![]() His dad came and stayed at our house, and it became a lifelong thing." "One particular case was a boy named Brandon Hein in California, who was sentenced to life under the felony murder law. ![]() "It wasn't just like he would have someone as a guest on his talk show and then move on it would become a lifelong journey for him where he would hold onto it," his son said. He hosted a talk show on CNBC ("The Charles Grodin Show," 1995-98) that dealt with the social and political issues of the day. He also wrote a number of books, along with a New York Daily News column that ran for nearly 10 years. He did collect an Emmy as part of the writing staff for another Paul Simon TV special in 1978, "The Paul Simon Special." He scored an Outer Circle Critics actor prize for the stage run of "Same Time, Next Year," which racked up 1,400 performances. ![]() Surprisingly, Grodin never won a major acting award. The actor broke through to mainstream success in 1972 with his leading turn in "The Heartbreak Kid" and starred in films through the ’70s and ’80s, including "Seems Like Old Times," Albert Brooks' "Real Life" (one of the first mockumentaries) and the much-maligned "Ishtar." Nick Grodin said, "I know he was proud of the Simon and Garfunkel special he directed, because it has to do with human rights and social issues that were not very popular at the time." I think Johnny Carson really appreciated it." A lot of people did not think it was a joke. "He didn't think it was very interesting to just go on and say, 'Oh, I'm in this movie coming out,' so he adopted this comedic persona where he would be angry. "That was a comedy persona he adopted for when he would go on talk shows," said Nick Grodin, who confirmed his father's death to The Times. He extended that to his many talk-show appearances, in which he seemed uncomfortable and even reluctant to be there - all an act, according to his son, Nick. Known for leading or coleading classic comedies such as "The Heartbreak Kid" and "Midnight Run" and for ruthlessly stealing scenes in "Heaven Can Wait," "Dave" and "The Great Muppet Caper," Grodin cultivated a screen persona that mined his own discomfort for laughs. The performer, who leaves behind a catalog of memorable performances and a legacy of lasting activism, was 86. The complete lack of care, research, or respect for the viewer makes it not only an unworthy sequel, but an insult to a very specific canon.Charles Grodin, right, starred with Robert De Niro in the comedy "Midnight Run." (Universal Pictures / Getty Images)Ĭharles Grodin, the urbane actor who made his roles as a curmudgeon seem cool, died Tuesday at his home in Connecticut of bone marrow cancer. This is the kind of film where kid brother Randy pines "This can't end well", as any child of the Forties would, had they grown up watching Seinfeld re-runs. Sikking (OLLIE HOPNOODLE) to reprise the role of Dad, and had Stern narrate, as he did in THE WONDER YEARS, a project in which Shepherd was initially involved. Instead of casting Daniel Stern as the Old Man, they should have hired Charles Grodin (SUMMER STORY) or James B. The worst decision made in this production was the choice of narrator, who sounds nothing like Shepherd, but gives his voice an obvious "gruff" affectation that convinces nobody that this is the same Ralph Parker. The perpetrators of A CHRISTMAS STORY 2 are also blissfully unaware that the late Jean Shepherd left a number of stories that haven't yet been mined for a screenplay, and that any combination of those cinematically as-yet untold tales would result in a better film. ![]() They've never heard of Daphne Bigelow, have no idea that the Old Man buys his cars from Friendly Fred, and are unconcerned that a younger Ralphie, Flick, and Shwartz got there first real jobs hauling washing machines up steep flights of steps in a warehouse. I mention this history not just for the casual viewer, but for the filmmakers who also have no idea that these films exist. From 1976 through 1983, Jean Shepherd made a trio of films for PBS (PHANTOM OF THE OPEN HEARTH THE GREAT AMERICAN FOURTH OF JULY & OTHER DISASTERS and THE STAR-CROSSED ROMANCE OF JOSEPHINE COSNOWSKI), as well as one for the Disney Channel (OLLIE HOPNOODLE'S HAVEN OF BLISS), and of course the theatrical sequel to A CHRISTMAS STORY (MY SUMMER STORY). Let me preface my comments by saying that I had no expectation that this "official sequel" would be anything like as good as the classic 1983 feature, but I had been a Jean Shepherd fan before that, so I was curious to revisit the Parker family. ![]()
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