Charles Grodin the offbeat actor and writer who starred as a newlywed cad in The Heartbreak Kid and the father in the Beethoven comedies, has died at the age of 86.

Grodin’s son Nicholas said his father died on Tuesday at his home in Wilton, Connecticut, from bone marrow cancer.

Grodin appeared in a string of notable films from the 1970s onward, including Midnight Run, The Woman In Red and Heaven Can Wait.

On Broadway, he starred with Ellen Burstyn in the long-running 1970s comedy Same Time, Next Year.

He also made his mark in another sphere, as a commentator on radio and TV and author of several books, including the FX series Louie.

He first gained wide notice in the 1972 Elaine May comedy The Heartbreak Kid, as a newlywed who abandons his bride on their honeymoon for beautiful Cybill Shepherd.