Hello! I’m Mark Olsen. Welcome to another edition of your regular field guide to a world of Only Good Movies.
The shocking deaths this week of Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner reached far beyond Hollywood. Their legacy will go far beyond show business thanks to their committed political activism for causes they believed in.
Mary McNamara pulled together the different strands of Rob Reiner’s life and career, noting, “As an artist and a public figure, he put his money where his mouth was and remained invariably sincere, a powerful and compelling trait that has become increasingly rare in a time of the sound-bite inanities, muddy thinking, obvious contradictions and outright falsehoods that threaten our public and political discourse.
“Reiner mastered many mediums and wielded a broad palette but his signature artistic trait was empathy. No story was too small, or too brutal, to be examined with kindness and an understanding that the most grave injustice we can commit is to choose apathy or revenge when connection and transcendence are always possible.”
Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal in the movie “When Harry Met Sally…”
Josh Rothkopf and I rolled out a list of his 10 best movies as a director, which includes his astonishing early run, titles like “This Is Spinal Tap,” “The Princess Bride,” “Misery,” “A Few Good Men” and “The American President.” All of those come in little over a decade.
Tribute screenings have already been announced around Los Angeles, including “When Harry Met Sally…” at the New Beverly on Dec. 30–Jan. 1 and then again on Jan. 3 at Vidiots, which will also be showing “A Few Good Men” on Jan. 6 and “The Princess Bride” on Jan. 18. More screenings are sure to follow.
‘Love & Basketball’ 25th anniversary
Sanaa Lathan and Omar Epps in the movie “Love & Basketball.”
(New Line Cinema)
On Saturday, the Academy Museum will host a 25th anniversary screening of “Love & Basketball” with writer-director Gina Prince-Bythewood in attendance. Starring Sanaa Lathan and Omar Epps, it is one of the great romantic films of recent decades, the story of two young athletes struggling to reconcile their feelings for each other with their individual careers and ambitions.
In his original review of the movie, Eric Harrison wrote, “The movie is smarter than it has to be, but it’s the sort of low-key smart that can be easily overlooked. Writer-director Gina Prince-Bythewood doesn’t care if you recognize how hard it is to juggle two distinctly different types of movies (make that three, since the romance and sports elements here don’t obscure the feminist fable that is the film’s heart). … This is Prince-Bythewood’s first feature film as both a writer and director, and she shows admirable command of her craft.”
In an interview from 1990, Prince-Bythewood talked about the difficulty of casting the two leads, worrying whether she should find basketball players who could learn to act or actors who could persuasively play basketball.
“There were a lot of sleepless nights,” Prince-Bythewood said. “Is this a love story or a basketball story? I finally realized it’s a love story first. It doesn’t matter how great the basketball is if you don’t care about the character or the love story.
In 2020, Sonaiya Kelley spoke to Prince-Bythewood, Lathan, Epps, producer Spike Lee, actors Gabrielle Union, Alfre Woodard, Tyra Banks and Regina Hall for a definitive oral history of the film.
“When I first started out writing it, my goal was to do a Black ‘When Harry Met Sally…,’” said Prince-Bythewood. “I love that movie, but I wasn’t seeing myself in movies like that.”
‘Metropolitan’ 35th anniversary
The cast of Whit Stillman’s 1990 movie “Metropolitan.”
(Rialto Pictures)
On Sunday afternoon, the American Cinematheque at the Aero Theatre will have a 35th anniversary screening of “Metropolitan” with writer-director Whit Stillman and actor Taylor Nichols there for a Q&A. Set during the week between Christmas and New Year’s among a very specific social set of young New Yorkers — labeled in the film as the Urban Haute Bourgeoisie — the film is a delicately detailed comedy of manners. It would earn Stillman an Oscar nomination for original screenplay.
In her original review, Sheila Benson wrote, “Filmmaker Stillman is a pointillist, working in the tiniest, most meticulous degrees. If he seems at times as controlled and distanced as his own UHBs, his impulsive, romantic ending betrays him. Stillman understands caste, class and deportment as perfectly as Audrey’s idol, Jane Austen, and by the time he’s through, so do we.”
In a 1990 interview, Stillman spoke about making a movie about such a specific social set, one that many viewers of the film will not have been a part of. “I think people will enjoy the fact that the film has texture,” he said. “They will sense that there is a joke there, even if they don’t get it.”
Points of interest
Nancy Meyers with ‘Father of the Bride’
Kimberly Williams, left, Martin Short, Steve Martin and Diane Keaton in the 1991 version of “Father of the Bride.”
(Disney / Touchstone Pictures)
Director Nancy Meyers had to pull out of a recent Q&A scheduled for a screening of “Something’s Gotta Give,” which starred her frequent collaborator Diane Keaton. Meyers is now set to appear at the American Cinematheque at the Aero Theatre on Saturday for a Q&A after 1991’s remake of “Father of the Bride,” directed by Charles Shyer and co-written by Shyer and Meyers. As far as we can tell, this will be Meyers’ first public appearance since Keaton’s death in October.
The film stars Keaton alongside Steve Martin, as a couple who are arranging the wedding of their daughter, with Martin Short showing up as an overbearing wedding planner.
In his original review, Michael Wilmington wrote, “Midway through ‘Father of the Bride’ … Martin Short shows up, as the effete, snobbish wedding coordinator that Leo G. Carroll played in the original, and steals the movie from Martin, steals it from everybody. Short’s handling of this silly little role — an outrageous poseur named ‘Franck Eggelhoffer’ who insists on calling himself Frawwnk and acts like a post-disco Mischa Auer — has perfect pitch and real wigged-out comic genius.”
David Lowery and ‘The Green Knight’
Dev Patel in the 2021 movie “The Green Knight.”
(A24)
On Saturday, Vidiots will host a screening of 2021’s “The Green Knight” with writer-director David Lowery in person. Based on the 14th century poem “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight,” the film stars Dev Patel as Gawain, nephew of King Arthur, who, after winning a mystical challenge on Christmas, is told he has one year to complete another adventure.
In his review, Justin Chang wrote, “What does it mean to be a knight, or even just to be human? It isn’t an easy question, and ‘The Green Knight,’ in taking it seriously, isn’t always an easy film. But by the time Gawain reaches his journey’s end, in as moving and majestically sustained a passage of pure cinema as I’ve seen this year, the moral arc of his journey has snapped into undeniable focus. He plays the game; he accepts the challenge. His example is worth following.”
Oliver Stone’s ‘Nixon’
Joan Allen and Anthony Hopkins in the movie “Nixon.”
(Sidney Baldwin / Cinergi Pictures Entertainment)
On Sunday, the Laemmle Royal will have a 30th anniversary screening of Oliver Stone’s “Nixon” with the filmmaker in person for a Q&A to be moderated by Times contributing writer Tim Greiving.
Starring Anthony Hopkins as Richard Nixon and Joan Allen as his wife, Pat (both were nominated for Oscars for their performances), the film covers the political life of the politician who rose to being president only to leave the office in disgrace.
In his original review, Kenneth Turan wrote, “Mostly (though not completely) gone is the disturbing, lunatic Oliver Stone, the bad-boy writer-director who infuriated the political establishment with ‘JFK’ and outraged sensibilities nationwide with ‘Natural Born Killers.’ He’s been replaced by a filmmaker very much on his best behavior, a thorough researcher who consulted 80 books and published a heavily footnoted screenplay. If Quentin Tarantino made a film in the style of Sir Richard Attenborough, the surprise could not be greater. And ‘Nixon’ is in many ways an impressive, well-crafted piece of work.”
THE slashing deaths of Hollywood star Rob Reiner and his wife have sparked a raft of questions, many of which stem from their alleged killer son, Nick.
Here is a look at five mysteries that leave glaring holes in the murder investigation, from hazy information about Nick’s mental health to debates on his unconfirmed motivation.
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Nick Reiner, 32, has been accused of killing his parents Rob and Michele ReinerCredit: GettyRob, 78 and Michele, 68, were found dead with their throats slit on SundayCredit: GettyJake Reiner, Nick, Romy Reiner, Michele, and Rob are seen attending a Four Sixes Ranch Steakhouse pop-up grand opening on September 14, 2024, in Las Vegas, NevadaCredit: Getty
Nick, 32, is accused of murdering his parents, filmmaker Rob, 78, and his wife Michele, 68, after a chaotic weekend that spiraled from a celebrity bash to a late-night arrest near the University of Southern California.
Nick was arrested later that night and is charged with two counts of first-degree murder, meaning he could face the death penalty if convicted.
However, his fate is still hanging in the balance, as his arrest is complicated by missing hours, unclear motives, and unanswered questions about what he did while his parents lay dead.
Here is what has been revealed about the case and what remains to be revealed.
WHAT HAPPENED AT CONAN O’BRIEN’S PARTY?
On Saturday night, Rob, Michele, and Nick were all said to have attended a star-studded holiday party hosted by comedian Conan O’Brien.
And according to several insiders, the night reportedly went sideways for the trio.
Guests present at the party claimed that Nick behaved erratically the entire night
According to the Wall Street Journal, there was one awkward moment where Nick interrupted Saturday Night Live alum Bill Hader during a private conversation and was told to butt out.
Nick was said to have asked Hader odd questions like ” What’s your name? What’s your last name? Are you famous?”
One witness told the Daily Mail, “Nick just stood there and stared before storming off.”
Tensions escalated when multiple attendees saw Rob, Michele, and Nick locked in a heated argument.
At one point, a guest suggested calling the police, Daily Mail reported.
“They got into an argument, the father and son. It got so bad and loud someone wanted to call the police to report it,” an insider told the outlet.
Timeline of Rob and Michele Reiner’s death
Rob Reiner and his wife of Michele Singer Reiner were found dead in their Los Angeles home on December 14, 2025.
Timeline:
December 13, 2025: Reiner and his wife Michele attended a holiday party on the evening of December 13 with their son, Nick.
Sources conveyed to The U.S. Sun that the couple and their son were engaged in a heated public argument while at the event.
December 14, 2025: Reiner and Michele were found dead in their Brentwood home in Los Angeles at around 3:30 pm PST.
The couple’s daughter, Romy, reportedly discovered her parents’ bodies.
Online police records show Reiner and Michele’s 32-year-old son, Nick, was arrested at 9:15 pm PST on December 14.
December 15, 2025: Authorities in Los Angeles announce that Nick Reiner was arrested and charged with murder.
Nick was booked into a Los Angeles jail at 5:04 am and was being held on $4 million bail, which was later revoked.
December 16, 2025: Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman formally charged Nick Reiner with two counts of first-degree murder.
Hochman said his office would consider the death penalty in Nick’s case.
Nick’s scheduled court appearance on December 16 was postponed due to what his attorney said was a procedural issue.
But O’Brien reportedly intervened before anyone rang 911, the insider claimed.
“But Conan stepped in and said, ‘it’s my house, my party, I’m not calling the police.’ He talked them out of calling the police.”
“When the s**t was hitting the fan, somebody said we need to call the police. The conversation was about getting this kid put into a mental-health hold,” the source told the Mail.
Nick eventually stormed off the party.
An aerial view of Rob Reiner and Michele’s estate in Brentwood, Los AngelesCredit: EPA
Outlets have also reported that Rob confided to friends that he is scared of Nick.
“I’m petrified of him,” Rob told his friends.
“I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but I’m afraid of my own son. I think my own son can hurt me.”
WAS NICK HIGH ON DRUGS?
No official details have been released saying Nick was on drugs or drunk at the time of the alleged killings.
But questions are swirling because he has a documented history of substance abuse, and the hours after the party, and after he is believed to have fled the family home, are still largely unaccounted for.
According to a TMZ report, Nick was receiving care from a Los Angeles-based rehab facility that focuses on mental illness and substance abuse, and costs $70,000 a month.
Nick had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, and a report claims his behavior became increasingly “alarming” as doctors worked to fine-tune his treatment.
Things got worse three to four weeks before the murders after doctors changed his medication, leaving him even more unstable.
“Nick was out of his head,” a source told TMZ, with the report also alleging his substance abuse made his condition worse.
Nick was described as quiet, introverted and darkly funnyCredit: Instagram/michelereinerRob and. Nick Reiner attend AOL Build Presents: “Being Charlie” at AOL Studios In New York on May 4, 2016Credit: Getty
One avenue his attorney, Alan Jackson, could explore is having him declare mentally unfit for trial, which would pause the proceedings while he is evaluated and treated.
That’s different from an insanity defense, which argues he wasn’t legally responsible at the time of the alleged killings.
Los Angeles criminal defense lawyer Daniel Rubin told Fox News the defense strategy will depend on “the weight and admissibility” of evidence, witness testimony, the events before the deaths, “the defendant’s mental health issues,” and any mitigating factors.
Rubin said if Reiner is found mentally incompetent, a judge can order a formal competency assessment by specialists.
“If he is found ‘incompetent,’ he will need to be medicated or treated to the point where he will be able to assist in his own defense and understand the proceedings,” Rubin added.
This process could take several weeks to several months.
If a judge finds him unfit, the case typically goes on ice while doctors work to restore competency, and it can restart if he stabilizes.
Even if he’s never restored, that doesn’t mean he goes home; he could still be held in a secure hospital setting rather than a prison.
And if he’s found fit and later convicted, prison is still very much on the table.
WILL HE GET HIS PARENTS’ FORTUNE?
If Nick already has cash or there is a trust that allows discretionary payouts, it’s possible funds could be used toward his legal bills while the criminal case is pending – because he’s presumed innocent and the inheritance question isn’t “final” yet.
