On Sunday, December 14, we lost one of the good ones - Rob Reiner.
Reiner was born March 6, 1947 in New York City to Carl & Estelle Reiner (actors in their own right). His sister grew up to become a poet, author, & playwright, while his brother grew up to become a painter, actor, & director. Living with such an artistic family, it should not be a surprise that Reiner also became an actor & a director.
In his younger years, Reiner acted on the tv show All in the Family & in later years, he appeared on Curb Your Enthusiasm, 30 Rock, The New Girl, the CNN documentary The History of Comedy, The HBO documentary The Case Against 8, the HBO documentary Andre the Giant, & the Mel Brooks episode of the PBS show American Masters - Make a Noise. Reiner also appeared in movies - This is Spinal Tap (which he also directed), Throw Momma from the Train, Sleepless in Seattle, Mixed Nuts, For Better or Worse, First Wives Club, Primary Colors, EDtv, The Majestic (in a voice role), Alex & Emma (which he also directed), The Wolf of Wall Street, And So It Goes (which he also directed), & This is Spinal Tap II: The End Continues (which he also directed).
Reiner was also a director. As mentioned, he directed This is Spinal Tap, This is Spinal Tap II, And So It Goes, and Alex & Emma. He also directed The Sure Thing, Stand By Me, The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally, Misery, A Few Good Men, The American President, Ghosts of Mississippi, Rumor Has It..., The Bucket List, The Magic of Belle Isle, & LBJ. As a director, Reiner has garnered various award nominations - Stand By Me got one Academy Award nomination & two Golden Globe nominations; When Harry Met Sally got one Academy Award nomination, five Golden Globe nominations, & two BAFTA nominations, one of which was a win; The Princess Bride got one Academy Award nomination; Misery got one Academy Award nomination & one Golden Globe nomination, winning both; A Few Good Men got four Academy Award nominations & five Golden Globe nominations; The American President got one Academy Award nomination & five Golden Globe nominations; & Ghosts of Mississippi got two Academy Award nominations & one Golden Globe nomination.
Reiner was the co-founder of the American Foundation for Equal Rights, which challenged California's Proposition 8 banning same-sex marriage within the state. He also chaired the campaign to pass California Proposition 10, also known as the California Children & Families Initiative, which created a program of early childhood development services funded by a tax on tobacco products. While serving as a chair of a commission relating to this initiative, Reiner campaigned for Proposition 82, a ballot measure to fund public preschools. (However, this campaign resulted in Reiner resigning from his position within the commission & an audit on the commission, which concluded that they had not violated state law. Proposition 82 still failed to win the necessary approval.)
In November 2023, Reiner & journalist Soledad O'Brien launched a ten-part podcast series called Who Killed JFK? In December of the same year, Reiner was the host of the CBS primetime special Dick van Dyke: 98 Years of Magic, which was both a tribute to & a conversation with Dick van Dyke (who had been a good friend of Reiner's father Carl).
Reiner & his wife passed away at their home on December 14, 2025. Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass called his death "a devastating loss" & cited his creative work & advocacy for social justice. California governor Gavin Newsom praised Reiner's "boundless empathy," as well as his advocacy for children.