Rob Reiner’s stratospheric rise from being rejected by his A-list father to rubbing shoulders with royalty, turning into a political powerhouse and having a love story for the ages

Hollywood has been left in mourning following the death of Rob Reiner and his beloved wife Michele Singer. 

The couple were found dead inside their Los Angeles home on Sunday, in what police are investigating as a double homicide, with the couple’s bodies discovered with what appeared to be knife wounds.

It marks the tragic end to an epic love story between the pair – who had been married for 36 years – and to Reiner’s glittering career that saw him nominated for Golden Globes, Emmys and an Oscar.

One could argue that Reiner was always destined for greatness, being the son of director and comedian Carl Reiner, who was known for creating The Dick Van Dyke Show.

Yet it was Reiner’s father who proved to be his harshest critic, determined to ensure his son would make it in Hollywood on his own merit. 

Reiner, raised in the Bronx by the noted writer and his mother Estelle, had followed in his father’s footsteps, attending the University of California Los Angeles Film School.

At the age of 18 he starred in a production of Enter Laughing that ‘got good reviews’, but his father never complimented him on it. 

The following year his father directed a movie adaptation of the play – which Reiner auditioned for – but he didn’t get the part. 

‘There’s no bigger rejection [than for] your father to say you can’t do it,’ Reiner recalled just three months ago during an appearance on Ted Danson’s podcast, Where Everybody Knows Your Name. 

Yet the lack of praise from his parent meant that when he did finally get a compliment it meant so much more. 

Reiner recalled his father coming to watch a play he had directed, revealing: ‘He came backstage afterwards, and he looked me in the eye and he said, “That was good. No bulls**t.” 

‘That was the first time I ever heard validation like that. And then I went and visited him the next day at his house and we’re sitting in the backyard and he says, “I’m not worried about you. You’re going to be okay. 

“Whatever you decide to do, you’re going to do it good.” And that was that was a big deal. That was a big deal.’

Reiner added that later on in his career his father went as far to claim that he was a ‘better director’ than he had ever been.  

The pair maintained a strong bond until Carl’s death in 2020 at age 98. 

Reflecting on his passing, Reiner shared: ‘I love him so much, and I think about him every day, and he still guides me to this day.

‘His voice is in my head, and [with] anything I ever do, he guides me.’ 

Reiner’s talent was apparent to many from the start. 

He kickstarted his acting career with minor roles on shows like The Andy Griffith Show, The Partridge Family and Batman in the late 1960s. 

Meanwhile he honed his writing skills when he teamed up with Steve Martin to pen the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. 

Yet it was his role as Michael ‘Meathead’ Stivic on CBS’ All in the Family (the US version of Till Death Us Do Part) that truly launched his career, with the sitcom becoming the most watched television programme from 1971 through 1976. 

He was chosen for the role over actors like Richard Dreyfuss and Harrison Ford, and wound up winning two Emmy Awards and five Golden Globe nominations for his work on the show.

By the Eighties he had moved into directing and received critical acclaim for his cinematic debut, This Is Spinal Tap, and his next film, The Sure Thing. 

Yet it wasn’t until his third movie, Stand By Me, that he felt he’d truly made his name.

He told The Guardian in 2018: ‘Spinal Tap was satire, and I love satire, but that was something my father had done. And The Sure Thing was romantic comedy and he had done those. 

‘So Stand By Me was the first thing I did that was purely an extension of myself, and that meant a lot to me.’

The 1986 coming-of-age film also marked the beginning of Reiner’s longtime collaboration with author Stephen King. 

They went on to work together on Misery, The Shawshank Redemption, Dolores Claiborne and The Green Mile. 

By 1989 he had made another equally important collaboration, teaming up with writer Nora Ephron for When Harry Met Sally. 

The idea was sparked following Reiner’s divorce from first wife Penny Marshall in 1981 after 10 years of marriage. 

Reiner and his producing partner, Andy Scheinman, had requested a lunch meeting with Ephron to go over a script idea they had for a movie about a lawyer.

It was of no interest to the illustrious writer, yet their lunch meeting sparked another idea after Reiner opened up about single life and how he’d had ‘disastrous, confusing relationships one after another’.

‘I had been married for 10 years, I’d been single for ten years and I couldn’t figure out how I was ever going to be with anybody and that gave birth to When Harry Met Sally,’ Reiner told CNN’s Who’s Talking To Chris Wallace in a 2024 interview.

He was keen to make a film about two people who become friends and do not have sex because they know it will ruin their relationship. 

Ephron based Harry, and much of the character’s dialogue, on both Reiner and his best friend Billy Crystal, who would go onto land the role.

Both Reiner and Ephron went into the project with a ‘true ending’ for the movie, which would see Crystal’s character and Sally, played by Meg Ryan ‘seeing each other after years, talking and then walking away from each other.’