Some reports say that, until there’s a conviction or a civil finding, he isn’t automatically treated as disqualified in every setting.
But any move to use estate or trust cash could trigger an immediate probate war, with other relatives or beneficiaries pushing to freeze payouts while the murder case is pending.
If Nick is convicted, California’s so-called “slayer statute” would likely kick in, a law that blocks someone from inheriting from a person they feloniously and intentionally killed.
In that scenario, he’d be treated as if he died before his parents for inheritance purposes, meaning he wouldn’t collect from their estate.
If he’s barred, the money would typically flow to other heirs or whoever is next in line under the will or trust.
Rob and Michele’s combined estate has been estimated at around $200 million, making the financial stakes enormous as the case heads toward court.
Nick had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, and a report claims his behavior became increasingly “alarming”Credit: Instagram/michelereinerNick was receiving care from a Los Angeles-based rehab facility that focuses on mental illness and substance abuseCredit: Facebook/ Nick Reiner
Welcome to Screen Gab, the newsletter for everyone who wants to spend some time revisiting Rob Reiner’s indelible mark on pop culture.
For many of us, it was already that time of year when we pop in our DVD of “When Harry Met Sally…” or figure out which streaming service has it in its library (or digitally rent it, if none do), and passively recite every quotable moment until Harry’s breathless declaration of love on New Year’s Eve necessitated our full performance. It was a comfort watch in the best sense because of how joyous and hopeful it left so many of us, even cynics, feeling. This year, as the tradition now becomes layered with sadness following the tragic deaths of Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, there’s at least comfort in knowing all the Hollywood magic he brought to life (whether he was directing, or starring in a production) that was full of humanity, humor and heart, and accompanied us at different stages of our lives, can continue to do so. Members of our film team took a look at some of Reiner’s best films, many of which can be streamed. And TV critic Robert Lloyd reminded us of Reiner’s contributions to television, particularly through shows like “All in the Family” and “New Girl” (“Lettuce, tomato, lettuce, meat, meat, meat, cheese, lettuce” — iykyk).
But if it’s all too soon, we get it. Maybe our other streaming recommendations can provide an escape — one is a TV drama about a disillusioned Broadway director returning home to his amateur community theater, and the other is a mystery thriller with an unlikely duo teaming up to investigate the case of a missing girl.
Also in this week’s Screen Gab, “Emily in Paris” actor Samuel Arnold stops by Guest Spot to tell us about the behind-the-scenes adventures of the show’s Italian-set fifth season.
ICYMI
Must-read stories you might have missed
Julianne Hough near the Dolby Theatre at the 97th Academy Awards earlier this year. The Oscars are moving to YouTube, sending shock waves through Hollywood.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
What the Oscars moving to YouTube means for broadcast TV: The Academy Awards will stream on YouTube beginning in 2029, ending a more than five-decade run on broadcast television and marking the show’s biggest distribution shift in its history.
Recommendations from the film and TV experts at The Times
Harry McNaughton as Charlie Summers, a disillusioned Broadway director returning home to his amateur community theatre in “Happiness.”
(Andi Crown Photography / PBS)
“Happiness” (PBS app, pbs.org)
What could be better, at this festive time of year, or any other time, than a backstage musical comedy set in an amateur theatrical company in New Zealand’s fifth-largest city? Harry McNaughton plays Charlie Summers, whose Broadway dream dies when he’s fired as the director of a “Cats” revival and, losing his work visa, returns home to New Zealand for what he hopes will be only a couple of days. Naturally, it turns out otherwise, with Charlie drawn reluctantly into the production of a new musical, “The Trojan Horse,” at the Pizazz theater, run by his mother (Rebecca Gibney) and stocked with a original twists on classic characters: a dictatorial director, the always-cast leading lady, a talented ingénue, a buff electrician with a great voice and the shy high school music teacher who wrote it, making themselves and their desires quickly felt. (There’s a feminist thrust to the plot.) The songs are tuneful and witty, the performances fun, the atmosphere charged but charming. Presented in six 20-minute episodes as part of “Masterpiece Theater.” — Robert Lloyd
Emma Thompson as private investigator Zoë Boehm and Ruth Wilson as art conservationist Sarah Trafford in “Down Cemetery Road.”
(Matt Towers / Apple TV)
“Down Cemetery Road” (Apple TV)
Nothing says the holidays like a gripping crime drama where everyone’s a suspect! Apple TV’s smart and unvarnished British series follows Zoë Boehm (Emma Thompson), a private investigator who hasn’t the time or bandwidth for social niceties, shows of emotion or combing her hair. She’s thrown together with homemaker and art restorer Sarah Tucker (Ruth Wilson), a passive suburbanite who likes 4 Non Blondes.
Their sparring personalities create the undeniable chemistry that’s at the heart of this eight-part series, while the drama’s unexpected turn of events and fast pacing make it hard to hit pause. The two women are connected when a deadly residential explosion rocks Sarah’s neighborhood. A woman was killed, but her young daughter, who made it out alive, has mysteriously disappeared. The quest to find the girl pulls the odd-couple investigators into a complex and dangerous cover up by the Ministry of Defense, and they discover the explosion was in fact an orchestrated assassination.
Morwenna Banks’ adaptation of Mick Herron’s debut novel of the same name, “Down Cemetery Road” also features the PTSD-plagued Downey (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett), the villainous Amos (Fehinti Balogun), bumbling agent Hamza Malik (Adeel Akhtar) and his sociopathic boss, C (Darren Boyd). But it’s Thompson’s gruff character who gets the best lines, such as the one she says to a potential client: “I don’t drink Prosecco and I don’t bond emotionally.” The show has already been renewed for a second season. — Lorraine Ali
Guest spot
A weekly chat with actors, writers, directors and more about what they’re working on — and what they’re watching
Samuel Arnold as Julien in Season 5 of “Emily in Paris.”
(Netflix)
Every office needs a deliciously snarky employee who is too fabulous to work, but still manages to grace the room with their presence to boost the vibe. In “Emily in Paris,” that person is Julien. The quippy, sharply dressed and gossip-loving character, played by Samuel Arnold, has been a bright spot in the series over its run. Initially the guy who liked to remind Emily she was une ringarde American, he’s softened his stance on his fish-out-of-water colleague. But as the Agence Grateau luxury marketing team ventures to Italy this season, which is now streaming, his side eye shifts focus to a new co-worker. Over email, Arnold shared what it was like shooting outside their usual setting and the animated series he returns to over and over. — Yvonne Villarreal
The Grateau team spent time in Italy this season. Some filming took place in Rome and Venice. What’s a memory or experience that stands out from filming there? Did any place there become a go-to spot for you when you weren’t shooting?
Rome was incredible, both on and off screen. One moment that really stands out is when Ashley Park and her choreographer, Carlye Tamaren, taught us one of Ashley’s dance routines. Everyone did so well — and Bruno Gouery was absolutely hilarious. When we weren’t filming, one of our favorite meeting spots was the rooftop at the Minerva Hotel. It’s stunning. In Venice, we would all gather in Bruno Gouery’s room and play a pirate dice game that Lucien Laviscount introduced us to. The city itself felt like a dream.
The series revolves around Emily and her fish-out-of-water experience of building a new life in Paris. How would this series look if it were titled “Julien in Paris”? Five seasons in, what would a slice of his life look like if you could pitch it to Darren Star?
If the show were called “Julien in Paris,” it probably wouldn’t be very exciting — Julien is a Parisian. He has Paris on lock. I like to think he sees himself as the prince of the city. Now, Julien in New York City — opening his own marketing firm there — that’s a different story. I can already feel the drama.
Julien is very discerning and could spot the games Genevieve was playing. How do you think he handled her, and the position he was in, knowing this secret could damage Emily and Mindy’s friendship?
I think Julien handled it pretty well. It’s not a great position to be in. When one friend hurts another, the right thing to do is to encourage the person at fault to do the right thing. And when someone like Genevieve — played by the absolutely lovely Thalia Besson — tries to stir up trouble, Julien definitely knows how to deal with that in the best possible way.
With all the love triangles (and squares), who would you, Samuel, pick for Emily — Gabriel or Marcello? And for Mindy — Nicolas or Alfie?
I don’t think I should be picking men for those women. What I can say is that they should follow their hearts and embrace whatever comes with that. Honestly, we should all try to do the same.
What have you watched recently that you’re recommending to everyone you know?
I recently watched “Safe House” [Netflix], with Lucien Laviscount as a badass action hero. The casting is great, the ending really catches you off guard, and Lucien does his own stunts — which makes it even more impressive.
What’s your go-to comfort watch — the movie or TV show you always come back to?
“Rick and Morty” [Hulu]. It never gets old. It’s funny, packed with pop-culture references — which I love — and the voice acting is just incredible.
In January 2018, conservative Fox News host Laura Ingraham was having dinner at Toscana, an Italian restaurant in Brentwood, when she spotted the renowned Hollywood director — and unabashed liberal — Rob Reiner.
She asked him to come on her show, “The Ingraham Angle.” He was on set the next day.
After introducing him as “a brilliant director,” who made her favorite movie, “This is Spinal Tap,” Ingraham said: “Last night, the first thing Reiner says is: ‘Are they gonna shut the government down?’’ I’m like, wow, I’m here in L.A.; I wanna talk about Hollywood stuff. But he wants to talk about politics.”
Al Gore and Rob Reiner attend the Tribeca Film Festival in New York in April 2007.
(Scott Gries / Getty Images)
Ingraham and Reiner vehemently disagreed — about alleged Russian influence on the 2016 presidential election, about whether President Trump is racist, about the treatment of conservatives in Hollywood.
But Reiner also called Ingraham “smart as hell.” And Ingraham said Reiner “should be lauded” for being willing to spar with her, unlike many politicians on both sides of the aisle.
It was the kind of blunt but ultimately respectful exchange that added to Reiner’s widespread appeal off-screen, both because of — and in spite of — his views.
Reiner and his wife, Michele, were killed at their Brentwood home last weekend, allegedly by their son, Nick, who has been charged with murder. The couple’s deaths have sent a thunderclap through Hollywood and beyond, partly because the Reiners had so many friends and connections in creative and political circles.
Rob Reiner — who, in the role of Michael “Meathead” Stivic in the groundbreaking sitcom “All in the Family,” played the liberal foil to his bigoted, conservative father-in-law, Archie Bunker — seemed to relish his real-life role as a progressive celebrity activist. That made him a hero to many in blue California but a villain to others, especially the reality-TV-show-star-turned-president, Donald Trump.
In a highly criticized social media post, Trump attributed the deaths to “the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME.”
But while Reiner, a blistering critic of the president, disagreed with many conservatives on policy, he also worked to build relationships with them — in media and entertainment circles, the California State Capitol, and beyond.
Actors Alec Baldwin and James Woods listen to director Rob Reiner in between scenes for the 1996 film “Ghosts Of Mississippi.”
(Columbia Pictures via Getty Images)
Actor James Woods, a longtime Trump supporter, said in a Fox News interview this week that Reiner saved his career by casting him in the 1996 film “Ghosts of Mississippi” over studio objections. He called Reiner “a great patriot” with whom he shared a mutual respect despite myriad political disagreements.
Andrew Kolvet, a spokesman for conservative powerhouse Turning Point USA, wrote on X that he “shared approximately zero in common with Rob Reiner politically, but I am so saddened by this news” and praying that “justice would be swift and without conspiracies [sic] theories.”
Kolvet said Reiner “responded with grace and compassion” to the September killing of TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk — a violent end that Reiner said nobody deserved, regardless of their views.
Hard-right Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, of Georgia, called the deaths “a family tragedy, not about politics or political enemies.” And GOP Sen. Ted Cruz, of Texas, wrote on X that “The Princess Bride” was his favorite film and called Reiner “a comedic and story-telling master.”
Off screen, Reiner had a unique ability to connect with people of all persuasions, in various mediums, at the top of their careers or just starting. He was very much influenced by Norman Lear, the creator of “All in the Family,” who blended his Hollywood career with progressive activism.
Similar to Lear, Reiner didn’t just dabble in social causes and campaigns. He launched them, led them and brought people aboard. “He wasn’t building an operation the way Hollywood typically does, making donations, hosting fundraisers,” said Ben Austin, a former aide to Reiner who worked in the White House during the Clinton administration.
And all the time, he did it while making movies, some of them deeply personal, intertwined with his life as a parent.
Reiner was the driving force behind the successful 1998 California ballot measure, Proposition 10, a landmark policy that put a tax on tobacco products and pumped billions of dollars into preschools, teacher training, and support for struggling families. He enlisted help in that effort from such beloved figures as Steven Spielberg, Robin Williams and his own father, comedy legend Carl Reiner.
After the initiative passed, Gov. Gray Davis, a Democrat, appointed the younger Reiner chairman of the First 5 commission overseeing disbursement of the funds.
Rob Reiner co-founded the group that would help overturn Proposition 8, the 2008 ballot measure that banned same-sex marriage in California.
(Los Angeles Times)
And in 2009, Reiner co-founded the American Foundation for Equal Rights, which led the successful legal fight to overturn Proposition 8, the 2008 ballot measure that banned same-sex marriage in California. The group hired legal luminaries from opposite sides of the political spectrum to overturn the ballot measure: the conservative former U.S. Solicitor General Theodore Olson and litigator David Boies, a liberal who squared off against Olson in the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that gave George W. Bush the presidency in 2000.
Former Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, a Democrat, said in an interview Wednesday that Reiner successfully rallied people to the cause because he was so adept at humanizing the stories of the plaintiffs and other same-sex couples — and emphasizing love.
