Elissa Durwood Grodin's late husband, Charles Grodin, was known for his prolific career, but her father may have had an even bigger impact on the film industry. Her dad was Stan Durwood — the founder of AMC Entertainment — who was widely credited with creating the modern multiplex theater, per Huffington Post. Elissa said one of the fondest memories of her childhood was being able to see countless movies for free, per The Kansas City Jewish Chronicle.
Elissa continued writing throughout her 30-year marriage to Charles. She became a novelist and wrote six children's books before crossing over to murder-mystery in 2012 with "Physics Can Be Fatal," per KCJC. The heroine of that book is the character Edwina Goodman, who Elissa said was loosely based on herself. "My protagonist is my total alter-ego," she told The Wilton Bulletin in June 2012. "I couldn't pass geometry, but she's a theoretical physicist." She continued the adventures of Edwina in multiple more murder-mystery books (via Amazon).
Even after blockbuster success, Charles "continued to live in his small studio apartment," per Hamlet Hub. Elissa finally convinced her beau to give up New York City, and the two moved to Connecticut. Though they didn't fully let go. In 2006, the Grodins bought a two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment in Manhattan. Per Dirt, the couple listed the Upper West Side apartment in 2018 with a hefty price tag of $3.2 million.
