Five things to know about Rob Reiner’s life, work and political reach
Celebrated film director Rob Reiner, 78 and his wife Michele Singer Reiner, 68 were found dead on Sunday in their Brentwood home.
They were found at about 3:40 p.m. and had both been stabbed to death.
The Reiners had been married since 1989 and had three children: son Jake Reiner, 34, son Nick Reiner, 32 and daughter Romy Reiner, 28. Rob Reiner also had an adopted daughter, Tracy Reiner, 61, from a previous relationship.
Here are five things to know:
The Reiners’ son Nick Reiner is in custody for the slayings
People Magazine reported that the Reiners’ son Nick Reiner has been arrested for the slayings.
An inmate locator for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office showed that Nick Reiner was arrested Sunday at 9:15 p.m. He is being held on $4 million bail. His charge level is listed as a felony. A specific charge is not listed.
A motive for the slayings is unclear. Nick Reiner had been open about struggling with addiction in past years. TMZ also reported that Nick Reiner had argued with his father at Conan O’Brien’s Christmas party on Saturday evening.
Rob Reiner directed many well-known films
In the 1980s and early ‘90s, Reiner directed one landmark film after another. His credits include “This is Spinal Tap” from 1984, “Stand by Me” from 1986, “The Princess Bride” from 1987, “When Harry Met Sally” from 1989, “Misery” from 1990 and “A Few Good Men” from 1992.
Somehow, Reiner never won an Academy Award for Best Director, though “A Few Good Men” was nominated for Best Picture and Kathy Bates won for Best Actress for her performance in “Misery”
“I’m not exaggerating in the slightest when I say that among American studio talents, I consider Rob Reiner the best director never to have been nominated for best director,” wrote Peter Debruge for Variety.
He worked as a director for more than 40 years and was still working
Although Reiner’s most notable work came in the 80s and Nineties, he continued to work prodigiously thereafter, both as a director and actor. The son of Carl Reiner, Rob Reiner initially made his name as an actor on the 1970s television series “All in the Family.”
Some of Reiner’s more notable credits included directing the 2007 Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman film “The Bucket List” and acting as a 1940s studio executive in Ryan Murphy’s 2020 Netflix miniseries “Hollywood.”
Most recently, Reiner had directed “Spinal Tap II: The End Continues,” which opened Sept. 12. “It was like falling right back in with friends that you hadn’t talked to in a long time,” Reiner told NPR in September. “It’s like jazz musicians, you just fall in and do what you do.”
He shaped generations through activism
Rob Reiner’s political activism went beyond celebrity advocacy, as Deadline noted. In 1998, he led the successful campaign for Proposition 10, a California initiative that taxed cigarettes to fund early childhood education and health programs. A decade later, Reiner co-founded the American Foundation for Equal Rights, which launched the federal court challenge to Proposition 8, California’s ban on same-sex marriage.
The case, Hollingsworth v. Perry, resulted in a 2013 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that effectively restored same-sex marriage in California. The trial helped shift public opinion and laid groundwork for the Obergefell v. Hodges decision, which legalized same-sex marriage nationwide in 2015.
“The role he played in American marriage equality cannot be overstated,” journalist Timothy Burke said of Reiner in a viral tweet Sunday night on Bluesky.
His death has spurred reactions from political leaders
Rob Reiner was known for his political activism for liberal causes, with his death spurring a caustic response by President Donald Trump.
Trump wrote that Reiner “has passed away, together with his wife, Michele, reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME.”
He helped launch the Committee to Investigate Russia in 2017. His final political documentary, “God and Country,” explored the rise of Christian nationalism in American politics.
Other responses to the Reiners’ deaths were more restrained. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who was the first to confirm the deaths, tweeted that she was “heartbroken” by the deaths. “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 tweeted.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom also tweeted that he was “heartbroken” by the deaths. Newsom described Rob Reiner as “the big-hearted genius behind so many of the classic stories we love.”
This story was originally published December 15, 2025 at 12:31 PM with the headline "Five things to know about Rob Reiner’s life, work and political reach."