“I don’t think you can overstate how influential he was at the national, state and local level and how well-liked he was,” Garcetti said. “Politics and movies share this in common: They both need good stories … and he was such a gifted storyteller.”
Garcetti said that while many celebrities lend money and faces to political causes, prettying up political mailers and email blasts, “Rob built those causes. He wasn’t like the frosting on the cake. He actually was the baker.”
Garcetti, then a Los Angeles City Council member, joined Reiner in stumping for 2004 Democratic presidential hopeful Howard Dean, for whom the director was an early backer. Garcetti crossed paths with him often, including during the push to overturn Proposition 8 — and at the Los Angeles City Hall wedding of Paul Katami and Jeff Zarrillo, two of the plaintiffs in the federal case that struck it down.
Katami wrote in an Instagram post this week that Reiner and his wife “stood with us in court for 4.5 years” and that he and his husband sat at the couple’s table in their home many times.
Rob Reiner chats in 2012 with Paul Katami and Jeff Zarrillo, plaintiffs in the case that struck down Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage in California.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
“Because of them, they were able to sit at our table, at our wedding, on a day and in a moment that would not exist without their belief in who we are and how we love,” Katamami wrote.
He added: “They are brave. They are funny. They are generous. They are deeply human. And they make everyone around them feel seen, protected, and encouraged to be more fully themselves.”
Former L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, a Democrat now running for California governor, officiated Katami and Zarrillo’s wedding. He said in an interview that Reiner personally bankrolled much of the legal fight because he genuinely believed it was the right thing to do.
In 2008, Villaraigosa kicked off his successful reelection campaign with a private reception at the Reiners’ home.
“You know, the one thing about Rob Reiner: There was no pretense,” Villaraigosa said. “If you go to his house … he’s a very wealthy man — he has been a director, an actor, co-founder of Castle Rock Entertainment — and yet his house was like a home. It wasn’t a mansion. It was like a ranch-style house, very homey.”
Rob Reiner hugs then-Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa in January 2015. The director had just introduced Villaraigosa at a school as the mayor kicked off his Leadership Tour highlighting his support for universal preschool.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
Villaraigosa and others said Reiner had a granular knowledge of the policies he supported, garnering the respect — if not always the affection — of those with whom he disagreed.
Gale Kaufman, a veteran Democratic strategist who was a longtime advisor to the influential California Teachers Assn., clashed with Reiner over education policy but admired his commitment to — and knowledge about — the issue.
Kaufman told The Times this week that she was amazed by “his attention to detail and his dogged determination that he was right.”
“This was not just someone giving you a pot of money and saying, ‘Go do this.’ This was a guy who was … in every piece of it.”
Cinematographer Reed Morano was one of several in Hollywood whose career soared because of Reiner.
In the late 2000s, Morano was known for filming low-budget projects — often in a gritty, hand-held style. Many of them premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, including the Oscar-nominated “Frozen River.”
In the early 2010s, Morano got a chance to pitch her talents to Reiner and producer Alan Greisman, who were assembling a team to shoot 2012’s “The Magic of Belle Isle,” starring Morgan Freeman and Virginia Madsen and directed by Reiner.
Barely 15 minutes after leaving the meeting, Morano got a call telling her she had the job.
“The thing that strikes me is he could have had anybody he wanted,” said Morano on a call Tuesday from New York City, noting that “Belle Isle” was the biggest budget project she had worked on up to that point. “It’s just he was so open-minded and so forward-thinking, and I think he could see potential that other people couldn’t see.”
Morano then handled cinematography for Reiner’s “And So It Goes,” starring Michael Douglas and Diane Keaton, released to 2014. Reiner, she said, also wanted her to work on “Being Charlie,” the 2015 addiction drama co-written by his son Nick, but she was unable to because of scheduling conflicts. Separately from Reiner, she would go on to win an Emmy in 2017 for directing on the series “The Handmaid’s Tale” and a prize at Sundance for her second film as director, 2018’s “I Think We’re Alone Now.”
A decade before Morano connected with Reiner, Michael Trujillo, now a veteran campaign consultant, went to work for him as a young communications and policy aide for First 5. He was in his early 20s and was stunned to learn he would be working steps from Reiner’s office in the Beverly Hills headquarters of his legendary Castle Rock Entertainment.
Rob Reiner speaks in 1998 to a child development policy group about Proposition 10, which added sales tax to tobacco products to fund early childhood education.
(Robert Durell / Los Angeles Times)
“I show up to Castle Rock Entertainment as a 22-year-old, in Beverly Hills, off Maple Drive. I’m just a Mexican kid from the northeast San Fernando Valley. My dad was a construction worker. My mom was a secretary … and I’m like, ‘What the f— am I doing here?” Trujillo said with a laugh.
Castle Rock, he said, was simultaneously a Hollywood hot spot and “a classroom in politics.” Trujillo said he once played office golf — blue cardboard for water hazards; brown paper for sand traps — with actors Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy while the movie “A Mighty Wind” was being edited. Politicians were always there, too.
Trujillo regularly joined Reiner on his once-a-month flights from Santa Monica to Sacramento for First Five commission meetings and tagged along to news conferences and school classrooms. He usually carried a Sharpie, knowing fans would show up with DVDs or VHS tapes of their favorite Reiner flicks to be signed.
“Rob was able to have conversations with anyone and everyone,” Trujillo said. “If you’re a Republican or Democratic legislator nationally, or even local or in the state, you were still a fanboy. You still wanted to meet his character from ‘All in the Family.’ You still wanted to shake the hand of the guy that made ‘Princess Bride.’ You still wanted to talk to the guy that made ‘A Few Good Men.’”
COPS investigating the deaths of Hollywood director Rob Reiner and his wife have shared more details about the scene that greeted them at the couple’s sprawling home.
Rob Reiner and his wife Michele Singer’s manner of deaths have been ruled a homicideCredit: GettyCops at the scene of the couple’s $13.5 million Brentwood homeCredit: Reuters
Both deaths have been ruled as a homicide by Los Angeles County medical examiners.
And, both died from multiple sharp force injuries. Only one cause of death has been listed on their reports.
Cops on the Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners spoke briefly about the scene at the $13.5 million Brentwood home.
Dominic Choi said the couple were found in the master bedroom of the home.
“Officers conducted a thorough search of the residence to determine whether there was any additional victims or suspects,” he said.
“No one else was located.”
Los Angeles Fire Department was among the first agencies to rush to the Reiner home.
The first call was made at 3:30pm and a unit was requested to respond to a Code two situation, as per dispatch audio obtained by People.
A code two situation is where trucks respond with lights flashing and no sirens.
This was then upgraded to code three, where crews respond with sirens and flashing lights.
The Reiners died on December 14, according to the medical examiner’s report.
A masseuse called the couple’s 27-year-old daughter, Romy, on Sunday when they weren’t let into the home.
She found her dad’s dead body before suddenly charging out of the home, as reported by the New York Times.
Romy didn’t see her mom’s body before learning that she was also dead.
The legendary career of iconic director Rob Reiner
FAMED actor, director and producer Rob Reiner, 78, died on December 14 alongside his wife Michele Singer, 68, in an apparent homicide.
Here is a look at the prodigious list of achievements the Hollywood powerhouse earned before his tragic and sudden death.
Director’s Beginnings
Reiner was born in New York City on March 6, 1947, to legendary comedy writer Carl Reiner and singer Estelle Reiner
He studied at the University of California, Los Angeles film school before breaking into the entertainment industry
Hollywood Career
Reiner first found fame as an actor playing Michael “Meathead” Stivic on the iconic sitcom All in the Family from 1971 to 1979
In 1984, he directed his first film This Is Spinal Tap – a mockumentary following a fictional heavy metal band
Reiner went on to direct cult classic films like The Princess Bride in 1987 and When Harry Met Sally… in 1989
Other notable movies made by the director include Misery, The American President, and A Few Good Men, which earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture
The production company he co-founded, Castle Rock Entertainment, has also produced hits like Seinfeld and The Shawshank Redemption
Reiner didn’t halt his acting career either, recently starring in The Wolf of Wall Street in 2013 and The Bear in 2025
Personal Life
Reiner married actress Penny Marshall in 1971 and adopted her daughter, Tracy, from a previous marriage. The couple divorced in 1981
He met photographer Michele Singer while shooting When Harry Met Sally
They married in 1989 and had three children: Jake, born 1991, Nick born 1993, and Romy born 1997)
Nick opened up about his struggle with drug addiction in 2016. The movie Becoming Charlie, directed by Reiner, was based on Nick’s story
Reiner was an outspoken Democratic activist and a fierce critic of Donald Trump
Nick was arrested near the Expo/Vermont metro station in the Exposition Park area of Los Angeles at around 9:15pm – around six hours after Romy rushed to the scene.
Around one hour before he was arrested, he bought a Gatorade from an Arco gas station.
He was reportedly fidgety before buying the drink and kept looking behind him.
At the party hosted by Conan O’Brien, Reiner expressed concern for his son’s well-being.
ADDICTION BATTLES
Nick has been candid about his battles with drug addiction.
His stints in rehab facilities began when he was just 15.
Nick, also a producer, co-wrote the 2015 film Being Charlie and the inspiration behind it was his relationship with his dad during his addiction.
Charlie, played by Nick Robinson, becomes addicted to drugs and his dad in the movie urges him to get help.
The movie follows Charlie’s battle as he fails at different rehab programs.
“It was very, very hard going through it the first time, with these painful and difficult highs and lows,” Reiner said.
“And then making the movie dredged it all up again.”
Reiner said making the movie with Nick helped the two become closer.
“I said it to his face. I’ll say it on the air: He was the heart and soul of the film and any time I would get an opportunity to work with him I would do it,” he told NPR.
A court sketch of Nick Reiner wearing a blue suicide vest during his hearingCredit: ReutersNick was seen in a gas station buying a drink – just an hour before he was arrestedCredit: CBS News Los Angeles
Let the annals of this country show it was the murder of a Jewish couple on the first night of Hanukkah that showed how profoundly un-Christian Donald J. Trump is once and for all.
The prosecution rests, and there can no rebuttal: We are a nation led by President Meathead.
Except unlike the character of the same name famously played by Rob Reiner in “All In the Family,” our Meathead in chief lacks any sense of moral decency.
The weekend saw the tragic deaths of Hollywood legend Reiner and his wife, Michele. Their son, Nick Reiner, is currently in jail without bond and is facing murder charges. Normal people mourned the loss of a couple who delighted and improved the world with their creative and political work while trying to free Nick from the ravages of drug abuse and mental illness for most of his adult life.
Our president, of course, is not normal. He’s a weirdo who gets off on being mean. If there was a CruelHub, he’d be on it daily.
And so on the day after Romy Reiner found her parents’ bodies at their Brentwood home, Trump posted on social media that they died not due to stab wounds but “reportedly due to the anger [Rob] caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME.”
The president doubled down on his crocodile tears to reporters at the Oval Office the day after, claiming Reiner “was very bad for our country” without offering any proof and describing the director of big-hearted film classics like “When Harry Met Sally…” and “The Princess Bride” as “deranged.”
We’re in the middle of the holiday season, a time when people traditionally slow down their lives to take stock of their blessings during the coldest and darkest time of the year and try to spread cheer to friends and strangers alike.
But goodwill is simply impossible for Trump. Where a moment calls for grace, he offers ethical filth. When tragedies inspire charity in the hearts of good people, the president makes it about himself.
While everyone is rightfully focusing on the ugly attacks Trump launched against Reiner and his wife, also telling about the president’s soul was the address he gave at a White House reception marking Christmas and the start of Hanukkah hours before news broke of the Reiners’ murder.
Trump offered lip service to those massacres before turning to the reason for the season:
Trump.
Actor, writer, director, producer and activist Rob Reiner photographed at his home in Brentwood in 2017.
(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
He insulted his predecessor, Joe Biden, and claimed his disastrous tariffs were paying off. He brought up Bryson DeChambeau so the U.S. Open golf champion could gush about how the president was a “great golfer [and] better human being.” The president plugged his planned arch for the nation’s capital that he claimed will “blow … away” the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. He bragged about winning over Latinos during the 2024 election — without mentioning that’s he’s already losing them, fast — and blasted the “fake news” for not appreciating the Christmas decorations of First Lady Melania Trump.
You would think Trump was running for president again instead of marking two important religious holidays. But Trump was being spiritual in a sense: he was practicing his true faith, which is smite.
The word and its conjugates appear hundreds of times in the Old Testament, spoken by an admittedly “jealous” God as he instructs the Israelites on how to treat their enemies, or used as a threat against the Israelites if they stray from his commands.
If Trump and his henchmen and henchwomen ever read the Bible, you might well bet they read only the parts that involved smiting.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth — he of the medieval cross chest tattoo — continues to play Solomon as he authorizes the bombing of boats off the coasts of South America that he insists are carrying drugs while offering no justification other than his will that it be done. Immigration agents indiscriminately pick up citizens and noncitizens alike in pursuit of remigration, the far-right movement to make minority groups return to their ancestral countries in the name of white makes right.
Twice, the Department of Homeland Security has invoked the Book of Isaiah in social media campaigns to justify its scorched-earth approach to booting people from the country. Specifically, they have cited a verse where the prophet tells God “Here I am, send me” as Yahweh calls for a messenger to warn heretics of the hell he will rain down on them unless they repent. The most recent clip starred Border Patrol commander at large Gregory Bovino, he who has spread Trump’s fire-and-brimstone gospel of deportation.
