Charles Grodin, droll and deadpan actor noted for the hit films The Heartbreak Kid and Midnight Run – obituary Grodin wrote plays and numerous books of memoir, and was a popular mainstay of American chat shows Charles Grodin, 1994 Credit: AP Photo/Marty Lederhandler Charles Grodin, who has died aged 86, was an adaptable actor whose droll, sardonic charm was a feature of film, television and theatre for more than 50 years; he was also a playwright and memoirist and, in the US, a familiar face as a talk-show raconteur. His movie breakthrough came in 1972 with the role of Lenny Cantrow, the impossibly romantic protagonist of the acerbic comedy The Heartbreak Kid, written by Neil Simon and directed by Elaine May.