Charles Grodin and the Jewish question The late Charles Grodin was great in The Heartbreak Kid. It was a commentary on American Judaism. May 20, 2021 Charles Grodin, one of cinema’s most accomplished comic actors, has died at the age of 86. For me, the quintessential Charles Grodin performance was his role of Lenny Cantrow, the newly-married bridegroom, in the 1972 original film version of The Heartbreak Kid, with Jeannie Berlin, Cybill Shepherd, and the late Eddie Albert. The movie is the story of a Jewish couple on their honeymoon in Miami Beach. Lenny (Grodin) is a New Yorker, clearly Jewish, as is his bride, Lila, played by Jeannie Berlin. When Lila suffers an excruciating sunburn, Lenny meets and falls in love with Kelly, a beautiful Midwestern girl, played by Cybill Shepherd.