Smiting and annihilation are the Gospel of Trump and they do play a big role in the Bible. But their ultimate redemption for Christians is what we’re gearing up to celebrate next week: the birth of Christ, the Son of God who came to the world to preach one should love thy enemy, bless the meek, renounce wealth and a whole bunch of other woke stuff.
Trump may not be the literal anti-Christ, but Trump sure is anti-Christian. He stands for and embodies everything that Jesus decried.
More and more Christian thought leaders are starting to understand this about Trump the more he rages. In the wake of Trump’s selfish sliming of the Reiners, Christianity Today editor at large Russell Moore slammed his “vile, disgusting, and immoral behavior” while conservative commentator and longtime Trump apologist Rod Dreher wrote “something is very, very wrong with this man.”
That’s a start. But more evangelical Christians, 80% of whom voted for him in the 2024 election, need to finally repent of blindly supporting him. They, more than any other group, have excused Trump’s sins.
They often compare him to major figures from the Bible and Christian heroes from the past — King David, Cyrus the Great, Constantine — who were imperfect but still did God’s will.
That’s laughable. This man isn’t just imperfect. We’re all that.
No, Trump is more than imperfect. He is a throbbing mass of malevolence, turned up — to reference Reiner’s “This Is Spinal Tap” — to 11.
A group of Rob Reiner’s closest friends released a joint statement Tuesday praising the legendary film director’s masterful storytelling and remembering him as a “passionate, brave citizen” who did everything he could to make the world a better place.
“His comedic touch was beyond compare, his love of getting the music of the dialogue just right, and his sharpening of the edge of a drama was simply elegant,” the statement reads. “For the actors, he loved them. For the writers he made them better.”
It was signed by Billy and Janice Crystal, Albert and Kimberly Brooks, Martin Short, Alan and Robin Zweibel, Larry David and Ashley Underwood, Marc Shaiman and Lou Mirabal, Barry and Diana Levinson and James Costos and Michael Smith.
The friends wrote that, in addition to being an excellent comedic actor, Reiner had an unmatched range as a director.
“From comedy to drama to ‘mockumentary’ to documentary he was always at the top of his game,” they stated. “He charmed audiences. They trusted him. They lined up to see his films.”
The friends, many of whom worked closely with Reiner on film and TV projects, said that he was a truly collaborative partner. Reiner directed the 1989 film “When Harry Met Sally…,” starring Billy Crystal, and “Albert Brooks: Defending My Life,” a 2023 documentary about Brooks. He appeared as a recurring version of himself on Larry David’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”
Crystal was one of the first people contacted by family members after Rob and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, were found stabbed to death in their home Sunday afternoon, family friends told The Times. He visited the home that afternoon and left in tears.
“If you had an idea, he listened, he brought you into the process,” the group of friends stated. “To be in his hands as a film maker was a privilege.”
They praised Reiner and his wife for their political activism and dedication to helping others.
“Strong and determined, Michele and Rob Reiner devoted a great deal of their lives for the betterment of our fellow citizens,” the statement reads. “They were a special force together — dynamic, unselfish and inspiring.”
The statement closes with a quote from one of Reiner’s favorite movies, “It’s a Wonderful Life”: ”Each man’s life touches so many other lives, and when he isn’t around, he leaves an awful hole, doesn’t he?”
Hollywood filmmaker Rob Reiner and his wife Michele Singer Reiner were found dead in their Los Angeles home on Sunday. The police and investigators believe the couple suffered fatal stab wounds.
On Monday, police arrested the legendary director’s 32-year-old son, Nick Reiner, in connection with the deaths.
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Rob Reiner directed several United States movie classics, including When Harry Met Sally and The Princess Bride. He was also a devoted activist for liberal causes and a frequent critic of US President Donald Trump.
So, what do we know about Nick Reiner, and what was his alleged involvement in his parents’ killing?
Who killed Rob Reiner and his wife?
Nick was revealed to be in Los Angeles police custody on Monday after the bodies of his parents were discovered inside their home in the upscale Brentwood neighbourhood.
The Los Angeles Fire Department said it responded to a medical aid request shortly after 3:30pm on Sunday [02:30 GMT Monday], and found a man and woman dead inside.
Rob Reiner’s daughter was the first to find the bodies of her parents and called the authorities, according to multiple reports.
In a statement, the Los Angeles Police Department said it was treating the deaths as homicides. Police have not released a full official timeline of how the killings occurred or the motivation behind them.
Nick Reiner remains in custody without bail. On Monday, Los Angeles Police chief Jim McDonnell said Nick Reiner was “booked for murder”.
Prosecutors will receive the case on Tuesday as they weigh whether to file formal charges against him.
Who is Nick Reiner?
Nick Reiner is the middle child of Rob and Michele Singer Reiner. They have two other children, Jake and Romy.
Nick’s struggles with substance abuse were longstanding, about which he had publicly spoken.
Rob Reiner, in a 2016 interview, said his son’s heroin addiction began about age 15, leading him into a cycle of dependency that persisted for years.
He underwent multiple rehabilitation stays, at least 17, by some accounts, and experienced periods of homelessness as a result of his addiction and the difficulties he faced in recovery.
His addiction issues inspired the 2015 semi-autobiographical movie Being Charlie, co-written by the father and son duo, and directed by Rob Reiner, about the struggles of a famous father and an addicted son.
The film was seen as an attempt to explore and heal aspects of their relationship, reflecting how deeply addiction had affected their family.
“It forced us to understand ourselves better than we had,” Rob Reiner told the AP news agency in 2016. During a YouTube interview series when the film was released, Nick Reiner reflected on his upbringing with his father, stating, “We didn’t bond a lot,” and acknowledged that collaborating on the film helped them “feel closer”.
Who was Rob Reiner?
Rob Reiner was a highly influential figure in US film and television. He was the son of comedy legend Carl Reiner, who died in 2020 at the age 98.
The Emmy-winning actor first gained fame as Michael “Meathead” Stivic in the 1970s TV sitcom, All in the Family. Rob Reiner went on to become a celebrated director, responsible for such classics as This Is Spinal Tap, Stand by Me, The Princess Bride, and A Few Good Men.
Legendary actress and Oscar winner Kathy Bates, who won the coveted award as the star of Rob Reiner’s 1990 film, Misery, said she “loved Rob”.
“He was brilliant and kind, a man who made films of every genre to challenge himself as an artist,” she said in a statement. “He changed the course of my life. Michele was a gifted photographer.”
Beyond filmmaking, Rob Reiner was an active political and social voice, often engaging in public debates on issues ranging from civil rights to public policy. He was a fierce critic of US President Trump.
During Trump’s first term, Reiner repeatedly described the president as “mentally unfit” and “unqualified” to serve in office.
What was Trump’s reaction?
On Monday, Trump made a social media post in which he described Reiner as “tortured and struggling” and claimed that both he and his wife had died, “reportedly due to the anger he caused” by opposing Trump during his presidency.
“He was known to have driven people CRAZY by his raging obsession of President Donald J. Trump,” he wrote on Truth Social.
Trump, who is known for aggressively targeting critics and commending allies, did not present any proof that Rob Reiner’s political stance was linked to the couple’s deaths.
The post was met with sharp condemnation from politicians across the political spectrum, including both Democrats and Republicans.
I think about Rob Reiner almost every time I put on my socks.
I am old enough to remember the famously hilarious (and largely improvised) bit from “All in the Family” in which Reiner’s Mike “Meathead” Stivic and Carroll O’Connor’s Archie Bunker argue about the correct order of donning footwear — both socks first (Archie’s method) or sock/shoe, sock/shoe (Mike’s).
The straight-faced back and forth was, and is, a pitch-perfect exhibition of how much time and energy we waste judging, and arguing about, personal differences that are none of anyone’s business and matter not at all.
I also think about Reiner whenever my now-adult children and I sit down for a movie night. When all other suggestions fail, at least one of his films — ”Stand by Me,” “The Princess Bride,” “A Few Good Men,” “When Harry Met Sally…,” “Misery” — will achieve consensus, in large part, because of that same understanding.
Reiner was, above all, a compassionate filmmaker, willing to excavate all manner of conflict and tension in search of the essential humanity that connects us all.
Reiner helped shape the culture of my youth and early adulthood with such brilliant empathy that his random appearances on television — as Jess’ (Zooey Deschanel) father in “New Girl” or, more recently, Ebra’s (Edwin Lee Gibson) business mentor on “The Bear” — sparked immediate reflexive delight, as if a beloved uncle had shown up unexpectedly at a family dinner.
It helped, no doubt, that I share his political leanings. Reiner’s advocacy for gay marriage and early education were well-known, as was, in recent years, his unvarnished criticism of President Trump, who Reiner, like many others, considered a danger to democracy.
That criticism should have prepared me for the chilling invective unleashed by some, including Trump, in the wake of the news that Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, were found dead in their home on Sunday night, victims of a knife attack, and that their son Nick, who has a history of drug addiction, was in police custody.
Even as the millions who were touched by Reiner’s work struggled to process their shock, grief and horror, Trump responded with a post in which he claimed that the Reiners’ murders were “reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME, sometimes referred to as TDS.”
Even so, between the shocking news of the Reiners’ deaths, the possible involvement of their son and the unhinged and cold-hearted response of the president of the United States, it is difficult to know how to react, short of tearing out one’s hair and screaming up to an indifferent sky.
No person’s life means intrinsically more than any other — many people are killed by violence each and every weekend, often by family members; that we seem to have become inured to mass shootings is another sort of horror.
But Reiner’s work, in film, television and politics, affected millions around the world personally and culturally. In “All in the Family,” his young leftie was far from the hero of the piece — Mike’s values were more humane and progressive than the bigoted Archie’s, but he could be just as narrow-minded as his father-in-law and just as capable of change.
As a director, Reiner championed independent filmmaking, which is to say smartly written movies that told interesting stories about characters that were recognizable in their humor and humanity (which is one reason he was so successful in adapting Stephen King’s work, including the novella “Stand by Me” is based on and “Misery”).
His political activism too was grounded in the desire to make life better for those historically marginalized by policy and culture. He campaigned against tobacco use and for Proposition 10, which increased the tax on cigarettes, and funded early education. In 2009, he used his considerable influence to co-found the American Foundation for Equal Rights and successfully fought to legally challenge Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage in California.
As an artist and a public figure, he put his money where his mouth was and remained invariably sincere, a powerful and compelling trait that has become increasingly rare in a time of the sound-bite inanities, muddy thinking, obvious contradictions and outright falsehoods that threaten our public and political discourse.
Reiner mastered many mediums and wielded a broad palette but his signature artistic trait was empathy. No story was too small, or too brutal, to be examined with kindness and an understanding that the most grave injustice we can commit is to choose apathy or revenge when connection and transcendence are always possible.
The news cycle surrounding the Reiners’ deaths is likely to get worse, as details emerge and reactions of all kinds continue. For a long while, it will be difficult to think of Reiner and his wife as anything but victims of a brutal crime of truly tragic proportions and the regrettable heartlessness that our political divisions have created.
Ironically, and mercifully, solace for this loss, and so many others, can be found in Reiner’s work, films and performances that are impossible to watch without feeling at least a little bit better.
As Hollywood and the world mourns, I will try to think of Reiner as I always have. After all, no matter the order, we all put on our shoes and socks one at a time.
And then, as his artistic legacy teaches us, we stand and try to do the best we can with whatever happens next.
Months before his slaying, Rob Reiner talked about the power of forgiveness after the “horrific” assassination of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk.
“Horror. An absolute horror,” the director, actor and political activist said when asked about the shooting in a TV interview with Piers Morgan. “I unfortunately saw the video of it and it’s beyond belief what happened to him, and that should never happen to anybody. I don’t care what your political beliefs are. That’s not acceptable.”
“Rob Reiner, a tortured and struggling, but once very talented movie director and comedy star, has passed away, together with his wife, Michele, reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME, sometimes referred to as TDS,” Trump said in a social media post.
“He was known to have driven people CRAZY by his raging obsession of President Donald J. Trump, with his obvious paranoia reaching new heights as the Trump Administration surpassed all goals and expectations of greatness, and with the Golden Age of America upon us, perhaps like never before. May Rob and Michele rest in peace!”
How is that anyone’s initial reaction to a tragic slaying, let alone an official comment from a sitting U.S. president? That’s a rhetorical question, of course. It’s just another Monday at Trump’s White House.
I’d be screaming into the void if I were to use the rest of this column to argue that the president is not only off his rocker but also has tumbled down the stairs and is in the foyer, mumbling something about speedboats, piggies and ballrooms. In his race to the bottom, he’s broken through the floor. Now we’re in the Trump Upside Down, where empathy and decency are negative attributes.
Even Republican lawmakers were compelled to speak out against their feared leader. “This is a family tragedy, not about politics or political enemies,” said Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene in response to Trump’s post.
Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) wrote on X, “Regardless of one’s political views, no one should be subjected to violence, let alone at the hands of their own son. It’s a horrible tragedy that should engender sympathy and compassion from everyone in our country, period.”
Don Bacon (R-Neb.) said it short and sweet to CNN’s Jake Tapper: “I’d expect to hear something like this from a drunk guy at a bar, not the President of the United States. Can the President be presidential?”
No, he cannot. When given the chance on Monday to appear leader-like during a White House news conference, Trump doubled down on his dislike for Reiner, saying he “wasn’t a fan” and that the director “was a deranged person.”
