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Caloroga Shark Media. Hey, it’s Johnny Mack. As you’ve probably heard by now, Rob and Michelle Reiner were found dead inside their home in Brentwood, California, on Sunday afternoon around three forty pm, and had reportedly been stabbed to death. I just want to jump on the mic and talk about this. It’s a little before two pm on Monday.
I had to teach this morning, so I couldn’t put this out any earlier. But I think, like all of us except one guy that we’ll get to at the end of the podcast today, you know, everybody just stunned and really sad about the passing of Rob and Michelle Reiner. I don’t want to get too much into the details, as it is an evolving story and none of us really know what happened on Sunday. The LAPD said the deaths were being investigated as a homicide. A family spokesperson at a statement set is with profound sorrow that we announced the tragic passing of Michelle and Rob Reiner.
We are heartbroken by the sudden loss, and we asked for privacy during this unbelievably difficult time. At this hour, there are reports that Nick Reiner, the thirty two year old son of Robin Michelle Reiner, is being held on suspicion of murdering his parents. The La County Sheriff’s Department online records say Nick Reiner was arrested Sunday night at nine fifteen pm and booked on a felony charge at Monday at five four am. At a press conference on Monday, LAPD Chief Jim McDonell confirmed Nick Reiner had been booked for murder, bailt at four million dollars. McDonald added a very very tragic incident.
Charges have yet to be filed at this time. Reiner, the son of Carl Reiner, was known for his role in All of the Family, which is where people my age first knew him as Mike Stivick on that classic sitcom. Rob Reiner then went on to become one of the great directors of our time. His films include Spinal Tap, Stand By Me, Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally, and A Few Good Men. Rob Reiner’s father, Carl Reiner, created The Dick Van Dyke Show, and they moved the family out to Los Angeles in the nineteen fifties.
Rob Reiner worked in small theater and started his own improv group before landing the role on All On the Family. He was on that series for eight seasons from nineteen seventy one to nineteen seventy eight. In nineteen eighty four, he made his directorial debut with This Is Spinal Tap. From there, he directed The Sure Thing at Romantic Comedy, starring John Cusack. Then he adapted a fantasy adventure novel that he had loved, The Princess Bride.
Reiner told The New York Times in nineteen eighty seven, people take a look at Princess Bride and exclaimed, God, this is such an odd conglomeration. How could he balance all those things? But it didn’t seem strange to me because those are all parts of my personality. I’ve definitely got the satirical side to me, and there’s romantic side and this more realistic way of looking at things. In nineteen seventy one, Reiner married Penny Marshall, you may know her as Laverne from Laverne and Shirley.
After the divorce, Reiner re entered the dating world and had the idea for romantic comedy about whether men and women could Truly be Friends without sex getting in the way that eventually morphed into When Harry Met Sally, starring Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan. While making that movie, Rob Reiner was introduced to the movie’s director of photography, Michelle Singer. They were married seven months later in nineteen eighty nine. Rob Reiner said the romance led to him changing the ending of When Harry Met Sally. An earlier version ended with Harry and Sally walking away from each other.
In the nineties, Reiner directed Misery, A Few Good Men, and the American President. Rob Reiner was also politically active, a longtime activist and outspoken supporter of candidates and political causes in California. He led a nineteen ninety eight ballot initiative that increased taxes on tobacco to pay four early childhood programs and worked with unions on labor issues. He backed a legal campaign aimed at persuading the Supreme Court to establish a constitutional right of same sex marriage. In more recent years, he was a vocal critic of the Trump administration.
Reiner did continue to lightly act. He appeared in the Wolf of Wall Street, episodes of New Girl and made a cameo in the fourth season of The Bear and even more recently in Spinal tamp iiO. During the lead up to Spinal Tap two, he spoke to The New York Times about some of the things that were most important to him. The first things he mentioned were my wife and kids. That’s the most important to me.
