau. He's one of those character actors who just adds to the experience while the leads got to shine.
One of my dad’s favorites.
He had a gift for playing sarcastic, annoying and sometimes even flat out unpleasant characters in a funny way. I've always liked actors that fill that niche.
Midnight Run is one of his most famous films --a near-perfect one in my view-- and he is great in it alongside Robert De Niro. There is some of the trademark Grodin smarminess early on, as the two main characters have an adversarial relationship, but this eventually gives way to some heartfelt moments between them, especially at the end. One of the funniest scenes is when Grodin impersonates an FBI agent to con some money out of a store owner, with De Niro playing along ("Litmus configururation"). If I'm not misremembering, the studio wanted Robin Williams for the part so director Martin Brest had to stand his ground to allow the less-bankable Grodin to play the role. But it was worth it.
Clifford is an enjoyable, undervalued film in which he really milks that talent for playing sarcastic and smug people. I love the moment when his model for a transit system blows up just when he's about to begin his business presentation. This is of course the work of Clifford, his nephew-from-hell played by Martin Short. Grodin's crazy-eyed expressions in this scene and in the amusement park climax are memorable. The scene with the toy dinosaur is hilarious as well. This was the first film I saw him in and even as a youngster he made a positive impression on me.
Another famous role of his is in Rosemary's Baby, playing the doctor who first appears to be perfectly reasonable and understanding of Rosemary's plight, and then goes and acts in the opposite way. He said in an interview that sometimes people on the street expressed annoyance at him for doing that to her, almost as if they weren't aware he was playing a role.
I haven't seen The Heartbreak Kid but I do know its success set him off in a brief career phase of almost being a straight leading man, in films like 11 Harrowhouse, a heist picture where he shared the screen with James Mason, among others.
While on a break from shooting that film in a British castle, he was resting in a room when a maid approached him and asked him what he was doing there. He explained and she told him "it would be so nice if you weren't here." That phrase eventually became the title of one of his books, as he thought it captured the essence of being an actor and dealing with constant rejection. I read that book and another one he wrote, and in them he explained that his mental approach to dealing with the process of acting auditions was to realize that the people he was auditioning for weren't necessarily more skillful or knowledgeable than he was, they were just people. That gave him the ability to act with confidence in front of them.
His books tell some funny and memorable stories and they capture some of the common foibles of human beings, such as the fear of appearing ignorant. I recall a story about him acting in a play with Anthony Quinn, when in the middle of a scene, Quinn supposedly heard some noise coming from backstage and shouted "will you stop that!?", thus taking everyone out of the moment. Later on, Quinn approached Grodin to apologize for that, and the latter didn't accept his apology. Whether he was right to do that or not, the point is that his philosophy was not to regard other people as superior or inferior, but as just people. Quinn's stature as an actor didn't necessarily mean his behavior had to be accepted.
Lastly, I can't help but mention Grodin's interviews in talk shows like Carson and Letterman. They're top-notch bits of comedy in which put-downs and sarcastic remarks are exchanged to hilarious effect. I revisit them every once in a while. I love this one where at one point Letterman tells him he has a "lot of respect" for him, but unwittingly adds a little pause in the middle of the word respect, and Grodin throws it right back at him ("I have a lot of re-spect for you as well.")
Another memorable one is when brings his "attorney" with him to sue Letterman for slander.
Before his retirement from films in the 90s he always seemed younger than he actually was. Well, no matter. Thanks for the great memories, Chuck!
RIP Charles Grodin
Edit: I just remembered an interesting story: there was a book in the 70s titled The Joy of Sex, and some Hollywood studio bought the rights to it just to be able to use the title. They asked Grodin to write a story, any story, that suited the title. Grodin decided to write about a writer asked by a Hollywood studio to write a story, any story, that suited the title of a book titled The Joy of Sex, whose rights had been bought by a Hollywood studio (haha!). They didn't care for the idea so Grodin tried to get his script made elsewhere, and without the title of course. At one point Peter Falk was going to star in it, but eventually his role went to Walter Matthau. That film bombed, and a film titled Joy of Sex was eventually made with a different story.
R. I. P. Charles Grodin, being born in the 1970's Grodin films were omnipresent on TV when growing up, memorable actor.
Grodin was fun in Heaven Can Wait, he often played dastardly characters.
https://deadline.com/2021/05/paul-mooney-dies-trailblazing-comedian-writing-partner-of-richard-pryor-was-79-1234760086/
I first saw him in BEETHOVEN though and I still struggle to understand how he was already in his late 50s at the time. I always thought of him as a guy in his late 30s/early 40s. The man must have had some incredible genes!!! Plus the kids in that movie were all pretty young so I just couldn’t see the dad being in his late 50s. He just didn’t look it.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEZg48d6USo&ved=2ahUKEwiuyqXygdfwAhU3D2MBHfAWB90Qo7QBegQIBBAB&usg=AOvVaw3xlhXp8FD0Zv8N9qTn1uey
10 yrs ago : Randy Savage (when he died it kinda felt like I had lost a brother or something......for sure Vince felt the same way)
'Cream of the Crop!'
https://www.gamesradar.com/berserk-creator-kentaro-miura-dies-at-age-54/
https://www.lemonde.fr/disparitions/article/2021/05/22/jacqueline-caurat-speakerine-pionniere-et-star-de-la-television-est-morte_6081165_3382.html
And the oldest sportsman in the world, cyclist Robert Marchand, has passed away, aged 109. He beat the world record for cyclist over 100 in 2017 :
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/robert-marchand-dead/2021/05/22/5041bbaa-bb0f-11eb-96b9-e949d5397de9_story.html
Indeed. Sir Roger is never to be forgotten. One of my favourite Bonds. ❤
https://www.cbr.com/eric-carle-obituary/
Sad loss in the world of children's literature. He lived a long life and shared his talent with a lot of kids. My wife is a preschool teacher and I work in preschool also and we just read The Very Hungry Caterpillar during a spring/nature investigation.
Always treasured and remembered! ^:)^
https://www.snopes.com/news/2021/05/27/kevin-clark-drummer-school-of-rock/