Translation: Reiner was a Trump critic and the president has skin so thin it’s practically rice paper at this point. But the filmmaker’s social conscience was evident in everything he did, starting with his role as “All in the Family’s” liberal, hippie son-in law to conservative crank Archie Bunker. It was the 1970s, and Meathead (a.k.a. Michael) consistently called out Archie’s racism, bigotry and sexism on the weekly sitcom. Archie’s rants are now the ugly stuff embraced by feckless politicians and attention-seeking influencers, but back then, his tirades against “queers” and “coloreds” represented old prejudices that needed to be shed if the country were to move forward. Show creator Norman Lear made the ugliness funny by using Meathead to expose Archie’s ignorance. Even back then, Reiner was poking the bear.
Reiner was a staunch critic of Trump and other leaders and movements that sought to curtail the freedoms that were previously believed to be enshrined in the Constitution — until MAGA began shredding them one by one. The comedian was an advocate for democratic ideals, Democratic candidates, same-sex marriage, early childhood education, and government transparency, spearheading California’s Proposition 10 (First 5) to fund early development programs via tobacco taxes. He also helped overturn Proposition 8, California’s brief ban on gay marriage.
Reiner’s understanding that it takes all kinds was evident in his work. He was a director with range, as they say in the industry, helming a string of films that became cultural touchstones, starting with 1984’s groundbreaking mockumentary “This Is Spinal Tap,” a satire that forever changed the language around heavy-metal decibel levels (“Crank it to 11!”). Then came 1986’s coming-of-age drama “Stand by Me,” 1989’s seminal romantic comedy “When Harry Met Sally…,” and the terrifying, psychological horror-thriller, 1990’s “Misery,” about an injured novelist held captive by his biggest fan.
Some of his films directly addressed the inequity and violence that Reiner fought so hard to correct in his lifetime. “Ghosts of Mississippi” explored the 1994 trial of Byron De La Beckwith, a white supremacist accused of the 1963 assassination of civil rights activist Medgar Evers. And Reiner’s 2017 drama “Shock and Awe” told the true story of a team of reporters who countered the Bush administration’s justification for invading Iraq in 2003 when they found evidence of falsified intelligence about weapons of mass destruction.
Though it was already acceptable to speak out against that Middle Eastern war, in the same week of the film’s release, he caught flak for signing a petition led by Palestinian director Annemarie Jacir condemning Trump’s 2017 decision formally recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Reiner, who was Jewish, told the National that Trump had “no concept of geopolitical events or how things are interconnected. There was no consideration that went into this decision, no outreach to allies in the Arab world, or even the non-Arab world to see what the impact of something like this is.”
Reiner saw tragedy and sadness in the death of Kirk because he was able to empathize with the loss of life, no matter the difference of opinion.
ROB Reiner’s daughter has broken her silence over her dad’s death – revealing she saw him just one day before the film director and his wife Michele were murdered.
Tracy Reiner, 61, said the brutal double killing left her devastated – before paying her respects to the “the greatest family ever”.
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Rob Reiner and his wife Michele were found stabbed to death at their home in Los AngelesCredit: AFPRob’s adopted daughter Tracy has broken her silenceCredit: Getty
Tracy, who was adopted by Rob during his marriage to Penny Marshall, said she was left speechless.
The actress said: “I came from the greatest family ever.
“I don’t know what to say. I’m in shock.”
She added that she had seen her late dad at a family gathering just one day before horror knife attack.
The iconic director was married to Marshall from 1971 to 1981, during which time he adopted Tracy.
Rob, 78, and Michele, 68, were found dead by their other daughter Romy, 28, with their throats slit at their sprawling $13.5million Brentwood mansion on Sunday afternoon.
The Hollywood icon’s youngest son Nick has been charged with murder in connection with the grisly killing.
A source revealed to The U.S. Sun that Rob and Michele got into a heated public argument with Nick at a Hanukkah party on Saturday evening.
The party was hosted by Conan O’Brien, according to TMZ.
Nick, 32, was booked into a Los Angeles jail on Monday morning, according to online records viewed by The U.S. Sun.
He has since been charged with murder and is being held at Parker Center Jail on $4 million bail, Los Angeles Police Department Chief Jim McDonnell announced during a press conference on Monday.
Nick, who reportedly lives in the Los Angeles area, is rarely seen in public since he opened up about his struggles with drug addiction in 2016.
He admitted to first going to rehab at the age of 25 and said his addiction issues even led him to being homeless at one point in his life, according to People.
“When I was out there, I could’ve died. It’s all luck. You roll the dice and you hope you make it,” Nick said.
In 2015, Nick and his father worked on the semi-autobiographical film, Hey Charlie, which centered around the entitled, drug-addicted son of a renowned actor turned political candidate in California.
Rob Reiner and his son Nick Reiner pictured together at AOL Studios In New York CityCredit: Getty(L-R) Rob Reiner, Michele Singer Reiner, Romy Reiner, Nick Reiner, daughter-in-law Maria Gilfillan and Jake Reiner, pictured together in Los AngelesCredit: Getty
Rob told the Los Angeles Times at the time that he had to push past trauma and tough memories during filming.
“It was very, very hard going through it the first time, with these painful and difficult highs and lows,” the beloved director told the outlet then.
“And then making the movie dredged it all up again.”
Fellow Hollywood stars paid tribute to both Rob and Michele.
Ex-Monty Python member Eric Idle said he had spoken to Rob the night before his death.
Paying his respects, he said: “Rob Reiner was a lovely man. I spoke to him last night for over an hour. I always enjoyed his company.
“I met him at his Dad’s in 1975. He was telling me about filming at Stonehenge and his thoughts for the future … I shall miss him.
“A clever, talented and very thoughtful man. So awful.”
Ben Stiller said Rob was one of his favourite directors, and called him “a kind caring person who was really really funny”.
Josh Gad, who voiced Olaf in Frozen, described Rob and his wife’s deaths as a “devastating” loss.
Actor John Cusack, who starred in Rob’s 1985 film The Sure Thing, said he “saw the soul in others”.
Timeline of the double murder
ROB Reiner and his wife of Michele Singer Reiner were found dead in their Los Angeles home on December 14, 2025.
Timeline:
December 13, 2025: Reiner and his wife Michele attended a holiday party on the evening of December 13 with their son, Nick.
Sources conveyed to The U.S. Sun that the couple and their son were engaged in a heated public argument while at the event.
December 14, 2025: Reiner and Michele were found dead in their Brentwood home in Los Angeles at around 3:30 pm PST.
The couple’s daughter, Romy, reportedly discovered her parents bodies.
Online police records show Reiner and Michele’s 32-year-old son, Nick, was arrested at 9:15 pm PST on December 14.
December 15, 2025: Authorities in Los Angeles announce that Nick Reiner was arrested and charged with murder.
Nick was booked into a Los Angeles jail at 5:04 am and is being held on $4 million bail.
HOLLYWOOD HORROR
The gruesome homicides of Rob and his wife, Michele, 68, shocked the world of Hollywood after reports emerged that the couple were discovered with multiple lacerations.
The Misery director and his wife, who had been married for 36 years, had their throats slit by a family member following a heated argument, according to TMZ.
Romy, 28, told authorities that a family member “should be a suspect” because they’re “dangerous,” the outlet reported.
The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating the deaths as an apparent homicide.
Alan Hamilton, the deputy police chief of the LAPD, told reporters on Sunday evening that authorities would interview several family members of the Reiners as the investigation continued.
Hamilton said the property showed no signs of forced entry.
Rob’s daughter Romy discovered her dad’s bodyCredit: GettyRob Reiner on the set of the 1984 mockumentary This is Spinal TapCredit: Alamy
FILM ICON
Rob, who was raised in the Bronx by famed actors Carl and Estelle, was a huge presence in the film industry after more than five decades as one of Hollywood’s top directors and actors.
His career as an actor began in the early 1960s, but it was not until the 1970s that Rob gained recognition after portraying Michael “Meathead” Stivic on the TV comedy All in the Family.
Throughout the 70s, Rob continued to make guest appearances on several TV series, including The Partridge Family.
However, it was in the director’s chair where Rob flourished into a star in the world of film.
He helmed a string of hit movies, including, When Harry Met Sally, The Princess Bride, and the Academy Award nominated film A Few Good Men, among others.
It was on the set of When Harry Met Sally that he met the photographer and his eventual wife, Michele Singer.
“I look over and I see this girl, and ‘Whoo!’ I was attracted immediately,” Rob told The New York Times in 1989.
The couple wed in 1989, the year the film was released.
After their marriage, Michele began helping her husband with producing films, including Shock and Awe and Albert Brooks: Defending My Life.
The legendary career of iconic director Rob Reiner
FAMED actor, director and producer Rob Reiner, 78, died on December 14 alongside his wife Michele Singer, 68, in an apparent homicide.
Here is a look at the prodigious list of achievements the Hollywood powerhouse earned before his tragic and sudden death.
Director’s Beginnings
Reiner was born in New York City on March 6, 1947, to legendary comedy writer Carl Reiner and singer Estelle Reiner
He studied at the University of California, Los Angeles film school before breaking into the entertainment industry
Hollywood Career
Reiner first found fame as an actor playing Michael “Meathead” Stivic on the iconic sitcom All in the Family from 1971 to 1979
In 1984, he directed his first film This Is Spinal Tap – a mockumentary following a fictional heavy metal band
Reiner went on to direct cult classic films like The Princess Bride in 1987 and When Harry Met Sally… in 1989
Other notable movies made by the director include Misery, The American President, and A Few Good Men, which earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture
The production company he co-founded, Castle Rock Entertainment, has also produced hits like Seinfeld and The Shawshank Redemption
Reiner didn’t halt his acting career either, recently starring in The Wolf of Wall Street in 2013 and The Bear in 2025
Personal Life
Reiner married actress Penny Marshall in 1971 and adopted her daughter, Tracy, from a previous marriage. The couple divorced in 1981
He met photographer Michele Singer while shooting When Harry Met Sally
They married in 1989 and had three children: Jake, born 1991, Nick born 1993, and Romy born 1997)
Nick opened up about his struggle with drug addiction in 2016. The movie Becoming Charlie, directed by Reiner, was based on Nick’s story
Reiner was an outspoken Democratic activist and a fierce critic of Donald Trump
Rob and Michele are survived by their children, Romy, Jake, Nick, and Tracy, the director’s daughter, whom he adopted from his previous wife, Penny Marshall.
Tributes have been paid to the actor and director and his wife following their deaths.
“Rob was the big-hearted genius behind so many of the classic stories we love, with projects as wide-ranging as The Princess Bride to A Few Good Men,” California Governor Gavin Newsom wrote on X.
“His boundless empathy made his stories timeless, teaching generations how to see goodness and righteousness in others — and encouraging us to dream bigger.
“Rob will be remembered for his remarkable filmography and for his extraordinary contribution to humanity.”
Former US president Barack Obama spoke warmly about the couple.
Tracy and her biological mum Penny MarshallCredit: GettyTributes have poured in for the late starCredit: Splash
“Rob’s achievements in film and television gave us some of our most cherished stories on screen,” he said.
“But beneath all of the stories he produced was a deep belief in the goodness of people—and a lifelong commitment to putting that belief into action.
“Together, he and his wife lived lives defined by purpose. They will be remembered for the values they championed and the countless people they inspired.”
Former US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi described Rob as someone who was creative and funny.
She also hailed him as an actor who could make fans laugh and cry when they watched his films.
Pelosi described Rob’s wife as an “indispensible partner and intellectual resource.”
Rob Reiner was a movie director who began as an actor who wanted to direct movies. The bridge between these careers was “This Is Spinal Tap” in 1984, his first proper film, in which he also acted. His original inclination, based on the music documentaries he had studied, had been not to appear onscreen, but he decided there was practical value in greeting the audience with a face familiar from eight seasons of “All in the Family” as Archie Bunker’s left-wing son-in-law, Michael “Meathead” Stivic.
Reiner’s television career began at 21, partnered with Steve Martin, writing for “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.” As an actor, his early years were characterized by the small parts and guest shots that describe the early career of many performers we come to know well. He played multiple characters on episodes of “That Girl” and “Gomer Pyle, USMC,” a delivery boy on “Batman,” and appeared on “The Andy Griffith Show” and “Room 222.” His last such role, in 1971, the same year “All in the Family” premiered, was on “The Partridge Family” as a tender-hearted, poetry-writing, tattooed biker who becomes attached to Susan Dey‘s character and somewhat improbably takes her to a school dance. It’s a performance that prefigures the tenderness and humanity that would become a signature of his work as a writer, director and performer — and, seemingly, a person.
On “All in the Family,” in his jeans and work shirt, with a drooping mustache that seemed to accentuate a note of sadness, Reiner largely played the straight man, an irritant to Carroll O’Connor’s Archie Bunker, teeing up the issue-oriented dialectic. Once in a while he’d be given a broad comic meal to chew, as when wife Gloria (Sally Struthers) goes into labor while they’re out for dinner, and he accelerates into classic expectant-father sitcom panic. But minus the “Meathead” material, “All in the Family” is as much a social drama as it is a comedy, with Mike and Gloria struggling with money, living with her parents, new parenthood, and a relationship that blows hot and cold until it finally blows out for good. He’s not a Comic Creation, like Archie or Edith with their malaprops and mispronunciations, or even Gloria, but his importance to the storytelling was certified by two supporting actor Emmys.
Rob Reiner, Sally Struthers, Caroll O’Connor and Jean Stapleton in a scene from Norman Lear’s television series “All in the Family.”