There’s the joke. Nobody on their deathbed ever said I should have spent more time on the office. Nobody says that we’ll take a break here and we’ll come back with some celebrity reactions in no particular order. This is just how I cut and pasted them. Ben Stiller wrote on Twitter, what a huge loss.
Rob Reiner was one of my favorite directors. He made some of the most formative movies for my generation. He came out from behind a comedic shadow of the great Carl Reiner and being a TV actor to being a great director who made an incredible run of movies. Spinal Tap is one of the best comedies ever made, and the list goes on. He was a kind, caring person who was really really funny.
I don’t know him well, but was always a fan, and I feel real sadness for those who did and his family Jamie Lee Curtis and Christopher Guest put out a joint statements of variety. It’s phrased from the perspective of Jamie Lee, Christopher and I are numb and sad and shocked about the violent, tragic debts of our dear friends Robin Michelle Singer Reiner, and our only focus and care right now is for their children and immediately families, and we will offer all support possible to help them. There’ll be plenty of time later to discuss the creative lives we shared in the great political and social impact they both had on the entertainment industry, early childhood development, the fight for gay marriage, and their global care for a world in crisis. We have lost great friends. Please give us time to grieve.
Stephen King on social media, I’m horrified and saddened by the death of Robert Michell, wonderful friend, political and brilliant filmmaker, including two of mine. Rest in peace, Rob. You always stood by me. Jerry O’Connell on social media, Love you, Rob, sincerely. Jerry shared a photo of himself and Rob on the set of Stand By Me.
Norman Lear created All in the Family. A statement from the Norman Lear family says the Lear family is devastated by the deaths of Robin Michelle Reiner. Norman often referred to Rob as a son, and their close relationship was extraordinary to us in the world. Norman would have wanted to remind us that Robin Michell spent every breath trying to make this country a better place, and they pursued that through their art, their activism, their philanthropy, and their love for family and friends. Lynn Lear had remained very close with them and said the world is unmistakably darker tonight, and we are left.
Barack Obama said, Michelle and I are heartbroken by the tragic passing of Rob Reiner and his beloved wife Michelle. Rob’s achievements in film and television gave us some of our most cherished stories on screen, but beneath all 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 live lives defined by purpose. They will be remembered for the values they championed and the countless people they inspired. We send our deepest condolences to all who love them.
Ron Howard said he proved to be a superlative filmmaker, a supportive colleague, and at all times a dedicated citizen. Rob will be missed on so many levels. My heart goes out to his family and his many close friends. Eric Idol on social media said he had just spoken to Rob the night before. For over an hour he was telling me about filming at Stone Edge and his thoughts for the future.
This is so awful. I shall miss him. A clever, talented, and very thoughtful man. Rob Schneider said, I am deeply saddened. Every life is sacred and given by God, our creator.
One of the most accomplished American directors who ever lived. His movies have been adored by generations. But I will remember him most for making me laugh my guts out with my dad watching the greatest American TV show of all time, All in the family. I’ll be praying for his friends and family that they may find solace in peace. Josh Gad said he was one of the greatest directors of our time.
He was a friend, He was simply a beautiful person. Rob Reiner and his wife Michelle were two of the most kind and caring souls you could ever imagine he cares so much for those who had no voices. This loss is devastating. I cannot express to you how much this hurts. Love you, Robin, Michelle, thank you for all you gave us.
Roseanne Barr tweeted, I’m absolutely shocked and horrified to hear about Rob Reiner and his wife Michelle. This is a travesty. Praying for swift justice, sympathies to their family and children. I’m going to loss for words, and President Trump completely unwilling to be sympathetic or show any class posted on truth social and I’m going to deliberately read this flat and not put any emphasis on any of the words. Rob Reiner, a tortured and struggling but once very talented movie director and comedy star, has passed away together with his wife Michelle, reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding and incurable affliction with a mine crippling disease known as Trump Derangement syndrome.
Those three words in all caps sometimes referred to as TDS. That is, the President of the United States responding to two people who had their throats slashed. Michelle Reiner was sixty eight. Rob Reiner was seventy eight