Rob Reiner, the son of a comedy giant who became one himself as one of the preeminent filmmakers of his generation with movies such as 鈥淭he Princess Bride,鈥� 鈥淲hen Harry Met Sally 鈥︹�� and 鈥淭his Is Spinal Tap,鈥� has died. He was 78.
Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, were in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Police Department on Monday arrested the Reiners’ 32-year-old son, Nick Reiner, and booked him on suspicion of killing his parents.
It was a tragic, shocking end to a life and career that began with a complicated father-son relationship. Reiner grew up thinking his father, , didn’t understand him or find him funny. But the younger Reiner would in many ways follow in his father’s footsteps, working both in front and behind the camera, in comedies that stretched from broad sketch work to accomplished dramedies.
鈥淢y father thought, 鈥極h, my God, this poor kid is worried about being in the shadow of a famous father,鈥欌�� Reiner told 鈥�60 Minutes鈥� in October, recalling the temptation to change his name. 鈥淎nd he says, 鈥榃hat do you want to change your name to?鈥� And I said, 鈥楥arl.鈥� I just wanted to be like him.鈥�
After starting out as a writer for 鈥淭he Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour,鈥� Reiner’s breakthrough came when he was, at age 23, cast in Norman Lear’s 鈥淎ll in the Family鈥� as Archie Bunker’s liberal son-in-law, Michael 鈥淢eathead鈥� Stivic. But by the 1980s, Reiner began as a feature film director, churning out some of the most beloved films of that, or any, era. His first film, the largely improvised 1984 cult classic 鈥淭his Is Spinal Tap,鈥� remains the quintessential mockumentary.
After the 1985 John Cusack summer comedy, 鈥淭he Sure Thing,鈥� Reiner made 鈥淪tand By Me鈥� (1986), 鈥淭he Princess Bride鈥� (1987) and 鈥淲hen Harry Met Sally 鈥︹�� (1989), a four-year stretch that resulted in a trio of American classics, all of them among the most often quoted movies of the 20th century.
A legacy on and off screen
For the next four decades, Reiner, a warm and gregarious presence on screen and an outspoken liberal advocate off it, remained a constant fixture in Hollywood. The production company he co-founded, Castle Rock Entertainment, launched an enviable string of hits, including 鈥淪einfeld鈥� and 鈥淭he Shawshank Redemption.鈥� By the turn of the century, its success rate had fallen considerably, but Reiner revived it, and this fall released the long-in-coming sequel
All the while, Reiner was one of the film industry’s most passionate Democrat activists, regularly hosting fundraisers and campaigning for liberal issues. He was co-founder of the American Foundation for Equal Rights, which challenged in court California’s ban on same-sex marriage, Proposition 8. He also chaired the campaign for Prop 10, a California initiative to fund early childhood development services with a tax on tobacco products. And Reiner was an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump.
鈥淏eneath all of the stories he produced was a deep belief in the goodness of people 鈥� and a lifelong commitment to putting that belief into action,鈥� former President Barack Obama
Political engagement ran in the family, too. Reiner’s father opposed the Communist hunt of McCarthyism in the 1950s and his mother, Estelle Reiner, a singer and actor, protested the Vietnam War.
鈥淚f you鈥檙e a nepo baby, doors will open,鈥� Reiner told the Guardian in 2024. 鈥淏ut you have to deliver. If you don鈥檛 deliver, the door will close just as fast as it opened.鈥�
鈥楢ll in the Family鈥� to 鈥楽tand By Me鈥�
Robert Reiner was born in the Bronx on March 6, 1947. As a young man, he quickly set out to follow his father into entertainment. He studied at the University of California, Los Angeles film school and, in the 1960s, began appearing in small parts in various television shows.
But when Lear saw Reiner as a key cast member in 鈥淎ll in the Family,鈥� it came as a surprise to the elder Reiner.