(Bettmann Archive via Getty Image)
What Reiner carried from “Family” into his later appearances was a sort of bigness. He could seem loud — and loudness is something Norman Lear’s shows reveled in — even when he’s speaking quietly. Physically he occupied a lot of space, more as time went on, and beginning perhaps with “Spinal Tap,” in which he played director Marty DiBergi, he transformed tonally into a sort of gentle Jewish Buddha. In the 2020 miniseries “Hollywood,” Ryan Murphy’s alternate history of the 1930s picture business, the studio head he plays is not the desk-banger of cliche, but he is a man with an appetite. (“Get me some brisket and some of those cheesy potatoes and a lemon meringue pie,” he tells a commissary waiter — against doctor’s orders, having just emerged from a heart attack-induced coma. “One meal’s not going to kill me.”) He’s the boss, but, in a scene as lovely as it is historically unlikely, he allows his wife (Patti LuPone), who has been running things during his absence, to also be the boss.
Reiner left “All in the Family” in 1978, after its eighth season to explore life outside Michael Stivic. (In 1976, while still starring on “Family,” he tested those waters, appearing on an episode of “The Rockford Files” as a narcissistic third-rate football player.) “Free Country,” which he co-created with frequent writing partner Phil Mishkin, about a family of Lithuanian immigrants in the early 1900s, aired five episodes that summer. The same year, ABC broadcast the Reiner-Mishkin-penned TV movie “More Than Friends” (available on Apple TV) in which Reiner co-starred with then-wife Penny Marshall. Directed by James Burrows, whose dance card would fill up with “Taxi,” “Cheers” and “3rd Rock From the Sun,” it’s in some respects a dry run for Reiner’s “When Harry Met Sally…,” tracking a not-quite-romantic but ultimately destined relationship across time.
Future Spinal Tap lead singer Michael McKean appears there as a protest singer, while the 1982 CBS TV movie “Million Dollar Infield,” written again with Mishkin, features Reiner alongside future Spinal Tap lead guitarist Christopher Guest and bassist Harry Shearer; it’s a story of baseball, families and therapy. Co-star Bruno Kirby the year before had co-written and starred in Reiner’s directorial debut, “Tommy Rispoli: A Man and His Music,” a short film that aired on the long-gone subscription service On TV as part of the “Likely Stories” anthology. Kirby’s character, a Frank Sinatra-loving limo driver (driving Reiner as himself), found its way into “This Is Spinal Tap,” though here he is the center of a Reineresque love story.
After “Spinal Tap,” as Reiner’s directing career went from strength to strength, he continued to act in other people’s pictures (“Sleepless in Seattle,” “Primary Colors,” “Bullets Over Broadway” and “The Wolf of Wall Street,” to name but a few) and some of his his own, up to this year’s “Spinal Tap II: The End Continues.” On television, he mostly played himself, which is to say versions of himself, on shows including “It’s Garry Shandling’s Show,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and, of all things, “Hannah Montana,” with a few notable exceptions.
Rob Reiner and Jamie Lee Curtis play the divorced parents of Jess (Zooey Deschanel) in Fox’s “New Girl.”
(Ray Mickshaw / Fox)
The most notable of these, to my mind, is “New Girl,” in which Reiner appeared in 10 episodes threaded through five of the series’ seven seasons, as Bob Day, the father of Zooey Deschanel’s Jess. Jamie Lee Curtis, married to Guest in the real world, played his ex-wife, Joan, with Kaitlin Olson as his new, much younger partner, Ashley, who had been in high school with Jess. He’s positively delightful here, whether being overprotective of Deschanel or suffering her ministrations, dancing around Curtis, or fencing with Jake Johnson’s Nick. Improvisational rhythms characterize his performance, whether he’s sticking to the script or not. Most recently, he recurred in the fourth season of “The Bear,” which has also featured Curtis, mentoring sandwich genius Ebraheim (Edwin Lee Gibson); their scenes feel very much like what taking a meeting with Reiner might be like.
Coincidentally, I have had Reiner in my ear over the past couple of weeks, listening to the audiobook version of “A Fine Line: Between Stupid and Clever,” which he narrates with contributions from McKean, Shearer and Guest. A story of friendship and creativity and ridiculousness, all around a wonderful thing that grew bigger over the years, Reiner’s happy reading throws this tragedy into sharper relief. I have a DVD on the way, though I don’t know when I’ll be up to watching it. I only know I will.
Whether you sat across the table from him or across the aisle, Rob Reiner left no doubt about what he cared about and was willing to fight for.
I had lunch with him once at Pete’s Cafe in downtown L.A., where he was far less interested in what was on his plate than what was on his mind. He was advocating for local investments in early childhood development programs, using funds from the tobacco tax created by Proposition 10 in 1998, which he had helped spearhead.
I remember thinking that, although political activism among celebrities was nothing new, Reiner was well beyond the easier tasks of making endorsements and hosting fundraisers. He had an understanding of public policy failures and entrenched inequities, and he wanted to talk about the moral duty to address them and the financial benefits of doing so.
“He was deeply passionate,” said Ben Austin, who was at that lunch and worked as an aide to Reiner at the time. “He was not just a Hollywood star … but a highly sophisticated political actor.”
Reiner, who was found dead in his Brentwood home over the weekend along with his wife, Michele, was also co-founder of the American Foundation for Equal Rights, which was instrumental in the fight to legalize same-sex marriage in California in 2008.
Michele Singer Reiner was her husband’s “intellectual partner” as an activist, Austin said, even though he was usually the one whose face we saw. But Michele made her voice heard, too, as she did when emailing me about the inexcusable crisis of veterans living on the street, including on the West L.A. veterans administration campus at a time when it was loaded with empty buildings.
I’d check on the progress and get back to her, and she’d check back again when little had changed. At one point, I told her I’d been informed that beds in a new shelter would be filled by the end of the year.
“And if you believe that,” she wrote back, “I’ve got a bridge for you.”
In choosing his causes, Austin said of Rob Reiner, the actor-director-producer “was not jumping on a train that was already moving.” Universal preschool education was barely a fringe issue at the time, Austin said, but Reiner was more interested in social change than making political points.
Reiner’s aggressive instincts, though, sometimes drew pushback. And not just from President Trump, who established a new low for himself Monday with his social media claim that Reiner’s death was a result of his disdain for Trump.
Reiner resigned in 2006 as chairman of California’s First 5 commission, an outgrowth of Prop. 10, after Times reporting raised questions about the use of tax dollars to promote Proposition 82. That Reiner-backed ballot measure would have taxed the rich to plow money into preschool for 4-year-olds.
In 2014, Reiner was at the center of a bid to limit commercial development and chain stores in Malibu, and I co-moderated a debate that seemed more like a boxing match between him and developer Steve Soboroff.
“Rob Reiner and Steve Soboroff came out with guns blazing Sunday night during a Measure R debate that’s sure to be one of the most memorable — and entertaining — Malibu showdowns in recent town history.”
Reiner threw an early jab, accusing Soboroff of a backroom deal to add an exemption to the measure. That’s a lie, Soboroff shot back, claiming he was insulted by the low blow. Reiner, who owned houses in both Brentwood and Malibu, didn’t care much for my question about whether his slow-growth viewpoint smacked of NIMBY-ism.
“I would say there’s a lot of NIMBY-ism,” Reiner snapped. “You bet. It’s 100% NIMBY-ism. Everybody who lives here is concerned about their way of life.”
But that’s the way Reiner was. He let you know, without apology, where he stood, kind of like his “Meathead” character in Norman Lear’s hit TV show “All in the Family,” in which he butted heads with the bigoted Archie Bunker.
Getting back to President Trump, he, too, unapologetically lets you know where he stands.
But most people, in my experience, work with filters — they can self-sensor when that’s what the moment calls for. It’s not a skill, it’s an innate sense of decency and human consideration that exists in the hearts and souls of normal people.
I did not know much about the history of Nick Reiner’s addiction issues and his temporary homelessness. But it became clear shortly after the bodies were found that the Reiners’ 32-year-old son might have been involved, and he was indeed booked a short time later on suspicion of murder.
What I do know is that with such an unspeakable horror, and with the family’s survivors left to sort through the madness of it all, a better response from the president would have been silence.
Anything but a grave dance.
The Reiners died, Trump said, “reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME … .” The deaths occurred, Trump continued, “as the Trump Administration surpassed all goals and expectations of greatness …”
It was a reaction, Austin said, “that makes the case, better than Rob ever could have, about why Trump has no business being president of the United States.”
Hours after Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele, were found dead in their home in what is shaping up to be a heartbreaking family tragedy, our president blamed Reiner for his own death.
“A very sad thing happened last night in Hollywood. Rob Reiner, a tortured and struggling, but once very talented movie director and comedy star, has passed away, together with his wife, Michele, reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME, sometimes referred to as TDS,” President Trump wrote on his social media platform. “He was known to have driven people CRAZY by his raging obsession of President Donald J. Trump, with his obvious paranoia reaching new heights as the Trump Administration surpassed all goals and expectations of greatness, and with the Golden Age of America upon us, perhaps like never before. May Rob and Michele rest in peace!”
Rest in peace, indeed.
It’s a message steeped in cruelty and delusion, unbelievable and despicable even by the low, buried-in-the-dirt bar by which we have collectively come to judge Trump. In a town — and a time — of selfishness and self-serving, Reiner was one of the good guys, always fighting, both through his films and his politics, to make the world kinder and closer. And yes, that meant fighting against Trump and his increasingly erratic and authoritarian rule.
For the last few months, he was laser-focused on the upcoming midterms as the last and best chance of protecting American democracy — which clearly enraged Trump.
“Make no mistake, we have a year before this country becomes a full on autocracy,” Reiner told MSNBC host Ali Velshi in October. “People care about their pocketbook issues, the price of eggs. They care about their healthcare, and they should. Those are the things that directly affect them. But if they lose their democracy, all of these rights, the freedom of speech, the freedom to pray the way you want, the freedom to protest and not go to jail, not be sent out of the country with no due process, all these things will be taken away from them.”
The Reiners’ son, Nick Reiner, has been arrested on suspicion of murder. Nick Reiner has struggled with addiction, and been in and out of rehab. But Trump seems to be saying that if Nick is indeed the perpetrator, he acted for pro-Trump political reasons — which obviously is highly unlikely and, well, just a weird and unhinged thing to claim.
But also, deeply hypocritical.
It was only a few months ago, in September, that Charlie Kirk was killed and Trump and his MAGA regime went nuts over anyone who dared whisper a critical word about Kirk. Trump called it “sick” and “deranged” that anyone could celebrate Kirk’s death, and blamed the “radical left” for violence-inciting rhetoric.
Vice President JD Vance, channeling his inner Scarlett O’Hara, vowed “with God as my witness,” he would use the full power of the state to crack down on political “networks” deemed terrorist. In reality, he’s largely just using the state to target people who oppose Trump out loud.
And just in case you thought maybe, maybe our president somehow really does have the good of all Americans at heart, recall that in speaking of Kirk, Trump said that he had one point of disagreement. Kirk, he claimed, forgave him enemies.
“That’s where I disagreed with Charlie,” Trump said. “I hate my opponent and I don’t want the best for them.”
There’s a malevolence so deep in Trump’s post about Reiner that even Marjorie Taylor Greene objected. She was once Trump’s staunchest supporter before he called her a traitor, empowering his goon squad to terrorize her with death threats.
“This is a family tragedy, not about politics or political enemies,” Greene wrote on social media. “Many families deal with a family member with drug addiction and mental health issues. It’s incredibly difficult and should be met with empathy especially when it ends in murder.”
But Trump has made cruelty the point. His need to dehumanize everyone who opposes him, including Reiner and even Greene, is exactly what Reiner was warning us about.
Because when you allow people to be dehumanized, you stop caring about them — and Reiner was not about to let us stop caring.
He saw the world with an artist’s eye and awarrior’s heart, a mighty combination reflected in his films. He challenged us to believe in true love, to set aside our cynicism, to be both silly and brave, knowing both were crucial to a successful life.
This clarity from a man who commanded not just our attention and our respect, but our hearts, is what drove Trump crazy — and what made Reiner such a powerful threat to him. Republican or Democrat, his movies reminded us of what we hold in common.
But it might be Michael Douglas’ speech in 1995’s “The American President” that is most relevant in this moment. Douglas’ character, President Andrew Shepherd, says that “America is advanced citizenship. You’ve got to want it bad, because it’s going to put up a fight.”
Shepard’s rival, a man pursuing power over purpose, “is interested in two things and two things only — making you afraid of ‘it’ and telling you who’s to blame for ‘it.’ ”
Sound familiar?
That our president felt the need to trash Reiner before his body is even buried would be a badge of honor to Reiner, an acknowledgment that Reiner’s warnings carried weight, and that Reiner was a messenger to be reckoned with.
Reiner knew what advanced citizenship meant, and he wanted badly for democracy to survive.
If Trump’s eulogy sickens you the way it sickens me, then here’s what you can do about it: Vote in November in Reiner’s memory.
Your ballot is the rebuke Trump fears most.
And your vote is the most powerful way to honor a man who dedicated his life to reminding us that bravery is having the audacity to care.
Rob Reiner was born into the lineage of comedy thanks to his father, television pioneer Carl Reiner, and he first gained recognition as an actor, including his Emmy-winning role on “All in the Family.” And while there is certainly a streak of humor through almost all of his films, what marks Reiner’s work as a director is his astonishing versatility, able to switch styles from one project to the next with remarkable ease. The run of films that begins with his feature directing debut, 1984’s “This Is Spinal Tap,” on through 1986’s “Stand by Me,” 1987’s “The Princess Bride,” 1989’s “When Harry Met Sally…,” 1990’s “Misery,” 1992’s “A Few Good Men” and 1995’s “The American President” is simply breathtaking for its mastery across the specrum of popular Hollywood moviemaking.
