![]() He appeared on Broadway and in several TV shows in the 1960s and had a small role in “Rosemary’s Baby” in 1968. Despite his droll sophistication, he never graduated from college, dropping out of the University of Miami to pursue acting and study with Lee Strasberg and Uta Hagen in New York. I think Johnny Carson really appreciated it.”Ĭharles Grodin was born in Pittsburgh on April 21, 1935. 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. Rick Anderson, retired sports editor of The Daily World, now is a contributing columnist.Charles Grodin, the urbane actor who made his roles as a curmudgeon seem cool, died Tuesday at his home in Connecticut of bone marrow cancer. But the Parkers find a way to cope.Īt the end of this humbug of a year, that message is somehow reassuring. Neither Ralphie’s first outing with the BB gun nor the family’s intended Christmas dinner works out as planned. One of the virtues of “A Christmas Story” is that it doesn’t settle for a conventional happy ending. According to film historian Leonard Maltin, the sequel was barely released theatrically. Interestingly, Clark resorted to more conventional casting choices - Kieran Culkin as Ralphie and comedy veterans Charles Grodin and Mary Steenburgen as the parents - when he made the sequel “It Runs in My Family” 11 years later. He makes the audience see the humanity lurking beneath his character’s grumpy exterior. At 61 when the film was made, he was 27 years older than his on-screen wife.īut director Bob Clark, who had worked with him previously, believed McGavin was “born to play the role” of the blustering father despite his lack of comedy experience. If Nicholson would have been unorthodox, McGavin represented one of the most out-of-left-field casting choices in cinematic history.Ī Spokane native who grew up in Tacoma, McGavin alternated between tough-guy heroes (such as the title character in television’s “Kolchak: The Night Stalker”) and occasional villains during a long career in movies and TV. In any event, Nicholson’s salary demands exceeded the film’s budget. ![]() ![]() But his arch, cynical screen persona was inappropriate for this character, and his casting would have shifted the film’s focus from the boy to the dad. Previously best known as the young mother whose son is abducted by aliens in the science fiction classic “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” Dillon easily transitions to the role of Ralphie’s strait-laced but compassionate mom.Įxecutives of the MGM studio envisioned Jack Nicholson, of all people, to play the father.Įven though his parenting skills left something to be desired in “The Shining,” Nicholson was versatile enough to play the role. He comes across as a normal kid, filled with delusions of grandeur and not above stretching the truth. There are also gentle pokes at tacky advertising promotions and inappropriate gifts from distant relatives.Īlthough often presented with exaggerated humor, these vignettes work because they represent recognizable situations.īillingsley makes an appealing Ralphie, in part because you seldom catch him acting. Linked by Shepherd’s narration, the story also touches on Ralphie’s relationship with his parents (played by Melinda Dillon and Darren McGavin) and kid brother, his encounters with the school bully, his punishment for uttering an obscenity, and a harrowing visit to the department-store Santa. Fortunately, it represents only one piece of this episodic film’s mosaic. That’s a pretty thin premise to base a plot for even a 93-minute movie. He wants a Red Ryder air rifle for Christmas, despite his mother’s fear that the BBs will put his eye out. ![]() Peter Billingsley stars as Ralphie Parker, a 9-year-old growing up in Indiana during the early 1940s.
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