This Man Has Aged, Girls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                              Does anyone reading this recognize the actor, pictured above?  The other night, "Law And Order SVU" reran its controversial episode (first aired on November 22, 2012) entitled "Lessons Learned," which centered on a cultural history of sexual abuse between teachers and students at an elite Manhattan private school called Manor Hill, which, for those of us who read the New York Times knows, was a stand in for Horace Mann.  Where not only Eliot Spitzer and Ira Levin, but, most important, my beloved Monsieur, graduated.

                                                There were a bevy of guest stars, like Anthony Rapp, in a compelling performance, but the standout was the gentleman pictured, who had less hair on the broadcast than in the picture above.  It took me about fifteen minutes into the show to figure out who the actor was, and that was because I recognized the cadence of his voice.

                                                   It was Charles Grodin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                  You remember Charles Grodin, darlings???????  Dr. Hill in "Rosemary's Baby?"  "The Heartbreak Kid?" Whom I saw on Broadway, live, with Ellen Burstyn, in the original production of "Same Time, Next Year?"

                                                    In "Lessons Learned," he played Brett Forrester, a real WASP prototype--corporate honcho, Chairman Of The Board at Manor Hill; you know, someone for whom it is all about money and prestige.   And Manor Hill was SO important to him--what with his grandfather, father, himself and son being alums.

                                                     So covering up a matter like sexual abuse in a private school setting is no big deal for him at all.   Until....until........

                                                       He gets his comeuppance towards the end, when his troubled son, Nathan (Anthony Rapp) who is so dysfunctional he still lives at home (but very upper, upper, darlings, in the family guest house, not the basement, like most problem children), and lives off the family fortune, writing songs as a way to keep busy, even if they haven't, nor ever will be, published.

                                                         It turns out Nathan was one of the abused at the school, which accounts for his being troubled, but kept it hidden from his father, whom he felt would just let it slide, calling him "a fairy", like he did another kid whose mother wrote a complaint.  He screams at his father, that he cares more about Manor Hill than what was happening to his own in front of him.   The old bastard is genuinely shocked.

                                                             So much so, that, in a closing scene, showing Forrester giving what seems a politically correct speech, he closes with something unexpected......a personal apology.  Score one for Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay!!!!!)

                                                               But Charles Grodin--oh, my God, darlings!!!!!!!  The acting chops are still there; you both despise and ultimately pity (towards the end) this man who has sold out in favor of righteous capitalism.  However, it is shocking to witness the number the March Of Time has done on him!
I simply could not believe it , at first!  He certainly hasn't done a Joan Rivers, and had any work!!!!!!
Maybe he should!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                                What I learned most from "Lessons Learned," darlings, was, after seeing what Time has done to Charles Grodin, I will be sure to moisturize extra carefully!!!!!!!!!!!!!