Legendary Hollywood Director and Activist Rob Reiner Has Died at 78
- - Legendary Hollywood Director and Activist Rob Reiner Has Died at 78
Dorothy ScarboroughDecember 15, 2025 at 10:41 AM
0
Hollywood Legend Rob Reiner Dies at 78 JEAN-BAPTISTE LACROIX - Getty Images
Genre-spanning director and activist Reiner, has died, alongside his wife, Michele Reiner, a photographer and producer. A spokesperson for his family said, “It is with profound sorrow that we announce the tragic passing of Michele and Rob Reiner. We are heartbroken by this sudden loss, and we ask for privacy during this unbelievably difficult time.” The LAPD is investigating their deaths as an “apparent homicide.”
Reiner, who was born in the Bronx in 1947 to actors Carl and Estelle Reiner, began his career in the theater and with guest parts in popular television series of the era, including That Girl and The Beverly Hillbillies. In the late 1960s, he partnered with Steve Martin as a writer on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. His breakthrough, though, came with the role of ‘Meathead’ on the 1971 Norman Lear sitcom, All In the Family. He won two Emmys and was nominated for three more for his work on the series. Also in 1971, he married the director Penny Marshall, though the two would divorce in 1981.
Reiner with his first wife, the director Penny Marshall at the 1972 Emmies. He was nominated for his role in All In The Family. Frank Edwards - Getty Images
He then stepped back from acting to establish himself as a writer-director-producer. After a slow beginning in television, he made his first movie in 1984: This Is Spinal Tap. Though they began with $60,000, Reiner and collaborators Christopher Guest and Michael McKean realized they needed a bigger budget and appealed to Lear for $2 million. One of the funniest of films the year, it was the first of his many comedic successes.
His next projects are perhaps even more engrained in the cultural firmament, from the coming-of-age dramedy Stand By Me (1986) to the romantic fantasy The Princess Bride (1987) to, of course, When Harry Met Sally (1989). Much of seminal rom-com’s most memorable moments were personal for Reiner: His mother, Estelle Reiner, was notably the “I’ll have what she’s having” woman at the diner; his phone conversations with Billie Crystal inspired the split-screen sequences between Harry (Crystal) and Sally (Meg Ryan), and the ending, which was meant to be tragic, was changed into a ‘happily ever after’ because the divorced Reiner had found love during the production, this time with Michele, whom he married the same year.
His next projects were some of the most serious and dramatic of his career; first, 1990’s Academy-Award winning Misery and second, A Few Good Men (1992) for which he was nominated for Best Picture. Starring Jack Nicholson, Tom Cruise, and Demi Moore, and written by Aaron Sorkin, the movie spawned the memorable “You want the truth? You can’t handle the truth!” bellowed by Nicholson in court.
Reiner at the premiere of Misery with Michele, and his parents, Estelle and Carl Reiner. Vinnie Zuffante - Getty Images
Reiner’s next collaboration with Sorkin was the 1995 Michael Douglas-Annette Bening romantic drama, The American President. Like their previous film, it captured an idealized form of American politics, where good guys, good intentions, and snappy dialogue were enough to root out evil. In real life, though Reiner understood in the inequality at the heart of American society. He was a champion of civil rights, and his American Foundation for Equal Rights made the initial challenge against Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage in California. The overturning of Proposition 8 was one of the landmark cases used by the Supreme Court to allow gay marriage throughout the United States.
Though he was best known as a director and activist, Reiner made his fortune by co-founding Castle Rock Entertainment, which, alongside the projects Reiner directed, also produced Before Sunrise, Miss Congeniality, and, most significantly, Seinfeld. Though the company was all but shut down following a purchase by Turner/Time Warner, in 2020, Reiner secured funding to re-open Castle Rock. It produced the documentary, Albert Brooks: Defending My Life (2023) and This Is Spinal Tap 2: The End Continues (2025), Reiner’s final film. He also took small on-screen roles in his later years, including a memorable turn as Leonardo Dicaprio’s father in The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) and a recurring role on New Girl.
Reiner with Crystal at the 1989 premiere of When Harry Met Sally. MediaPunch - Getty Images
In the hours since the Reiners’ deaths were made public, tributes have begun pouring in for the couple’s decades of creative and humanitarian work. Former President Obama said, “Rob’s achievements in film and television gave us some of our most cherished stories on screen. 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.”
California Governor Gavin Newsom likewise highlighted both Reiner’s artistic and political legacy. “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,” he wrote in a statement.
Reiner at a 2018 women’s march in Los Angeles. Amanda Edwards - Getty Images
Reiner collaborator Christopher Guest and his wife, actress Jamie Lee Curtis said that they were “numb,” and focused on the Reiner family, adding, “There will be plenty of time later to discuss the creative lives we shared and 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,” Curtis’s statement continued. Collaborators Ben Stiller, Stephen King, and Cathy Bates released similar tributes.
Rob and Michele were survived by their children Nick, Romy, and Jake Reiner, as well as Rob’s daughter from his marriage with Penny Marshall, Tracy Marshall.
You Might Also Like
12 Weekend Getaway Spas For Every Type of Occasion
13 Beauty Tools to Up Your At-Home Facial Game
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