鈥淣orman says to my dad, 鈥榊ou know, this kid is really funny.鈥� And I think my dad said, 鈥榃hat? That kid? That kid? He鈥檚 sullen. He sits quiet. He doesn鈥檛, you know, he鈥檚 not funny.鈥� He didn鈥檛 think I was anyway,鈥� Reiner told 鈥�60 Minutes.鈥�
On 鈥淎ll in the Family,鈥� Reiner served as a pivotal foil to Carroll O鈥機onnor’s bigoted, conservative Archie Bunker. Reiner was seven times nominated for an Emmy for his performance on the show, winning in 1974 and 1978. In Lear, Reiner also found a mentor. He called him 鈥渁 second father.鈥�
鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 just that he hired me for 鈥楢ll in the Family,鈥欌�� Reiner told 鈥淎merican Masters鈥� in 2005. 鈥淚t was that I saw, in how he conducted his life, that there was room to be an activist as well. That you could use your celebrity, your good fortune, to help make some change.鈥�
Lear also helped launch Reiner as a filmmaker. He put $7.5 million of his own money to help finance 鈥淪tand By Me,鈥� Reiner’s adaptation of the Stephen King novella 鈥淭he Body.鈥� The movie, about four boys who go looking for the dead body of a missing boy, became a coming-of-age classic, made breakthroughs of its young cast (particularly River Phoenix) and even earned the praise of King.
鈥淩est in peace, Rob,鈥� King said Monday on X. 鈥淵ou always stood by me.鈥�
With his stock rising, Reiner devoted himself to adapting William Goldman’s 1973’s 鈥淭he Princess Bride,鈥� a book Reiner had loved since his father gave him a copy as a gift. Everyone from Fran莽ois Truffaut to had considered adapting Goldman’s book. It ultimately fell to Reiner (from Goldman’s own script) to capture the unique comic tone of 鈥淭he Princess Bride.鈥� But only once he had Goldman’s blessing.
鈥淎t the door he greeted me and he said, 鈥楾his is my baby. I want this on my tombstone. This is my favorite thing I’ve ever written in my life. What are you going to do with it?’鈥� Reiner recalled in a Television Academy interview. 鈥淎nd we sat down with him and started going through what I thought should be done with the film.鈥�
Though only a modest success in theaters, the movie 鈥� starring Cary Elwes, Mandy Patinkin, Wallace Shawn, Andr茅 the Giant and Robin Wright 鈥� would grow in stature over the years, leading to countless impressions of Inigo Montoya’s vow of revenge and the risky nature of land wars in Asia.
‘When Harry Met Sally …鈥�
Reiner was married to Penny Marshall, the actor and filmmaker, for 10 years beginning in 1971. Like Reiner, Marshall experienced sitcom fame, with 鈥淟averne & Shirley,鈥� but found a more lasting legacy behind the camera.
After their divorce, Reiner, at a lunch with Nora Ephron, suggested a comedy about dating. In writing what became 鈥淲hen Harry Met Sally 鈥︹�� Ephron and Reiner charted a relationship between a man and a woman (played in the film by Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan) over the course of 12 years.
Along the way, the movie’s ending changed, as did some of the film鈥檚 indelible moments. The famous line, 鈥淚鈥檒l have what she鈥檚 having,鈥� said after witnessing Ryan鈥檚 fake orgasm at Katz鈥檚 Delicatessen, was a suggestion by Crystal 鈥� delivered by none other than Reiner鈥檚 mother, Estelle.
The movie鈥檚 happy ending also had some real-life basis. Reiner met Michele Singer, a photographer, on the set of 鈥淲hen Harry Met Sally 鈥︹�� In 1989, they were wed. They had three children together: Nick, Jake and Romy.
Reiner鈥檚 subsequent films included another King adaptation, 鈥淢isery鈥� (1990) and a pair of Aaron Sorkin-penned dramas: the military courtroom tale 鈥淎 Few Good Men鈥� (1992) and 1995鈥檚 鈥淭he American President.鈥�
By the late 鈥�90s, Reiner鈥檚 films (1996鈥檚 鈥淕hosts of Mississippi,鈥� 2007鈥檚 鈥淭he Bucket List鈥�) no longer had the same success rate. But he remained a frequent actor, often memorably enlivening films like 鈥淪leepless in Seattle鈥� (1993) and 鈥淭he Wolf of Wall Street鈥� (2013). In 2023, he directed the documentary 鈥淎lbert Brooks: Defending My Life.鈥�
In an interview earlier this year with Seth Rogen, Reiner suggested everything in his career boiled down to one thing.
鈥淎ll I鈥檝e ever done is say, 鈥業s this something that is an extension of me?鈥� For 鈥楽tand by Me,鈥� I didn鈥檛 know if it was going to be successful or not. All I thought was, 鈥業 like this because I know what it feels like.鈥欌��
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