LOS ANGELES, CA - APRIL 07: Honorees Carl Reiner (L) and Rob Reiner attend the Carl and Rob Reiner Hand and Footprint Ceremony during the 2017 TCM Classic Film Festival on April 7, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. 26657_006 (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for TCM)[Missing Credit]
Like his late father, the comedy writer, actor and director Carl Reiner, the young Reiner was an outspoken political activist and staunch critic of US President Donald Trump; alongside his career in show business he advocated for a variety of progressive causes, including gay marriage, for which he cofounded the marriage equality group American Foundation for Equal Rights in 2009.
Robert Reiner was born in the Bronx on March 6, 1947 to entertainer Carl and actress Estelle Reiner, and he often described his early upbringing as reminiscent of The Dick Van Dyke Show, which his father created.
Of his Jewish childhood, Reiner told JTA in 2017: “My grandmother spoke Yiddish in the house, and my mother and father spoke a little Yiddish, too. They decided to bring a teacher in to teach me Yiddish, too. I learned a little, but he also taught the history of the Jews and it was like having a little shul at home. It was home shuling,” he said.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 30: Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner attend the Human Rights Campaign 2019 Los Angeles Dinner at JW Marriott Los Angeles at L.A. LIVE on March 30, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images)Getty Images
He took an interest in drama during high school. Reiner worked in small theatres and ran his own improv group in the early 60s, taking on bit roles in several television shows before being cast in Norman Lear’s classic American family sitcom All in the Family. He played Michael Stivic from 1971 to 1978, during which time he won two Emmy Awards for best supporting actor.
Five years later he released his directorial debut This Is Spinal Tap, a mockumentary about a British band after its heyday, and it became a cult classic.
In 1987 he adapted the satirical fantasy-adventure novel The Princess Bride by William Goldman, which was not only a box office success at its release but has stood the test of time as a comedic masterpiece, lauded as one of Reiner’s best works and frequently named among the greatest comedy films ever made.
HOLLYWOOD, CA - APRIL 11: (L-R) Special Guests Rob Reiner, Meg Ryan, and Billy Crystal attend The 30th Anniversary Screening of "When Harry Met Sally…" Opening Night at the 2019 10th Annual TCM Classic Film Festival on April 11, 2019 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for TCM)Getty Images for TCM
He directed the iconic 1989 romcom When Harry Met Sally after divorcing his first wife, actress Penny Marshall, whom he married in 1971. The idea – of whether men and women could ever truly be platonic friends – claimed the interest of Jewish writer Nora Ephron, who wrote the screenplay of the film starring Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal.
His mother was the actress to utter the famous line – “I'll have what she’s having” – in the legendary When Harry Met Sally scene filmed at New York’s Katz’s Deli.
It was also on the set of When Harry Met Sally that Reiner met his wife Michele Singer, the film’s director of photography, who would in fact inspire the director to rewrite an earlier ending of the film in which the central couple part ways.
Reiner directed numerous other films throughout the 90s, including the Stephen King adaptation Misery starring Kathy Bates and James Caan; the Oscar-nominated drama A Few Good Men, starring Jack Nicholson and Tom Cruise; and The American President, starring Michael Douglas and Annette Bening.
He was also a devoted Democrat and activist along with his wife, particularly focused on early childhood education and advocacy for same-sex marriage rights in the US.
NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 28: Honoree Rob Reiner poses with family at the 41st Annual Chaplin Award Gala at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts on April 28, 2014 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)Getty Images
At the time of his death, Reiner was working on a sequel to Spinal Tap. During an interview with The New York Times last year about his preparation for the shoot, he mentioned that spending time with his wife and children was “the most important to me.”
“There’s that joke, nobody on their death bed ever said, ‘I should have spent more time at the office.’ Nobody says that,” Reiner said.
He has also attributed his creative success, in part, to his Jewishness, which he told JTA in 2017 is reflected in his work: “It’s my sensibility: I’m a Jew. I was raised a Jew. I value honesty and integrity and knowledge and education and all those values I was raised with.”
Reiner and Singer married in 1989 and are survived by their three children, Jake, Nick and Romy. Reiner also had an adopted daughter from his previous marriage, Tracy Marshall.
Rob Reiner: Born March 6 1947; Died December 14 2025
