Martin Scorsese has written a devastating tribute to his late friends Rob and Michele Reiner, saying he is filled with ‘profound sadness’.
The filmmaker, 78, and his wife, 70, were found dead in their Los Angeles home on December 14 from ‘multiple sharp force injuries’.
Their son, Nick, has been charged with their murders, with the 32-year-old reportedly being treated for schizophrenia.
‘What happened to Rob and Michele is an obscenity, an abyss in lived reality. The only thing that will help me to accept it is the passing of time,’ wrote Scorsese.
The filmmakers had been friends for years, having first met in the 70s and working together on the likes of The Wolf of Wall Street.
In a piece for The New York Times, the legendary director said he and Reiner had a ‘natural affinity for each other’.
‘He was hilarious and sometimes bitingly funny, but he was never the kind of guy who would take over the room,’ Scorsese penned.
‘He had a beautiful sense of uninhibited freedom, fully enjoying the life of the moment, and he had a great barreling laugh.’
Scorsese recalled how, when Reiner was honoured at the Lincoln Center he let out a huge chuckle before Michael McKean had reached the punchline.
Out of Reiner’s filmography, cult classic Misery stood out as one of Scorsese’s favourites, praising Kathy Bates’ acting.
This Is Spinal Tap got a nod from the Goodfellas legend, with the mockumentary and its sequel serving as his first and last films in his 40-year career.
When looking to cast Leonard DiCaprio’s father in Wolf of Wall Street, Scorsese said he immediately thought of Reiner.
The director shared: ‘He could improvise with the best, he was a master at comedy, he worked beautifully with Leo and the rest of the guys, and he understood the human predicament of his character: The man loved his son, he was happy with his success, but he knew that he was destined for a fall.’
Scorsese closed the tribute by saying only time could heal the ‘abyss’ of this loss, and instead, he chooses to imagine them alive and well.
He added he was ‘lucky’ to have known the late director and his wife.
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