Rob Reiner
For the second time in three months, I watched a movie at home, only to discover a short time later that a main actor from the film had died. First was Robert Redford, whose film The Natural I likely watched as the actor was taking his final breaths. Then last night I rented Spinal Tap II: The End Continues, and not an hour after completing the movie received word from my daughter that Rob Reiner had been murdered, along with his wife, Michele Singer Reiner.
When I told my daughter about this eerie coincidence, she texted: “Dude stop watching movies!”
It’s terribly upsetting, and the news capped off what had already been a horrific weekend of calamities with mass shootings at Brown University and Sydney, Australia, that latter a hate-based anti-Semitic crime that resonated with my wife and me as we lit Chanukah candles last night. Such madness. So senseless. That the Reiners were murdered hours before they too might have lit their own holiday candles also hit home.
Reiner had been a Hollywood thread for my entire life, beginning with his portrayal of Michael Stivic on All in the Family, which I recall watching on TV with my family when I was 3 or 4 years old. Then came Reiner’s directorial career, with a string of successful movies that few directors have matched in all of film history: This is Spinal Tap, The Sure Thing, Stand by Me, The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally…, Misery, A Few Good Men, The American President. An amazing run. A few years ago he directed a great documentary on actor and writer Albert Brooks, and his year released the long-awaited sequel, Spinal Tap II: The End Continues. This may not have been a masterpiece, but it was a joy to see Reiner return as filmmaker Marti DiBergi, playing straight guy to Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer.
But perhaps more than his contributions to TV and film was his joyful presence and model of sanity in an ever-increasingly angry and insane world. Like his father Carl Reiner before him, he oozed positivity, worked tirelessly in helping others, and just seemed like an all-around good guy. We could use more of those today.
Rest in peace, Rob, and rest in peace, Michele.