Rob Reiner, the prolific multi-hyphenate filmmaker and actor (and son of fellow filmmaker Carl Reiner), has died at the age of 78. The news was first reported by TMZ and Variety. Reiner’s second wife, Michele Singer, has also died. On late Sunday afternoon, NBC 4 Los Angeles was the first to report that two bodies had been discovered at the couple’s Brentwood, California home. NBC also reports that LAPD Robbery Homicide Division detectives have been assigned to the case. IndieWire has reached out to Reiner’s representative and will update this story.
The son of Carl and Estelle Reiner, he was born in The Bronx on March 6, 1947 and spent most of his childhood in New Rochelle, NY, before moving west to Los Angeles, where he later attended UCLA for film school.
Reiner began his career as an actor, appearing throughout the late ’60s in bit parts in popular fare like “Batman,” “That Girl,” “The Andy Griffith Show,” “Room 222,” “Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.,” and “The Beverly Hillbillies.” Arguably his most popular screen role started in 1971, when he was cast as Mike “Meathead” Stivic in “All in the Family.” For his work on the series, Reiner won two Emmy Awards, in addition to three other nominations, and five Golden Globe nominations.
In 1984, he moved behind the camera to direct the boundary-breaking mockumentary “This Is Spinal Tap,” essentially inventing the genre. Romantic comedies followed, from “The Sure Thing” to “When Harry Met Sally” and “The American President.” All three were films that helped codify the modern rom-com, giving it intelligence, sexual candor, and — most crucially — adult conversation.
Enduring classics like “Stand by Me” and “The Princess Bride” offered that same honesty with a twist, approaching childhood and fantasy without condescension. And “Misery”? It proved Reiner could do stripped-down, bone-chilling (and -breaking) horror as effectively as whimsy.
In 1992, Reiner was nominated for his first and only Oscar, when his “A Few Good Men” was nominated for Best Picture, ultimately losing out to Clint Eastwood’s “Unforgiven.” For his directing work, he was also nominated for four Golden Globes for Best Director and three Directors Guild of America Awards.
While Reiner continued to work steadily in his later years, his directing picks didn’t capture the same magic as that early run, but they showed a filmmaker still compelled to make movies of all stripes for audiences of all kids. Few American directors have moved so fluidly between genres. He made movies that people quote, revisit, and pass down.
In 2020, his iconic father Carl Reiner passed way at age 98.
Reiner’s final film, the long-gestating sequel “Spinal Tap II: The End Continues,” was released in September 2025.
More to come…
