Robert Kennedy once said, “Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope.” Charles Grodin, one of the great comedic actors of his generation (The Heartbreak Kid, Midnight Run, Beethoven, etc.) unleashed a tidal wave of hope — as he spent the last twenty years of his life fighting to get wrongly convicted people (most of whom were mothers of color with young children), out of prison.

The film includes interviews with Robert De Niro, Steve Martin, Martin Short, Elaine May, Carol Burnett, Alan Arkin, Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel, Ellen Burstyn, Lewis Black, Marlo Thomas, Marc Maron, Richard Kind, Jon Lovitz, plus, several of the women whom Mr. Grodin got out of prison.

Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Chuck had plans to be a journalism major at the University of Pittsburgh — but after seeing Elizabeth Taylor in A Place in the Sun, he decided to become an actor.  In 1962 he got his first big break co-starring in the Broadway play Tchin-Tchin.  The play was a big hit, Chuck got rave reviews, and then didn’t get another job for a year.  This led to Chuck pursuing a career in writing, producing and directing as well.

In 1969 Charles Grodin directed Simon and Garfunkel’s first television special at the peak of their fame.  Keenly sensitive to injustice, at Chuck’s urging, the special explored how Simon and Garfunkel’s music was influenced by the turbulent times of the 1960s.  The show was about human rights, the war in Vietnam, equality among the races and the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King.  

After getting acting work in episodic television and spending several years as a TV Western villain, Chuck broke into the movies with a small but pivotal role in the classic horror movie, Rosemary’s Baby.  This was followed by a role in Mike Nichols’ film Catch-22 which ultimately led to Chuck being cast in his break-out role in Elaine May’s 1972 film, The Heartbreak Kid.  Considered one of the top movie comedies of all time, Charles Grodin, after 17 years, was finally a movie star.  

Chuck continued to create brilliant comedic performances over the next few decades in such comedy hits as the Broadway play Same Time, Next Year, and the films Heaven Can Wait, Real Life and Midnight Run.

Chuck was also considered one of the funniest talk show guests ever, playing this character of a cranky, contentious guest on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and Late Show with David Letterman.  Later, he started a new career as a talk show host at CNBC. The Charles Grodin Show started out as mostly an entertainment show but then quickly morphed into an issue orientated show as Grodin tackled more meaningful topics such as homelessness and prison reform.  

Charles Grodin dedicated the last two decades of his life to prison reform as he helped get wrongly convicted people out of prison.  Relentlessly working for their release, Chuck helped reform the Rockefeller Drug Laws, which caused non-violent first-time offenders to be locked up in droves, increasing the prison population seven-fold.  At the bill signing to reform the Rockefeller Drug Laws, New York Governor George Pataki publicly cited Charles Grodin for his work in helping to change these laws.  

In 2006, this man who had never once been nominated for an acting Emmy, Tony or Oscar, yet had sent forth all those tiny ripples of hope, was honored with the William Kunstler Racial Justice Award.

Charles Grodin at his heart was a champion for justice, who not only changed people’s lives but changed history.