‘This Is Spinal Tap’ (1984)
Harry Shearer, left, Christopher Guest and Michael McKean in the movie “This Is Spinal Tap.”
(Archive Photos / Getty Images)
Though not strictly the first to explore the form, Reiner’s first feature as director more or less cemented the concept of the “mockumentary,” presenting itself as a documentary on the (fictional) rock band Spinal Tap. Reiner appeared onscreen as Marty DiBergi, director of the faux film-within-the-film, forming a neat transition from his career as an actor to director. And while this year’s sequel “Spinal Tap II: The End Continues” was not particularly well received, the legacy of the original, still among the most quotable comedies ever made, remains untouchable. — Mark Olsen
‘The Sure Thing’ (1985)
Made amid the teen sex comedy craze of the 1980s, Reiner’s second film, about two college students sharing a cross-country car trip together, had something special and different about it — namely the performances of John Cusack and Daphne Zuniga, who both brought an openhearted tenderness to a story that might have toppled into cynicism. The emotional earnestness that would often come through in Reiner’s work first emerged here, making what could have been a run-of-the-mill exercise into something more. — M.O.
‘Stand by Me’ (1986)
Wil Wheaton, left, River Phoenix, Jerry O’Connell and Corey Feldman in the movie “Stand by Me.”
(Columbia Pictures)
Based on a novella by Stephen King, “Stand by Me” is about four boys — played by Wil Wheaton, Corey Feldman, Jerry O’Connell and River Phoenix — who find their friendship tested during a particularly eventful Labor Day weekend of 1959. Approaching the story with a mix of dewy nostalgia and incisive clarity, the film earned Reiner the first of three nominations from the Directors Guild of America. — M.O.
‘The Princess Bride’ (1987)
Robin Wright and Cary Elwes in the movie “The Princess Bride.”
(20th Century Fox / Kobal / REX / Shutterstock)
It would be inconceivable to not include “The Princess Bride” in any consideration of Reiner’s best, as the swashbuckling fantasy romance embodies a sense of playful inventiveness and anything-can-happen ethos. An elderly man reads a story to his grandson as the action comes to life in the tale of a farm boy and a princess who are fated to be together, if only they can overcome all manner of trials and challenges. The movie has now enchanted multiple generations of children and adults alike. — M.O.
‘When Harry Met Sally…’ (1989)
Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal in the movie “When Harry Met Sally…”
(Castle Rock Entertainment)
As much as any other movie, “When Harry Met Sally…” (scripted by Nora Ephron) has come to embody the modern romantic comedy with its will they-won’t-they tale of two good friends who come to realize they may also work as something more. Grounded by the charming performances of Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal, as well as a strong supporting cast including Carrie Fisher and Bruno Kirby, the film has a rare warmth. It was Reiner’s mother Estelle who delivered the unforgettable punchline, “I’ll have what she’s having.” — M.O.
‘Misery’ (1990)
Kathy Bates and James Caan in “Misery.”
(Archive Photos / Getty Images)
Reiner named his production company Castle Rock Entertainment in honor of his deep love for Stephen King’s fiction and after making a splash with “Stand by Me,” there was no way he wasn’t going do something scarier as a follow up. (You get a hint in “When Harry Met Sally” — look at the hardcover Crystal is skimming.) King’s captive-author nightmare gets classed up by two knockout performances calibrated in perfect harmony: Kathy Bates’ psycho fan, a turn that earned her an Oscar, and James Caan as the bedbound writer. At the time, Caan was an actor in need of a second chance. Reiner was it. — Joshua Rothkopf
‘A Few Good Men’ (1992)
Jack Nicholson, left, and Tom Cruise in the movie “A Few Good Men.”
(Mondadori Portfolio / Mondadori via Getty Images)
Reiner seemingly conquered yet another movie genre with this tightly wound military courtroom thriller and received his only Academy Award nomination, for best picture. Reiner was also recognized with nominations from the Directors Guild, Producers Guild and Golden Globes for the film. Written by Aaron Sorkin and featuring a cast that includes Tom Cruise and Demi Moore, this has Jack Nicholson’s volcanic delivery of the now-legendary line, “You can’t handle the truth!” — M.O.
‘The American President’ (1995)
Michael Douglas and director Rob Reiner on the set of “The American President.”
(Archive Photos / Getty Images)
A president as a romantic lead? Such things actually happened during the Clinton era. Reiner injects warmth and realism to Sorkin’s swaggering original script, loaded with wonky dialogue and walk-and-talks. But it’s the careful steering of Michael Douglas as a widowed U.S. leader and rising star Annette Bening as an extra-persuasive eco-lobbyist that distinguish this gentle comedy, one that seems positively alien to our current climate. Widely known for his vigilant activism in later years, Reiner’s on-screen politics were no less optimistic. — J.R.
‘Rumor Has It’ (2005)
Jennifer Aniston and Kevin Costner in the movie “Rumor Has It.”
(Melissa Moseley / Warner Bros. Pictures)
Not many would dare to take on a sort-of sequel to a movie as beloved as “The Graduate,” but Reiner brought a casual ease to the tale of a woman, played by Jennifer Aniston, who believes her mother and grandmother were the inspiration for Charles Webb’s original source novel. Though reviews at the time largely savaged the movie, it now seems just the kind of self-assured studio comedy audiences yearn for, buoyed by Shirley MacLaine’s outrageous performance as a woman who may be the real Mrs. Robinson. — M.O.
‘Albert Brooks: Defending My Life’ (2023)
Albert Brooks, left, and Rob Reiner in the documentary “Albert Brooks: Defending My Life.”
(HBO)
Reiner received two Emmy nominations for this documentary tribute to comedian, actor and filmmaker Albert Brooks, a friend of Reiner’s since the two met as teenagers at Beverly Hills High. It’s captured as an expansive conversation with the two sharing a meal in a restaurant. As much as the film is a portrait of Brooks, it also reflects Reiner’s own unique position as someone who knew show business and its ups and downs with a rare intimacy. — M.O.
MONTY Python star Eric Idle has revealed the heartbreaking final conversation he had with Rob Reiner only hours before he was stabbed to death.
Idle said he spoke with a healthy and happy Reiner, 78, for over an hour on the phone as the beloved director opened up on his thoughts on the future.
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Monty Python star Eric Idle has revealed the heartbreaking final conversation he had with Rob Reiner only hours before he was stabbed to deathCredit: APHollywood was left in shock after reports emerged that Reiner and his wife Michele, 68, had been stabbed to death at their home on Sunday afternoonCredit: GettyThe couple’s daughter Romy shared holiday pictures of Reiner in the weeks before his deathCredit: Instagram
Hollywood was left in shock after reports emerged that Reiner and his wife Michele, 68, had been stabbed to death at their home on Sunday afternoon.
Their troubled son Nick, 32, is now reportedly a person of interest in the double homicide investigation.
Daughter Romy, who lives across the street from her parent’s $13.5million estate, reportedly discovered the couple with fatal injuries consistent with multiple stab wounds.
Tributes have flooded in for Reiner and Michele since.
British actor and comedian Idle led the way as he revealed his heartbreaking last talk with Reiner took place just one day before the suspected double murder.
Idle, who first met the When Harry Met Sally director over 50 years ago, wrote: “Rob Reiner was a lovely man. I spoke to him last night for over an hour. I always enjoyed his company.
I met him at his Dad’s in 1975. He was telling me about filming at Stonehenge and his thoughts for the future.
“This is so awful. I shall miss him. A clever, talented and very thoughtful man. So awful.”
Investigations into the death of the Hollywood super couple are still ongoing.
Police rushed to the six-bedroom home just after 3:30pm on Sunday afternoon after an emergency call was reportedly made by Romy, 28.
LAPD Captain Mike Bland quickly confirmed the force are investigating an “apparent homicide”.
Detectives from the Robbery Homicide Division have now been assigned to the case.
LAPD Deputy Police Chief Alan Hamilton told reporters at the scene that investigations will continue throughout the night with multiple family members set to be interviewed.
He added that there was no sign of forced entry into the home.
No arrests have been made with no suspects named at the moment, cops confirmed.
Investigators are set to speak to son Nick about the horror stabbing, according to multiple sources who have spoken with the family.
Son Nick Reiner, 32, is believed to be a potential person of interest in the double homicide investigationCredit: GettyA huge police presence surrounds the Brentwood homeCredit: AP
Nick, who reportedly lives in LA, has rarely been seen publicly since he opened up about his struggles with drug addiction in 2016.
He admitted to first going to rehab at the age of 15 and said his addiction issues even left him homeless.
Romy had shared pictures of her dad on holiday just last week alongside the heartbreaking caption: “Thankful for family, health, and followers of any age.”
HOLLYWOOD ICON
Reiner, raised in the Bronx by comic father Carl, was a huge presence in the movie industry after more than five decades as a top director and actor.
He started his career in front of the camera where he played Michael “Meathead” Stivic on the iconic sitcom “All in the Family” for eight years.
He then moved into directing with his most notable projects including the 1984 cult classic This Is Spinal Tap, The Princess Bride in 1987, and When Harry Met Sally in 1989.
In 1993, he was nominated for an Academy Award for “A Few Good Men,” which starred Jack Nicholson, Tom Cruise and Demi Moore.
Reiner’s production company Castle Rock Entertainment, which he co-founded, also helped to create Seinfeld and The Shawshank Redemption.
Michele and Rob with their three children Jake (far left), Nick (second from the left) and Romy (middle)Credit: GettyReiner starred as Leonardo DiCaprio’s dad in The Wolf of Wall StreetCredit: IMBDReiner on the set of This Is Spinal Tap in 1984Credit: Alamy
He would move between acting and directing right up until his death.
His most notable role in the past 15 years was as Jordan Belfort‘s dad in The Wolf of Wall Street alongside Leonardo DiCaprio.
This year he starred in both the critically acclaimed series The Bear and featured in the Spinal Tap II: The End Continues.
Michele was also known for her work as a producer and photographer.
Her most well known project saw her take the photo of Donald Trump which appears on the cover of his 1987 book Trump: The Art Of The Deal.
Reiner and Michele had been married since 1989 and shared three children together.
They first met while Reiner was directing When Harry Met Sally.
TRIBUTES POUR IN
Tributes for the beloved Hollywood couple quickly flooded in after reports of their deaths were announced.
John Cusack, who starred in Reiner’s film The Sure Thing, said: “Shocked by the death of Rob Reiner – a great man.”
Actor Josh Gad described Reiner as “one of the greatest directors of our time”.
Lord Of The Rings star Elijah Wood later posted: “Horrified to hear of the passing of Rob Reiner and his wonderful wife Michelle.
“So much love to their kids and family.”
Dozens of mourning fans took to the streets of Brentwood to pay their respects to the couple.
Among them was Larry David and Billy Crystal, according to neighbours.
Reiner was also a political force through his Democratic Party activism.
He was widely appreciated for his work as an outspoken supporter for LGBTQ equality and early childhood development.
Former US president Barack Obama paid tribute to Reiner saying he and his wife Michelle were “heartbroken by the tragic passing of Rob Reiner and his beloved wife, Michele”.
Former House speaker Nancy Pelosi described him as “creative, funny, and beloved” as she also paid tribute to Michele.
Reiner alongside Jack Nicholson, Tom Cruise and Demi Moore after being awarded two People’s Choice Awards for ‘A Few Good Men’ in 1992Credit: ReutersReiner and Michele together in 1990Credit: Alamy
Rob Reiner, a writer, director, producer, actor and political activist whose career in Hollywood spanned more than six decades and included some of the most iconic titles in movie history, was found dead Sunday with his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, at the home they shared in Brentwood. He was 78.
“It is with profound sorrow that we announce the tragic passing of Michele and Rob Reiner,” a spokesperson for the family said in a statement Sunday. “We are heartbroken by this sudden loss, and we ask for privacy during this unbelievably difficult time.”
Reiner will be remembered as the director of the seminal 1980s rom-com “When Harry Met Sally,” the actor whose character “Meathead” faced off regularly against Archie Bunker, and the political activist who backed early childhood programs in California and railed loudly for years against President Trump.
The oldest child of comedian Carl Reiner and singer Estelle Reiner, Robert Reiner was born March 6, 1947, in the Bronx, N.Y. Raised by a father who won 11 Primetime Emmys and a Grammy in addition to the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, Rob Reiner attended Beverly Hills High School and studied film at UCLA. He then went to work in Hollywood as an actor and writer before moving on to directing and producing.
Reiner’s writing credits in the 1960s included “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour,” “The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour” and the TV movie “Where the Girls Are.” In the 1970s, he wrote several episodes of “All in the Family” as well as the Primetime Emmy Awards telecast in 1978 and episodes of “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.”
Reiner married Penny Marshall, star of TV’s “Laverne & Shirley,” in 1971 and adopted Tracy, the daughter Marshall had from a previous marriage. Reiner and Marshall divorced in 1981.
He wrote for the first “Comic Relief,” hosted by Robin Williams, Billy Crystal and Whoopi Goldberg. That and the dozen “Comic Relief” telethons that followed raised awareness and money to fight poverty in the U.S. and elsewhere.
“This Is Spinal Tap” in 1984 further established Reiner’s comedic sensibilities in the American milieu. His work took a dramatic turn when he directed the 1986 adaptation of Stephen King’s novella “Stand by Me,” which starred Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman and Jerry O’Connell, but he returned to comedy with 1987’s “The Princess Bride” starring Cary Elwes, Robin Wright and Mandy Patinkin. Also in 1987, he co-founded production company Castle Rock Entertainment.
