Charles Grodin says he doesn't like to leave his home very often. He does his CBS radio commentary and newspaper columns from his home in Wilton, Connecticut. He also writes his plays and books from home, saying working from home is the key. He also says he doesn't like to travel, and that the reason he keeps an apartment in Manhattan is so his son and wife can get away from him.
What does get Grodin out of the house is his charity work. Actually, from all he told me he's involved with during an interview at the Red Barn Restaurant in Westport, I'm not sure he is ever at home. The night after the interview, Grodin served as Master of Ceremonies for the Children's Cancer and Blood Foundation. The following Monday night he said he had a reading of a play he worked on with the boy he mentors through Mentoring USA. Grodin is also donating all the sales of his 2009 book, "How I Got to be Whoever it is I Am," to the charity.
Then coming up October 30th, Grodin will serve as MC for the Malta House Celebrate Life Concert in Norwalk. He also mentioned work with Road Recovery and various other charities. I first met him in 2004 at a Human Resources Council charity event where I hosted the live auction and he was the key note speaker. I was told to try to raise as much money as possible, but keep it tight because Grodin doesn't like to be out late.
Here we shot a little video with my iPhone. He was very much "in character" here. Remember when he used to go on Johnny Carson and refuse to answer certain questions? That was his act.
Of course, the fling with Miss Piggy he speaks about in above video happened in The Great Muppet Caper. I asked about it because of something in "How I Got to be Whoever it is I Am" that made me laugh. He said once he thought this major politician was going to ask him to run for office. Instead, he asked what it was like to work with Miss Piggy. The lesson, Grodin writes, "Watch out for delusions of grandeur."
That actually lead to the chapter on Co-ops which outlines his experience of trying to buy a place on Fifth Avenue in New York City and his experience of being asked to sit on the board of directors. It was so unpleasant, he says he found it riveting. He also wrote the play "The Right Kind of People" based on his experience. His play will open the Square One Theatre Company's 20th anniversary season this November in Stratford. Grodin says the play is universal in how it looks at the power private organizations sometimes feel they have. Grodin isn't in the play, but he will host a question and answer session Saturday, November 21st. The theatre will also show a double feature of "Midnight Run" and "The Heartbreak Kid" on Saturday, November 14th.
Grodin says he really doesn't have much of an interest in acting anymore. Instead, he says his main focus right now is the justice system. He says he was involved with repealing the Rockefeller Drug laws and now he's working on the Felony Murder rule. He says the United States is the only country that still has it. He says he is working to raise awareness, and hopefully get it ruled unconstitutional.
In the meantime he's keeping busy writing. He says he has a play about Shakespeare that Jerry Zaks is supposed to direct starring John Lithgow. He says "The Right Kind of People" is being considered for runs in other theaters, plus he has another play about male friendship and boundaries. He has another play that he says he's turned into a screen play that would star Carol Burnett and Rosie O'Donnell that they're trying to sell as a cable movie. He says he also has a musical that no one has even seen. He describes it as a two-person comedy, of which he says he'll do a reading of eventually.
Grodin is also known to talk excessively. He was impeached as class president in fifth grade for talking too much. He says his family gets aggravated with him, and that his son recently said to him, "say 1/8th of everything that comes to your mind."
While his act may get old to those always around him, Grodin says his life purpose is to use his voice for those who can't be heard.
Heather Kovar
HRKOVAR@News12.com
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