Rob Reiner, the comedic actor and filmmaker behind groundbreaking hits like “This Is Spinal Tap” and “When Harry Met Sally,” was found dead in his Brentwood home on Sunday, along with his wife Michele.
“It is with profound sorrow that we announce the tragic passing of Michele and Rob Reiner,” his family said in a statement. “We are heartbroken by this sudden loss, and we ask for privacy during this unbelievably difficult time.”
LAPD officers assigned to West LA Division responded to a death investigation in the 200 block of South Chadbourne Avenue around 3:40 p.m. on Sunday. Once inside the residence, officers discovered two bodies.
Law enforcement officials told TheWrap that the incident is being investigated as an apparent homicide, with TMZ reporting that the Reiners were found with “wounds consistent with a knife.”
People reported that the Reiners were murdered by their son Nick Reiner, citing multiple sources. The LAPD did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for further inquiry.
The neighborhood where the Reiners live is an extremely private and well-guarded area. “The house is a fortress, the person would have to know how to get in,” a neighbor whose house is adjacent to the Reiner’s but who asked not to be named told TheWrap.
The 32-year-old Nick Reiner struggled with substance abuse issues in the past and co-wrote the 2015 film “Being Charlie” that his father directed. The movie starred Nick Robinson as a would-be governor’s son struggling through rehab and “fighting against recovery every inch of the way.”
In a 2016 interview with People, Nick said he entered his first rehab facility when he was 15 and recounted the “dark” days when he was struggling with addiction, often homeless due to his refusal to enter rehab.
“I spent nights on the street. I spent weeks on the street. It was not fun,” he said in 2016. “If I wanted to do it my way and not go to the programs they were suggesting, then I had to be homeless.”
No further details were available. This is a developing story, we’ll update with more information as we have it.
A New York native and UCLA graduate, and the son of comedian and filmmaker Carl Reiner, Rob Reiner first came to prominence in the 1970s as part of Norman Lear’s famous sitcom “All In the Family.” Over eight years, he played Michael “Meathead” Stivic, the liberal son-in-law of Archie Bunker. His run in the series earned him two Primetime Emmys from five nominations.
Reiner then made the jump from TV acting to film directing in 1984 with the famed mockumentary “This is Spinal Tap,” a satire of the excesses of the then-wildly popular heavy metal scene. Appearing in the film as fictional director Marty Di Bergi, Reiner starred alongside Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer who played the titular metal trio Spinal Tap as they suffer a series of comical disasters over the course of their turbulent music career. The film introduced an entirely new genre of comedy.
He then went on one of the most impressive runs a director has ever had with the following films, all in a row:
1986 – “Stand by Me”
1987 – “The Princess Bride”
1989 – “When Harry Met Sally…”
1990 – “Misery”
1992 – “A Few Good Men”
The sensitive and surprising “Stand by Me,” a Stephen King adaptation, is a coming-of-age classic. “The Princess Bride” is hailed as one of the best-written films ever made, with a screenplay by William Goldman and sterling performances, all wrapped up in a fairy tale-esque fantasy that never loses sight of the humanity at the heart of its characters.
“When Harry Met Sally…” is one of the best romantic comedies ever made, famously fueled by Reiner’s post-divorce pessimistic outlook on love that paired perfectly with screenwriter Nora Ephron’s romantic optimism.
“Misery” won Kathy Bates an Oscar and is often cited as one of the best Stephen King adaptations ever.
And “A Few Good Men,” with Aaron Sorkin adapting his own stage play, only has some of the most quotable lines and most iconic scenes in cinema history thanks to Jack Nicholson, Tom Cruise and Demi Moore in a stacked ensemble.
All directed by Reiner in less than seven years.
Reiner would still come in front of the camera every now and then with bit parts in films like “Sleepless in Seattle” and “The Wolf of Wall Street.”
A lifelong liberal, Reiner was a vocal progressive activist, proudly stumping for politicians and causes and becoming a prominent voice on Twitter when the social media platform first launched.
Reiner met his wife, Michele Singer, on the set of “When Harry Met Sally.” The couple married in 1989. Singer was a photographer best known for taking the photo of Donald Trump that would be used on the cover of his famous book “The Art of the Deal.” Reiner, known as one of the most vocal critics of Trump in Hollywood over the past decade, joked about his wife’s photo of the future president in a 2018 Guardian interview, saying “she has a lot to atone for.”