Then he directed what would emerge as one of the most beloved rom-coms ever — “When Harry Met Sally,” starring Crystal and Meg Ryan.
On the set of the movie he met photographer Michele Singer and the two married in 1989, the year the film came out. They went on to have three children, Jake, Nick and Romy, born in 1991, 1993 and 1997, respectively.
Reiner was finally nominated for a best picture Academy Award in 1994 for “A Few Good Men,” starring Jack Nicholson and Tom Cruise, though the movie lost out that year to Clint Eastwood’s Western “Unforgiven.”
Reiner’s work had sweeping cultural impacts. Three of his movies, “When Harry Met Sally,” “The Princess Bride” and “This is Spinal Tap,” are on the National Film Registry. The phrase “up to eleven,” coined in “This Is Spinal Tap” during an improvised sequence between Reiner and Christopher Guest, is in the Oxford English Dictionary.
“It’s weird that something that we just threw off like that suddenly becomes part of the lexicon of our lives,” Reiner said on NPR’s “Fresh Air” in September. “It’s very strange how these things have taken root.”
In 2015, Reiner was the producer on “Being Charlie,” a drama based on his family’s struggles while son Nick was addicted to hard drugs and rotating in and out of rehabs and homelessness.
“It was very, very hard going through it the first time, with these painful and difficult highs and lows,” Reiner told The Times in 2015. “And then making the movie dredged it all up again.”
Growing up, Reiner balanced conflicting feelings about his relationship with his own father, who was someone he strongly admired. But he also felt as though his father didn’t fully know him. That dichotomy inspired a scene in “Stand by Me” when Gordie declares his father hates him.
“Loving your father and looking up to your father doesn’t necessarily mean you’re feeling that back,” Reiner said on “Fresh Air” in September, recalling how writing that scene made him cry. Reiner, added, however, that he had two “great guides” in his life, his father, who died in 2020, and “All in the Family” creator Norman Lear.
Reiner was a writer on “The 40th Kennedy Center Honors” in 2017, capping a career that included myriad variety show writing credits. “Spinal Tap II: The End Continues,” which he directed, was his final project as a scribe. “Spinal Tap at Stonehenge: The Final Finale,” due out in 2026, was his final directing credit.
Reiner was nominated five times for supporting actor Emmys for his “All in the Family” work, winning in 1974 and 1978. He was up for two Emmys in 2024 for the documentary “Albert Brooks: Defending My Life.”
A staunch liberal, Reiner also emerged as a force in California politics and child welfare and education issues, and campaigned for presidential candidates including former Vice President Al Gore, endorsed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for president and spoke up for President Biden’s reelection. Reiner was also an unapologetic critic of President Trump.
He campaigned in California against tobacco use and in 1998 saw the passage of Proposition 10, which called for a tax on tobacco products to be spent on early childhood programs. Reiner became chairman of the First 5 California Children and Families Commission in January 1999. He resigned in March 2006 amid accusations that the commission had used tax money to boost his campaign for the ultimately unsuccessful Proposition 82, which would have raised income taxes on wealthy Californians to pay for preschool for 4-year-olds. An audit later concluded that he and the commission had not violated state law.
“Rob Reiner has always put California’s kids first, and I thank him for the great work he has done over the last seven years,” then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said in a statement at the time. “Because of Rob’s efforts, California has become a national leader in providing early childhood health and education services for our youngest children and their families.”
Times editor Brittany Levine Beckman contributed to this report.
Rob Reiner was known to millions as a TV actor and film director.
But the Brentwood resident, known for the classic films “Stand by Me” and “When Harry Met Sally,” was also a political force, an outspoken supporter of progressive causes and a Democratic Party activist who went beyond the typical role of celebrities who host glitzy fundraisers.
Reiner was deeply involved in issues that he cared about, such as early childhood education and the legalization of gay marriage.
Reiner, 78, and his wife, Michelle Singer Reiner, were found dead inside his home Sunday, sparking an outpouring of grief from those who worked with him on a variety of causes.
Ace Smith — a veteran Democratic strategist to former Vice President Kamala Harris, Gov. Gavin Newsom, former Gov. Jerry Brown and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton — had known Reiner for decades. Reiner, he said, approached politics differently than most celebrities.
“Here’s this unique human being who really did make the leap between entertainment and politics,” Smith said. “And he really spent the time to understand policy, really, in its true depth, and to make a huge impact in California.”
Reiner was a co-founder of the American Foundation for Equal Rights, the organization that successfully led the fight to overturn Proposition 8, the 2008 ballot measure that banned same-sex marriage. He was active in children’s issues through the years, having led the campaign to pass Proposition 10, the California Children and Families Initiative, which created an ambitious program of early childhood development services.
Proposition 10 was considered landmark policy. Reiner enlisted help in that effort from Steven Spielberg, Robin Williams, and his own father, comedy legend Carl Reiner.
“He wanted to make a difference. And he did, and he did profoundly,” Smith said.
Reiner was also a leading backer of Proposition 82, an unsuccessful measure that would have taxed the wealthy to create universal preschool in California.
Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who had known Reiner since he was a state lawmaker in the 1990s, worked with him on Proposition 10 and was impressed with how Reiner embraced the cause.
“He was a man with a good answer. It wasn’t politics as much as he was always focused on the humanity among us,” Villaraigosa said. ‘When he got behind an issue, he knew everything about it.”
“Just a really special man. A terrible day,” the former mayor said.
Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement that she was “heartbroken” by the day’s events, saying Reiner “always used his gifts in service of others.”
“Rob Reiner’s contributions reverberate throughout American culture and society, and he has improved countless lives through his creative work and advocacy fighting for social and economic justice,” the mayor said.
“I’m holding all who loved Rob and Michele in my heart,” Bass said.
Newsom added, “Rob was a passionate advocate for children and for civil rights — from taking on Big Tobacco, fighting for marriage equality, to serving as a powerful voice in early education. He made California a better place through his good works.”
“Rob will be remembered for his remarkable filmography and for his extraordinary contribution to humanity,” the governor said.
Los Angeles police are investigating an apparent homicide at the Brentwood home of Rob Reiner, where two people were found dead Sunday afternoon.
The bodies of a 78-year-old man and a 65-year-old woman were found at the home in the 200 block of Chadbourne Avenue, according to Police Capt. Mike Bland.
Law enforcement sources told The Times that a family member was being questioned in connection with the death. .
The sources, who were not authorized to speak publicly about the ongoing investigation, confirmed that there was no sign of forced entry into the home. The names of the victims have not been released.
Margaret Stewart, a Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman, said the department was called to the residence around 3:30 p.m. for medical aid. Inside the home, fire personnel discovered the bodies of the man and woman.
Rob Reiner and wife Michele Reiner attend the 46th Kennedy Center Honors gala at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington in December 2023.
(Kent Nishimulra / AFP via Getty Images)
Reiner, 78, has had a five-decade-long career in Hollywood.
Early in his career, he played Michael “Meathead” Stivic on the iconic sitcom “All in the Family” from 1971 to 1979, alongside Carroll O’Connor as Archie Bunker.
As a director, Reiner helmed a string of hits including “When Harry Met Sally,” “The Princess Bride” and “This Is Spinal Tap.” His work took a dramatic turn when he directed the 1986 adaptation of Steven King’s novella “Stand by Me.”
Reiner was finally nominated for an Academy Award for 1993’s “A Few Good Men,” which starred Jack Nicholson and Tom Cruise, though the movie lost to Clint Eastwood’s western “Unforgiven.”
Reiner also was a leading political voice in Hollywood.
He was a co-founder of the American Foundation for Equal Rights, the organization that led the fight to overturn Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage. He’s also been active in children’s issues through the years, having led the campaign to pass Proposition 10, the California Children and Families Initiative, which created an ambitious program of early childhood development services.
Proposition 10 was considered landmark policy. Reiner enlisted help in the effort from Steven Spielberg, Robin Williams, and his own father, comedy legend Carl Reiner.
Reiner was married to Penny Marshall, star of “Laverne & Shirley,” from 1971 to 1981. He met photographer Michele Singer on the set of “When Harry Met Sally” and the two married in 1989, the year the movie came out.
Michele Singer Reiner began producing films over the last decade, including “Shock and Awe,” “Albert Brooks: Defending My Life” and “Spinal Tap II: The End Continues,” all directed by her husband. She also produced “God & Country,” a look at Christian nationalism in the U.S.
By Sunday evening, law enforcement had swarmed Reiner’s sprawling estate in Brentwood, though an eerie quiet hung over Chadbourne Avenue, which had been sealed from the public with yellow crime scene tape.
Police cars were stationed at either ends of the block where the Reiner residence is located while a chopper circled overhead.
Officers spoke to a young man inside of the sealed off area, who left the scene around 7:30 p.m. in a white Tesla and declined to speak to the media.
Councilmember Traci Park, whose Westside district includes Brentwood, said in a statement that the LAPD had increased patrols in the neighborhood “out of an abundance of caution.”
“As we continue to wait for more updates, I want to express my profound concern and sadness at the news coming out of Brentwood,” Park wrote in the statement. “We are in close contact with LAPD as the homicide unit continues their investigation.”
This breaking news story will be updated.
Times staff writer David Zahniser contributed to this report.
European champion Gian van Veen has booked his place in the second round of the PDC World Championship but 12th seed Ross Smith suffered a shock first-round exit.
Expectations are high for Van Veen after a successful 2025 and, after falling at the first hurdle in his two previous visits to Alexandra Palace, there will have been an element of relief following his 3-1 win over Spain’s Cristo Reyes.
The Dutch 10th seed, a two-time world youth champion, battled to victory in the first set despite being short of his best before stepping it up in the second, averaging 107, to go 2-0 up.
Reyes hit back in the third after taking out 167 to win the first leg and earned a break in the fourth, only for Van Veen to show his grit and come back to secure his first win at the tournament.
“Finally across that line,” the 23-year-old, who averaged 98.91, told Sky Sports.
“Today, walking on this stage, you feel like a 16-year-old again – I was so nervous! But as soon as the first darts went in, I was like ‘OK, you belong here’.”
But while Van Veen can prepare for round two, Smith is heading home after a 3-2 loss to 50-year-old debutant Andreas Harrysson of Sweden.
Smith missed six match darts in the fourth set and was made to pay as Harryson pressed on to win the deciding set by three legs to one.
Also in the evening session, England’s Ricky Evans beat Hong Kong’s Man Lok Leung 3-0 and Australian 16th seed Damon Heta earned a 3-1 win over Ireland’s Steve Lennon.
The festive special is making a comeback with two episodes this Christmas, boasting a star-studded lineup including AJ Odudu, Angela Scanlon, Charlie Hedges, Eddie Kadi, Jake Wood, JB Gill, Kadeena Cox, Matt Morsia, Thomas Skinner, Sarah Hadland, and Shazia Mirza.
Competing to raise funds for BBC Children In Need, the celebrities have been challenged with creating their own gingerbread biscuits, with filming taking them to Lapland for the task.
Facing off against fellow TV personalities, a Gladiator, a former Apprentice contestant, and several actors, Rob stepped up as project manager for his squad.
Rob Rinder presents Good Morning Britain alongside the likes of Susanna Reid(Image: ITV)
Despite Lord Sugar’s reputation for reducing countless hopefuls to rubble over the years, the barrister showed no signs of intimidation, reports Wales Online.
Lord Sugar kicked things off by remarking: “It would be good if I knew any of you, I’ve got your CVs here.
“Rob, apart from guiding these people legally, what do you feel you might be able to bring in a business point of view?”
The GMB presenter shot back: “Well, I can feel the assets of the other team, I’m hoping.”
He subsequently confessed: “My strategy going into this is wit, and if that fails, I’ll be bringing legal action.”
Rob Rinder served a brutal dig as he took on the role of project manager(Image: BBC)
Upon arriving at their destination, Rob’s banter became even sharper, delivering a pointed quip about Lord Sugar whilst maintaining his fearless approach.
Discussing his team, he remarked: “These are exceptional people, when you have a wealth of that talent and a wealth of that experience, the most important thing is to empower people to speak.”
He boldly declared: “We live or die together, but if we fail, I’ll be the first person to offer myself to be sacked to Lord Sugar.
“I’m not the least bit afraid of him, my grandma was more frightening than him.”
Lord Sugar returned to the boardroom for a new series of The Celebrity Apprentice(Image: BBC / FremantleMedia Ltd)
Lord Sugar, speaking about the return of The Celebrity Apprentice, previously revealed: “It’s the first ever time on The Celebrity Apprentice that the public can buy products that were created by the celebrity candidates. It’s added some real pressure to the process.
“I think the celebs thought they were in for an easy ride, but they were wrong! Raising money for BBC Children in Need is serious business, so the candidates really need to deliver if they want to avoid ending up on my naughty list.”
Kalpna Patel-Knight, Head of Entertainment Commissioning at the BBC, also chimed in: “The celebrity candidates will be giving viewers a tasty treat or two this Christmas that viewers can literally sink their teeth into, all while supporting the incredible work of BBC Children in Need. Are viewers going to be Team Gary the Penguin or Team Jolly McTrouble? Let the festive boardroom battle begin!”
Paul Broadbent, Director of Programmes at Naked, commented: “We have taken The Apprentice out of the boardroom and straight onto the shelves. These special episodes bridge the gap between entertainment and real-world impact. It is a rare opportunity for audiences to buy, taste and enjoy something they’ve watched being created on screen and it has been great fun seeing the celebs’ ideas come to life, all in aid of a fantastic charity.”
The Celebrity Apprentice airs on December 29 and 30 at 9pm on BBC One and iPlayer.
