Beloved Director Rob Reiner And Wife Michele Found Dead in Los Angeles Home

Beloved Hollywood director and All In The Family alum Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer, were found dead in their Los Angeles home on Sunday in what police are investigating as a homicide.

Early reports indicated the Los Angeles Police Department was conducting a murder investigation after the bodies of a 78-year-old man and a 68-year-old woman, matching the ages of the couple, were found with apparent stab wounds in a Brentwood residence owned by Reiner. Authorities were called to the scene around 3:30 p.m. PT for a medical emergency and subsequently launched a homicide investigation. Detectives from the LAPD’s Robbery-Homicide Division are leading the investigation.

Multiple news outlets, including CNN and TMZ, confirmed via law enforcement sources that it is the Reiners.

Rob Reiner began his career in the late 1960s, initially as a writer for television, most notably for the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, where he partnered with the also-emerging Steve Martin. Concurrently, he took on minor acting roles in various TV shows like Batman and The Andy Griffith Show.

His national breakthrough, however, came in 1971 when he was cast as Michael “Meathead” Stivic on the groundbreaking sitcom All in the Family. His portrayal of the liberal son-in-law to the conservative Archie Bunker made him a household name. It earned him two Primetime Emmy Awards during his eight-year tenure on the immensely popular show.

His major film credits, primarily as a director, include the classics Stand by Me, The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally…, Misery, and the courtroom drama A Few Good Men, in addition to his early, iconic work directing and starring in the mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap.

Representatives for Reiner have not issued an official public statement at this time.

Brent Lang, executive editor of Variety, told CNN, “I mean, he’s almost the mayor of Hollywood.”

“You have to look at what he did as an actor in ‘All in the Family,’ which remains a seminal piece of television history,” Lang said.

“And then to slide behind the camera and have this really unique second act where he’s directing films that are as varied as a fantasy like ‘The Princess Bride,’ a courtroom drama like ‘A Few Good Men,’ a horror thriller like ‘Misery’ … one of the defining romantic comedies, ‘When Harry Met Sally’ … he really was able to bounce around from genre to genre and yet make something that was unique and distinctive and utterly memorable.”

Actress Kathy Bates, who Reiner directed in Misery, said in a statement to CNN, “I loved Rob. He was brilliant and kind, a man who made films of every genre to challenge himself as an artist. He also fought courageously for his political beliefs. He changed the course of my life.”

Reiner’s impact on Hollywood will not be forgotten.

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