The family of Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, has confirmed the couple has been found dead in their home.
In a statement, they said: ‘It is with profound sorrow that we announce the tragic passing of Michele and Rob Reiner.
‘We are heartbroken by this sudden loss, and we ask for privacy during this unbelievably difficult time.’
The bodies of both the Hollywood director, 78, and his 68-year-old wife were reportedly discovered at their home in Los Angeles with ‘knife wounds’.
The Los Angeles Police Department has told ABC7 that the deaths are being investigated as homicides.
A family member is reportedly being questioned by police, but no arrests have been made.
Reiner – who was the son of filmmaker, comedian and actor Carl Reiner and actress Estelle Reiner – is best known for his work on the likes of This Is Spinal Tap, When Harry Met Sally, Misery, Stand By Me, and many more, while Singer Reiner worked as a photographer and actor.
They are survived by their three children, as well as Reiner’s adopted daughter, Tracy Reiner, from his previous marriage.
Who was Rob Reiner’s first wife?
Rob Reiner first married actor and director Penny Marshall in 1971.
The couple met when she was given a small part on the TV show The Odd Couple, and they wed in a New York hotel.
Reiner adopted her daughter, actor Tracy Reiner, from her previous marriage to Michael Henry.
They later divorced in 1981, with Marshall going on to date actor Larry Breeding, and later music icon Art Garfunkel.
Marshall died in 2018, aged 75, with Reiner paying a touching tribute to the Laverne and Shirley star.
‘So sad about Penny. I loved Penny. I grew up with her,’ he wrote on X.
‘She was born with a great gift. She was born with a funny bone and the instinct of how to use it. I was very lucky to have lived with her and her funny bone. I will miss her.’
When did Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner get married?
Following his split from Marshall, Reiner met his second wife, Singer Reiner, while making the 1989 film When Harry Met Sally.
So influential was their meeting, in fact, that it transformed the ending of the iconic rom-com starring Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal.
‘It was going to be the two of them seeing each other after years, talking and then walking away from each other,’ Reiner said during an interview on CNN.
‘I had been married for 10 years. I’d been single for 10 years, and I couldn’t figure out how I was ever going to be with anybody, and that gave birth to When Harry Met Sally.’
Originally, the film was set to have a much less sentimental ending, with Harry not ending up with Sally, but his relationship with Singer Reiner transformed the script.
‘I met my wife Michele, who I’ve been married to now 35 years. I met her while we were making the film, and I changed the ending.’
He married Singer Reiner in 1989, the same year the film was released, after a whirlwind relationship.
The couple worked together on several big screen projects, with Singer Reincer acting as a special photographer on Stephen King adaptation, Misery.
She also produced several of Reiner’s films, including Shock and Awe, Albert Brooks: Defending My Life, and Spinal Tap II: The End, which was released this summer.
Who are Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner’s children?
The couple welcomed three children – Jake, 34, Nick, 32, and Romy, 28.
Reiner teamed up with his son Nick on Being Charlie, released in 2015, which reflected on Nick’s struggles with homelessness and drug addiction.
Speaking to BUILD Series in 2016, Nick shared how making the film brought him closer to his father.
‘It really clicked for me because we didn’t bond a lot as a kid,’ Nick began.
‘He really liked baseball, I liked basketball, and he could watch that with my brother — baseball — but I just, when I saw him do that, it was something that I’m interested in, I was like, “Wow, he really knows a lot” and it made me feel closer to him.’
Reiner added: ‘It’s interesting that Nick would talk about it in that way, because, we did share that experience. You know, even though I’ve had a lot of experience making movies, and I said this to him many, many times, that he was the heart and soul of the film.
‘So, when it came to making the film deeper and better, I would have to really defer to him.
‘I mean, even though I have had all this experience in making films, the core of this film, I really had to look to him. I relied on him for giving it the honesty and the truth that it has.’
While Tracy, Nick, and Romy all followed in their father’s footsteps and went into show business, Reiner’s eldest son, Jake, became a television reporter.
Speaking to the Houston Chronicle in 2016, he explained his unique career choice within his family.
‘I just had a different passion, the passion for news, and I found it at Syracuse University,’ he said.
‘I didn’t get into journalism to avoid being compared to my father. Think about it, my dad followed in his dad’s footsteps.’
On November 29, Romy shared a series of photos on a family holiday with her parents, smiling alongside her father in the ocean.
In another Instagram post, she asked Reiner about ‘the three rules of getting older.’
‘When I was making American President, we had a consultant who was a former Secret Service guy, and he told me three things which I actually use in The Bucket List,’ he told his daughter.
‘Number one: Never pass up a bathroom. Number two: Don’t waste a hard on. And three, never trust a fart.’ Sound advice.
‘Those are the three things you should think about when you’re older,’ he said, with Romy nodding along.
‘I thought that was good advice and I had Jack Nicholson say that in The Bucket List.’
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