Rob Reiner remembered for beloved films, iconic performances

Rob Reiner, the son of a comedy giant who became one himself thanks to films like The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally and This Is Spinal Tap, is being remembered for his iconic contributions to the entertainment industry following the shocking news of his death.

Rainer, 78, and his wife Michelle Singer were found dead on Sunday at their home in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles in what police called an “apparent homicide.” Their son Nick Rayner was arrested on murder charges.

“It is with deep sadness that we announce the tragic passing of Michelle and Rob Reiner. “We are heartbroken by this sudden loss and ask for privacy during this incredibly difficult time,” their family said in a statement obtained by Variety and other outlets.

Robert Reiner was born in the Bronx on March 6, 1947. As a young man, he decided to follow in his father's footsteps in the entertainment industry. He attended film school at UCLA and began appearing in small roles on various television shows in the 1960s.

Reiner grew up thinking that his father, Carl Reiner, did not understand him and did not find him funny. But Reiner Jr. has largely emulated his own career, working both in front of and behind the camera.

“My father thought, 'Oh my God, this poor kid is worried about being in the shadow of his famous father,'” Reiner said. “60 Minutes” earlier this year, recalling the temptation to change his name. “And he says, 'What do you want to change your name to?' And I said, “Carl.” I just wanted to be like him.”

He added: “Norman Lear was the first one to catch me. I mean, I played jacks with his daughter. Norman says to my father, “You know, this kid is really funny.” And I think my father said, “What? This child? This child? He… gloomy, sits quietly. He’s not… you know, he’s not funny.”

Starting out as a writer for The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, Reiner's breakthrough came when, at the age of 23, producer and family friend Norman Lear cast him in the film All in the Family as Archie Bunker's liberal son-in-law, Michael “Meathead” Stivic. Reiner told 60 Minutes that he thought the show would only last 13 weeks, but it was on the air for eight years, five of which were the top show in the country.

“I remember reading the script and thinking, This is such a good script, so sharp and so brilliant,” he said.CBS Sunday morningin 2010. “Under no circumstances will this be broadcast on American television.”

Reiner was nominated five times for Emmy Awards for his performance on the series, winning in 1974 and 1978. Reiner also found a mentor in Lear. He called him his “second father.”

Lear, who died in 2023 at the age of 101reciprocated this feeling. Lear's family said in a statement Sunday night that he “often called Rob his son and their close relationship was extraordinary.”

It was towards the end of Reiner's tenure on the show that he came up with the idea his first film: The largely improvised 1984 cult classic “This is Spinal Tap,” which lovingly parodies the fictional British rock band. This fall, the sequel “Spinal Tap II: The End Continues” was released.

“Well, people said, 'I can't believe your first movie will be improvised, there won't be a script. And it's scary.” But for me it was the other way around. I wasn’t afraid,” he told 60 Minutes.

The film began a four-year stretch that resulted in a trio of American classics—Stand by Me (1986), The Princess Bride (1987) and When Harry Met Sally… (1989)—all of which are among the most widely cited films of the 20th century.

Reiner told 60 Minutes that Stand By Me, his 1986 film adaptation of Stephen King's The Body, was loosely based on his relationship with his father.

“I’m writing this scene, I’m crying. I'm really crying. When I filmed it, I knew he loved me and understood me, but as a little boy, that’s what I felt,” he said.

The film, about four boys who go on a quest to find the body of a missing boy, became a coming-of-age classic, bringing breakthrough performances to its young cast, especially River Phoenix. One of those colleagues, Jerry O'Connell, called the news “just surreal” in an interview with CBS Mornings on Monday.

“Rob was like a father to me,” O'Connell said. “Everything I have is because of Rob Reiner. Everything I have.”

As his stock rose, Reiner devoted himself to adapting William Goldman's The Princess Bride, a 1973 book that Reiner had loved since his father gave him a copy. Everyone from Francois Truffaut to Robert Redford considered adapting Goldman's book, but ultimately Reiner (from Goldman's own script) had to capture The Princess Bride's unique comic tone. But only once did he receive Goldman's blessing.

“At the door he greeted me and said, ‘This 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 about it?” — Reiner recalled in an interview with the Television Academy. “And he and I sat down and started talking about what I thought should be done with the film.”

Despite its modest success in theaters, the film, starring Cary Elwes, Mandy Patinkin, Wallace Shawn, Andre the Giant and Robin Wright, grew in popularity over the years, leading to countless impressions of Inigo Montoya's vow of vengeance and the risky nature of the land wars in Asia.

Over the next four decades, Reiner, a warm and gregarious character on screen and an outspoken liberal advocate off it, remained a constant presence in Hollywood. The production company he co-founded, Castle Rock Entertainment, produced an enviable string of hits, including Seinfeld and The Shawshank Redemption. By the turn of the century the level of success had declined significantly, but Reiner revived it earlier in the decade. Reiner and Castle Rock released the highly anticipated sequel this fall. “Spinal Tap II: The End Continues.”

“Are we crazy to make another film? It's crazy,” Reiner told 60 Minutes about the sequel. “The bar is too high.”

Throughout this time, Reiner was one of the film industry's most passionate Democratic activists, regularly fundraising and campaigning on liberal issues. He was a co-founder of the American Equal Rights Foundation, which challenged in court California's ban on same-sex marriage, Proposition 8. He also led the campaign for Proposition 10, a California initiative to fund early childhood development services through a tobacco tax. Reiner has also been an outspoken critic of President Trump.

It was also a family thing. Reiner's father opposed the communist hunt for McCarthyism in the 1950s, and his mother, Estelle Reiner, a singer and actress, protested the Vietnam War.

“If you are a Nepo child, doors will open,” Reiner told The Guardian in 2024. “But you have to deliver. If you don’t deliver, the door will close as quickly as it opened.”

Reiner was married to Penny Marshall, an actor and director, for 10 years starting in 1971. Like Reiner, Marshall rose to fame on the sitcom Laverne & Shirley but has found a more lasting legacy behind the camera. Marshall died 2018.

After their divorce, Reiner suggested a dating comedy at a dinner with Nora Ephron. Writing what became When Harry Met Sally…, Efron and Reiner chronicled the 12-year relationship between a man and a woman, memorably played in the film by Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan.

Along the way, the film's ending changed, as did some of the film's unforgettable moments. The famous line “I'll take what she has”, uttered after witnessing Ryan's fake orgasm in “Katz's Delicacy”, was suggested by Krystal, uttered by none other than Reiner's mother, Estelle.

“I knock on the table: “Yes! Yes! Yes!” And I understand that I am having an orgasm in front of my mother, you know? My mom is there,” Reiner told 60 Minutes.

The film's happy ending also had a basis in reality. Reiner said he changed it after meeting photographer Singer on the set of the film. They married in 1989 and had three children: Nick, Jake and Romy.

Reiner's subsequent films included another King adaptation, Misery (1990), and a pair of dramas written by Aaron Sorkin: the court-martial tale A Few Good Men (1992) and 1995's The American President.

By the end of the 90s, Reiner's films (1996's Ghosts of Mississippi, 2007's The Bucket List) were no longer as successful. But he remained a frequent actor, often memorably enlivening films such as Sleepless in Seattle (1993) and The Wolf of Wall Street (2013). In 2023, he directed the documentary “Albert Brooks: Defending My Life.”

In an interview with 60 Minutes this year, Reiner said he never had any idea whether his films would work.

“If I like it, I say, 'Well, at least I like it,'” Reiner said. “I hope someone likes it.”