Beethoven movie cast
Beethoven is a 1992 American family comedy film, directed by Brian Levant and starring Charles Grodin and Bonnie Hunt as George and Alice Newton, respectively. It is the first installment of the Beethoven film series.
The film was written by John Hughes (under the pseudonym Edmond Dantès) and Amy Holden Jones. The story centers on a St. Bernard dog named after the composer Ludwig van Beethoven and owned by the Newton family. It costars Nicholle Tom as Ryce Newton, Christopher Castile as Ted Newton, Sarah Rose Karr as Emily Newton, Stanley Tucci as Vernon, Oliver Platt as Harvey, and Dean Jones as Dr. Herman Varnick.
Charles Grodin
Charles Sidney Grodin was an American actor, comedian, author, and television talk show host. Grodin began his acting career in the 1960s. Grodin was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Orthodox Jewish parents, Theodore, who owned a store that sold wholesale supplies, and Lena, who worked in her husband's business and volunteered for disabled veterans. His paternal grandfather had changed the family name from Grodinsky to Grodin. His maternal grandfather was an immigrant from Russia who "came from a long line of rabbis" and moved to the Chesapeake Bay area at the turn of the 20th century. Grodin had an older brother, Jack.
Grodin graduated as valedictorian from Peabody High School, where he was elected class president all four years. He attended the University of Miami but left without graduating to pursue acting. He studied acting at HB Studio in New York City under Uta Hagen. On May 18, 2021, he passed away due to bone marrow cancer. Charles Grodin played George Newton, husband to Alice Newton and father to Ryce, Ted, and Emily