Actor, director, producer Rob Reiner is dead at 78. The Hollywood icon was found dead in his California home with his wife Michelle, dead from an apparent knife attack.
Reiner was the third person to host Saturday Night Live, appearing as the guest for the third episode of Season 1. His appearance on SNL came before the show had established the format of the show, and the episode serves as a remarkable snapshot of the “work in progress” that was happening in Studio 8H in 1975.
But Reiner is known most for his role as Michael Stivic on All in the Family, arguably the most successful sitcom of the 1970s. That program mined several controversial topics in an era when television was still typically sticking to safe themes.
Reiner can’t be pigeon-holed into one category. Even before he had gravitated away from acting, Reiner was creating television programs and honing skills he would use later as an award-winning director and producer. In 1984 he directed and co-wrote This is Spinal Tap, which starred former SNL cast member Harry Shearer and future cast member Michael McKean.
Reiner directed Stand by Me, The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally, Misery, and several other films. In addition to an Emmy Award for All in the Family, Reiner was nominated for 11 Academy Awards as director and producer/writer, and multiple Golden Globe Awards.
In 1987, Reiner co-founded Castle Rock Entertainment, which helped bring numerous programs and movies to the screen. Movies from that company include A Few Good Men, and the television program Seinfeld.
Reiner’s latest directing achievement was on Spinal Tap II: The End Continues, the sequel to the critically-acclaimed mockumentary from the 1980s.
Reiner hails from a storied Hollywood family. His father Carl Reiner was a writer, actor, director, and producer in a career that spanned more than six decades. His mother Estelle was an esteemed singer and performer. His daughter Tracy is an actress with many credits, including several films directed by Reiner or his former wife, and her mother, Penny Marshall.
