Sadness, surprise and concern in Hollywood., actor and director of famous titles, y Spinal Taphas been found dead in his Los Angeles home with his wife, Michele Reiner. Their bodies have been found stabbed. There were no signs that the doors or windows had been forced. states that “a member of the family is being questioned in connection with the deaths,” while going further and exclusively stating, citing “multiple sources,” that they had been stabbed by their middle son, Nick, who suffered from addiction problems, and that it was the youngest, Romy, who found the bodies. This information has not been confirmed by official sources, who affirm that there is an ongoing homicide investigation.
“It is with deep sadness that we announce the tragic passing of Michele and Rob Reiner,” a family spokesperson said in a statement. “We are heartbroken by this sudden loss, and ask for privacy during this incredibly difficult time.”
It was mid-afternoon on Sunday, December 14 in Los Angeles when the Los Angeles Fire Department broke the news, albeit in dribs and drabs. According to Captain Mike Bland, the bodies of two people, a man and a woman, had been found in a mansion in the Brentwood neighborhood, one of the most affluent in the city. At around three-thirty in the afternoon, emergency services received a call that someone needed medical help. The house belonged to the actor and director Rob Reiner, 78 – son of the famous, and now deceased, Estelle Reiner – and his wife, Michele, 68. The couple had three children: Jake, 34, Nick, 32, and Romy, 28. The police did not give more information at first, but later revealed that the bodies belonged to a 78-year-old man and a 68-year-old woman. precisely, and that both would have died from stab wounds. Finally, around seven thirty in the afternoon, it was known that the deceased were Rob and Michelle. The Los Angeles police robbery and homicide department is already investigating both deaths as “apparent homicide.”
Around nine at night, the deputy chief of the Los Angeles police investigation department, Alan S. Hamilton, was giving a press conference before a crowd of media stationed outside the Reiner house on Chadbourne Avenue. In it, he barely clarified anything, beyond confirming that, logically, there is a judicial investigation underway for “a crime scene” and that they will provide information when it is confirmed and can be made public, in the coming days. They intend to question as many close family members as necessary. They have stated that the neighbors “are not afraid” and that “they are not looking for a suspect.” The neighborhood has not been cut off or evacuated.
Reiner had been working in the world of film and television for more than half a century as an actor, director, screenwriter and producer. He began his career as a performer in the early sixties in television series, and became especially known thanks to the almost 200 episodes of the seventies series. All in familywhere he played Michael Stivic. the hippie son-in-law of the family. He continued making series all his life: Frasier, Los Simpson, The Good Fight, New Girl, Rockefeller Plaza and, more recently, in , one of his last works. In the cinema, he also shined. He has acted in Postcards from the Edge, Something to Remember, A Crazy Day, Bullets Over Broadway, The First Wives Club, Primary Colors, The Wolf of Wall Street… In total, he participated in around 90 titles.
But above all his films as a director, around thirty, stand out. The first one with which he launched himself into direction was Sonny Boy in 1974, but from there came gems of cinema and popular culture such as The princess bride, Misery y Count on me, (two of the most beloved Stephen King adaptations) —the only one with which earned an Oscar nomination for best director in 1993—A Boy Called North, The President and Miss Wade, Ghosts of the Past, Our Story, Now or Never or the various deliveries of Spinal Tap. I had the last one in preparation.
Although Rob was born in New York, in the Bronx neighborhood, he moved to Los Angeles when he was just 12 years old. His family, Jewish but barely observant, settled in Beverly Hills and there he made great friends who accompanied him throughout his life, since he studied at the local institute, Beverly Hills High School, alongside the actor Richard Dreyfuss and the director Albert Brooks. He spent his entire life in Los Angeles, where he was a great liberal political activist. He supported the campaigns of Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden and always fought against Donald Trump.
Rob and Michele, who was a cameraman, photographer and producer, met during the filming of When Harry Met Sallyand they married months later, in May 1989. It was the second marriage for him, who had been married to the comic actress and director Penny Marshall between 1971 and 1981, and adopted her daughter, also an actress Tracy Reiner. In an interview with People In 2016, Nick, the middle of the couple’s three children, spoke about his addictions, which began when he was just a child and made him start going to rehabilitation at the age of 15, with trips to and from clinics. He moved away from his home and came to live on the street, as he explained to the American magazine. With his harsh experiences he wrote a book, which later became the script for the movie Being Charliesemi-autobiographical and directed by his father.
In 2017, Reiner stated that the then president, Donald Trump, of whom he was very critical, inspired him for his work, and that he did not rule out doing a project about him. “Everyone is suggesting it to me lately. They’ve also been asking me all their lives for a sequel to When Harry Met Sallybut it’s a story I’ve already told. Trump interests me more. There is also an issue that catches my attention: how realities show affect our lives. I call it the kardashization of the United States. It has its merit, but it also makes you think. Fame as a vital achievement… makes for a wonderful film.”
The couple was very loved in the city, so much so that the mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, has issued a statement of condolences. “Personally, I am heartbroken by the tragic loss of Rob and his wife Michele. I knew Rob and had enormous respect for him. Among his many contributions, Rob helped create First 5 California, a historic initiative funded by a tobacco tax to support early childhood development programs. He and Michele fought for early childhood development and marriage equality, working to repeal Proposition 8 [contra el matrimonio homosexual]. “They were true defenders of LGBTQ+ rights.”
[Noticia en desarrollo. Habrá ampliación]
