Rob Reiner death latest: Everything we know as Hollywood director and wife Michelle found dead
Hollywood movie director Rob Reiner and his wife Michelle Singer Reiner were found dead at their home in Los Angeles on Sunday afternoon, prompting the LAPD to launch a homicide investigation.
A spokesperson for the family said in a statement: “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.”
Tributes have poured in from across the American entertainment industry, with Barack Obama, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and ex-House speaker Nancy Pelosi also paying their respects to the lifelong Democrat and outspoken political activist.
What has happened?
Paramedics and firefighters were called to the property on Chadbourne Avenue in the city’s Brentwood neighborhood at approximately 3.38pm on Sunday, whereupon the bodies of a man and woman aged 78 and 68 respectively were discovered and subsequently identified as the famous couple by law enforcement.
Investigators believe the deceased couple suffered multiple stab wounds, according to the Associated Press.
People magazine has since reported that the couple’s daughter Romy, who lives nearby, was the person who found the bodies, citing multiple sources.
A neighbor has meanwhile told ABC7 that comedy icons Larry David and Billy Crystal – who starred in Reiner’s beloved romantic comedy When Harry Met Sally… (1989) – visited the crime scene separately, with the latter subsequently seen leaving looking distraught.
What have the LAPD said?
Alan Hamilton, deputy chief of the LAPD, told a press conference the department’s investigation was being handled by the its Robbery Homicide Division and that it would “continue over the coming days.”
“We’re waiting for the legal process to move forward,” Hamilton said.
“We have to obtain a search warrant for the residence. Once that is complied with, we will be conducting a full crime scene investigation on the interior and exterior of the residence and the surrounding neighborhood.”
Has anyone been arrested?
Not yet. Hamilton said that the investigating officers are not currently seeking anyone as a suspect or a person of interest in the case.
“We’re going to try to speak to every family member that we can to get to the facts of this investigation,” he added.
It has since been reported that a family member is being questioned.
Who were the Reiners?
Reiner was the son of legendary comedy performer and director Carl Reiner, known for his decades-long partnership with Mel Brooks, and started out as an actor starring in the long-running Norman Lear sitcom All in the Family (1971-79).
He began his career as a filmmaker with the cult mockumentary This is Spinal Tap (1984) and subsequently hit an extraordinary purple patch, comparable to the runs enjoyed by Preston Sturges and Billy Wilder in the Hollywood Golden Age, in which he directed one hit after another.
From Stand By Me (1986) and The Princess Bride (1987) to When Harry Met Sally…, Misery (1990), and A Few Good Men (1992), Reiner crossed genres with ease to deliver a string of smash hits.
He directed 23 feature films in all, signing off with a long-awaited legacy sequel to his breakthrough hit earlier this year: This is Spinal Tap II: The End Continues (2025).
Reiner also co-founded the successful production company Castle Rock Entertainment and was a gifted character actor, playing the Scorsese-esque director Marty DiBergi in Tap and stealing scenes in the real Martin Scorsese’s own The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) as Leonardo DiCaprio’s temperamental father Max Belfort.
His first wife was fellow director Penny Marshall. He met photographer Michelle Singer while making When Harry Met Sally… when they were introduced by cinematographer Barry Sonnenfeld.
They married in 1989 and had three children together, sons Jake and Nick and daughter Romy. Reiner also had another daughter, Tracy, from his first marriage.
