Charles Grodin(1935-2021)

Admitted in a 2006 interview on Late Show with David Letterman (1993) that the surly attitude he adopts on talk shows is an act he developed in order to be a more interesting guest. According to Grodin, he was scheduled to make his first appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962) in 1973, and was to be in the segment immediately following Diana Ross performing a medley of her hits. Realizing that he would bomb if he followed her as himself, he adopted this churlish character who has little patience for the questions of the host. Carson loved it and it became his trademark.

I'm not that easy to insult, believe me, but cracks about people on movies who are there to pick up paychecks or actors who look like they phoned it in get me. People who write this stuff obviously have never been on the set of a movie from beginning to end. Just showing up somewhere every day for twelve to sixteen hours for three or four months should be enough to disqualify movie people from those cracks. The only thing about a movie that can be phoned in is a review.