However, during filming Reiner embarked on a relationship that ended up moulding the movie to become one of the most beloved rom coms of all time. 

It was love at first sight when Reiner met photographer Michele – with his new positive outlook on relationships inspiring him to change the ending of the film. 

‘I met my wife Michele, who I’ve been married to now for 35 years, I met her while we were making the film and I changed the ending,’ the filmmaker recalled.

It was nearly not meant to be, however, with Reiner revealing that he had originally planned to ask out Michelle Pfeiffer after picking up a magazine with the actress on the cover during the movie’s pre-production.  

‘I’d met her a few months before, she seemed like a nice person, and I read she was getting divorced, so I said to Barry Sonnenfeld [When Harry Met Sally’s director of photography], “I’m going to give her a call,”‘ he revealed. 

Yet Sonnenfeld declared: ‘You’re not going to call her, you’re going to marry my friend Michele Singer,’ to which Reiner scoffed. 

That is until he spotted a ‘very attractive woman’ on the set who turned out to be Singer. 

‘Originally, Harry and Sally didn’t get together. But then I met Michele and I thought: OK, I see how this works,’ he mused. 

Fans of the 1989 classic will recall that the movie ends with Harry and Sally meeting on New Year’s Eve, declaring their love for one another and going on to marry. 

Reiner found The One with Michele, with the pair going on to have a 36 year marriage and welcoming three children: sons Jake and Nick, and daughter Romy, before their untimely demise. 

With it’s positive new ending, When Harry Met Sally ended up being such a success that even royalty were keen to watch the movie. 

The late Princess Diana was among attendees at the London premiere – with Reiner and Crystal later recalling the excruciating moment they watched the notorious fake orgasm scene alongside the people’s princess. 

‘All I’m thinking the entire time is, “How is she responding to this?”‘, Reiner recalled.  ‘And now the orgasm scene is coming, I’m going “Oh God. Oh my God.”‘

Yet they needn’t have worried, as Crystal revealed that Diana, who was sat between Crystal and Ryan during the premiere, cracked jokes with the pair. 

He shared: ‘So I went, “I’m taking my pants off”, and she goes, “Oh, you’re so naughty!”‘ 

Reiner added: ‘She laughed and laughed! And she leaned over to Billy and whispered: “I’d be laughing a lot more but I know everyone’s watching me.”‘ 

Diana was such a fan of the movie she then asked the director a copy so she could watch it at the palace with her friends, Crystal recalled. 

Reiner went on to direct hits such as Misery and A Few Good Men.

Yet in more recent years he only had occasional box office smashes, such as The Bucket List, starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman.

Still, Reiner defended his films.

‘I’m making the movies I want to make,’ he told the Guardian in 2008. 

‘Studios are looking for hundreds and hundreds of million dollars in profit, and you’re not going to get it with a little movie.

‘But I came into this business to express myself and tell stories, not just churn out a product.’

At the same time, Reiner had become more politically active as an ardent supporter for Democratic candidates and an outspoken supporter of liberal causes.

In 2009 he co-founded the American Foundation for Equal Rights, which was instrumental in overturning the ban on same-sex marriage in California.

He also successfully campaigned for higher taxes on cigarettes in the state with is First 5 California initiative, which funnelled funding into prenatal care and young childhood programmes.

The outspoken liberal was a vocal critic of President Donald Trump, even announcing in 2021 that he was working on a 10 to 13-episode television project covering Trump’s relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

His death sparked an outpouring of grief from high-profile liberal politicians, including former presidential nominee Kamala Harris, California Governor Gavin Newsom and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. 

Yet it his family who are of course feeling the loss most greatly, with a spokesperson releasing this statement: ‘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.’ 

Detectives are treating the incident as homicide and a family member is being questioned by investigators, an official told the Associated Press. There are no arrests.

The couple’s daughter Romy, who lives just across the street, is said to have made the grim discovery when she visited their sprawling six-bedroom estate Sunday afternoon.

In a press conference, LAPD Deputy Chief Alan Hamilton said a suspect in the murders had not yet been identified. He added that no one had yet been interviewed as a suspect and that no one was in custody.

‘We’re going to try to speak to every family member that we can to get to the facts of this investigation,’ Hamilton continued.

He noted that the bodies were still in the home, as police were waiting on a warrant to reenter the home and begin their investigation after determining that there was no further threat.

Hamilton added that the home was in the exact same state that it had been after police first arrived to find the bodies.

The LAPD declined to identify the bodies, as that information will be officially announced by the LA County Coroner.

In a statement, LA Mayor Karen Bass said she was ‘heartbroken’ by the Reiners’ deaths, calling them ‘a devastating loss for our city and our country.’