The son of American film director Rob Reiner and his wife Michele Singer has been arrested after the couple were found dead in their Los Angeles home on Sunday night.
Nick Reiner, 32, is reportedly being held in jail on $4 million bail, according to jail records, and is being investigated for their homicide.
On Monday police said that a 78-year-old man and a 68-year-old woman were found dead with what investigators believed to be stab wounds after the LA Fire Department was called for medical aid to a home in the upmarket neighbourhood of Brentwood on Sunday afternoon. The police later identified the couple as Reiner and Singer and are investigating their deaths as an apparent homicide.
Reiner, an actor and prolific director, was the visionary behind Hollywood classics such as This Is Spinal Tap, The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally, A Few Good Men and Stand By Me. He met his wife, a photographer, on the set of When Harry Met Sally.
Reiner’s role as Meathead in Norman Lear’s 1970s TV classic All in the Family, alongside Carol O’Connor’s Archie Bunker, launched his career in the industry and won him two Emmy Awards.
After Reiner and Singer wed in 1989, she worked as a photographer and producer on some of his films and collaborated with her husband on progressive political projects championing gay marriage and early childhood development programmes.
The couple's family said in a statement on Monday morning: “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."
Officers reportedly responded to emergency calls to an LA home around 3:40pm on Sunday, which they later identified as the Reiner’s residence. The couple were pronounced dead on the scene.
At the time, police said that a family member was being questioned.
Their son Nick, one of the couple’s three children, has spoken openly about his struggles with drug addiction and bouts of homelessness, even collaborating with his director father on a film, Being Charlie, which was loosely based on his personal story.
An outpouring of tributes accompanied the news of Reiner and Singer’s death on Monday morning, including from Hollywood figures as well as political figures.
Former US President Barack Obama wrote that he and former First Lady Michelle are “heartbroken” by Reiner’s passing, offering condolences to the family and words of praise for his activism: “Together, he and his wife lived lives defined by purpose,” Obama’s statement on social media said.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass called Reiner’s death a devastating loss for the city.
“Rob Reiner’s contributions reverberate throughout American culture and society, and he has improved countless lives through his creative work and advocacy fighting for social and economic justice,” Bass said in a statement. “An acclaimed actor, director, producer, writer, and engaged political activist, he always used his gifts in service of others.”
However President Trump sparked outrage when he tweeted that Reiner’s death was due to “Trump Derangement Syndrome” a phrase he uses to describe his most persistent and vocal critics.
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