Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, tragically passed away in their Los Angeles home on Sunday, December 14, sending shockwaves throughout the world. News of Reinerâs passing went far beyond Hollywood, also touching the generations of fans who grew up admiring his work.
A legendary director, actor, and storyteller, Reiner leaves behind an enduring legacy that forever shaped film and television history.
Inside the Tribute Special
“CBS News: Rob Reiner – Scenes from a Life” is a one-hour special that features close friends and colleagues who worked with Reiner through the years. Iconic actors like Kathy Bates and Kiefer Sutherland sat down with CBS News to share their personal stories and fond memories of the late director.
How to Watch the Special
GettyIt will be broadcast Sunday, December 21 at 8:30 p.m. ET/8 p.m. PT on CBS and streaming on Paramount+.
Reiner’s Enduring Legacy
Reiner, the son of comedy giant Carl Reiner, became a comedy legend in his own right, with a career that spanned seven decades. He made his name as an actor at the young age of 23 in the hugely successful sitcom “All In the Family,” which he starred in opposite Billy Crystal as Archie Bunker’s liberal son-in-law, Michael “Meathead” Stivic.
In a statement shared with The Hollywood Reporter, the family of the late “All In the Family” creator Norman Lear said, “The Lear Family is devastated by the deaths of Rob and Michele Reiner. Norman often referred to Rob as a son, and their close relationship was extraordinary, to us and the world. Norman would have wanted to remind us that Rob and Michele spent every breath trying to make this country a better place, and they pursued that through their art, their activism, their philanthropy, and their love for family and friends. Lyn Lear had remained very close with them and said, ‘The world is unmistakably darker tonight, and we are left bereft.’”
GettyLike his first wife, Penny Marshall, he made the transition from television sitcom star to acclaimed feature film director, where he found even greater success. Reiner directed some of Hollywood’s most iconic films, such as “This Is Spinal Tap,” “When Harry Met Sally…,” “The Princess Bride,” “Misery,” “A Few Good Men,” “Stand by Me,” “The American President,” and many others.
With “When Harry Met Sally…,” Reiner enjoyed his biggest box-office smash up to that point.
His 1986 film “Stand By Me,” is an adaptation of a Stephen King novella, “The Body,” that earned two Golden Globe nominations and an Academy Award nomination for best adapted screenplay.
“All I’ve ever done is say, ‘Is this something that is an extension of me?’ For ‘Stand by Me,’ I didn’t know if it was going to be successful or not,” he told actor-director Seth Rogen in Interview magazine’s September 2025 issue. “All I thought was, ‘I like this because I know what it feels like.’”
In the same interview with Rogan, Reiner said of his 1990 psychological thriller, “Iâd become very successful being a sitcom actor. They wanted me to continue doing that. I said, ‘No, I want to be a director.’ So here you got this character who wants to break away from the Misery character All the people that I was working with said, ‘No, youâre a sitcom actor. Youâre not a movie director.’ In those days, there was no crossover between movies and television. Movie people were royalty, television people were peons. So I knew what it felt like to be held down by that. Thatâs what motivated me to do ‘Misery.’”
GettyReiner teamed with writer Aaron Sorkin for the military courtroom drama “A Few Good Men” in 1992 and “The American President” in 1995. The films starred Hollywood legends like Jack Nicholson, Tom Cruise, and Michael Douglas and earned about $350 million US at the box office. “A Few Good Men” earned four Oscar nominations.
During the fall of 2025, Reiner directed the highly anticipated sequel, “Spinal Tap II: The End Continues,” which was released in theaters on September 12, 2025.
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