Charles Grodin Movies and Career Information

Charles Grodin (born April 21, 1935) is an American actor, comedian, author and former cable talk show host. Grodin was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Orthodox Jewish parents Lena, who worked as an assistant in the family's store and was a volunteer for disabled veterans, and Theodore Grodin, who sold wholesale supplies. His maternal grandfather was a Russian Jewish immigrant who came from a long line of Rabbis and moved to Pittsburgh at the turn of the 20th century. Grodin has an older brother, Jack. Grodin attended the University of Miami, but did not graduate. His first acting role was in a 1962 Broadway production of Tchin-Tchin. He made his film debut in an uncredited role for Disney's 1954 film 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. In 1965, he began working as an assistant to director Gene Saks. Grodin, a student of Lee Strasberg and Uta Hagen, began appearing on several television series during the 1960s including The Virginian, and played an obstetrician in the 1968 horror film, Rosemary's Baby. During the late 1960s, he also co-wrote and directed Hooray! It's a Glorious Day...and All That, a Broadway play, and directed Lovers and Other Strangers and Thieves, also on