Charles Grodin, the father of "Beethoven", dies at 86

Charles Grodin may not have been an actor known to the general public outside of the American scene, but he actually represented an emblem for comedy cinema in the late 1980s and 1990s. He appeared in more than 60 films, Highlighting above them the installments of the family comedy of the dog Beethoven and the road movie that he shot with Robert De Niro, Escape at Midnight. As is usual in every actor who begins his career, Grodin began in the interpretation participating sporadically, in episodes of television series in the 60s such as Play of the Week, The Defenders and The Young Marrieds. Despite being an actor who over time specialized in comic roles, his first feature film was a romantic drama in Sex and the College Girl in 1964. It would take him 4 years to return to celluloid, however he would do so under the direction of a genius as Roman Polanski in the horror film The Devil’s Seed, in which Grodin got the small role of Doctor Hill. The actor would not have a participation in another big-budget film until he participated in the King Kong produced by Dino de Laurentis in 1976. But the best film of his career would come to him sharing the cast and protagonism with nothing more and nothing less than Robert de Niro in the flight at midnight that both made at the end of the 80s. The few nominations that the film obtained were taken by De Niro given and his consecrated career. Grodin perhaps deserved a little more recognition, showing how his work reflected that he could keep up with the titan of acting.However, and with a strong sense of the comic destiny of his filmography, world fame did not come to him for sharing a cast with the actor from One of Ours, but for the most famous dog in cinema: Beethoven. 90s and the genre of family comedies was a trend among Hollywood productions. Home Alone, Hook and Free Willy are perfect examples of how the industry sought to attract families (and therefore the maximum number of people) to theaters. Beethoven: One More of the Family grossed nearly $ 150 million at its premiere in 1992 and all under a budget of less than $ 20 million. Charles Grodin at first did not want to stay with the poor animal that caused waste, destroying the garden and complicating the life of the family man he played. But not even he could resist the charms of such an adorable and intelligent animal.Beethoven 2: The Family Grows was in turn a profitable continuation that exceeded 100 million, even without reaching the figures of the first installment. The career from the 2000s was gradually degraded with small participations as in the film by Noah Baumbach When We Were Young.