This Is Spinal Tap star Christopher Guest has reacted to news of director Rob Reiner and his producer wife Michele Singer’s deaths.

A statement shared by Guest’s wife, Jamie Lee Curtis said: “Christopher and I are numb and sad and shocked about the violent, tragic deaths of our dear friends Rob and Michele Singer Reiner and our ONLY focus and care right now is for their children and immediate families and we will offer all support possible to help them.”

– Rob Reiner and his wife, the producer Michele Singer, were found dead in their Los Angeles home on Sunday afternoon.

– Los Angeles Police Department has launched an investigation after obtaining a search warrant.

– Reiner and Singer’s bodies were discovered by a family member, who is being questioned.

– No suspects are being sought at this stage.

Rob Reiner made quite a mark with his directorial debut, the 1984 comedy film This Is Spinal Tap.

It starred Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer as members of a fictional heavy metal band – and the script was so on the money that late Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne felt triggered by the mishaps shown on screen

“I was the only person in the audience who wasn’t laughing because it felt like a real documentary to me,” he said, adding that “those things actually happened” to him.

Spinal Tap effectively created the “mockumentary” genre, and a legacy sequel, directed by Reiner, was released earlier this year.

Rob Reiner, an ardent Democrat, hit out at Donald Trump in a 2018 interview with The Independent.

“If we’re not able to slow Trump down and slow this drift towards autocracy then the ultimate result is going to be a lot worse – which is the destruction of western-style democracy,” he said during the president’s first term.

Reiner added that he was taken aback when Trump “exacerbated” the racial tensions simmering in the country, stating: “I knew it was there but I thought it was a fringe thing. I didn’t think it was 35 to 40 per cent of the country thinking in these terms … it feels like we’re in the last major battle of the civil war which divided our country completely.”

Read the full interview here:

A spokesperson for the Reiner family said: “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.”

The couple had three children together. Romy, Jake and Nick. Reiner was also the adoptive father of Tracy from his previous marriage to director Penny Marshall (Big).

Ben Stiller has paid tribute to Rob Reiner.

Calling the actor-director’s death “a huge loss”, the Zoolander star remembered Reiner as one of his favourite filmmakers.

“He made some of the most formative movies for my generation. He came out from behind a huge comedic shadow of the great Carl Reiner and being a TV actor to being a great director who made an incredible run of movies.

“Spinal Tap is one of the best comedies ever made – and the list goes on. He was a kind, caring person who was really, really funny.

Stiller continued: “I didn’t know him well but was always a fan and I feel a real sadness for those who did, and his family.

Monty Python star Eric Idle has claimed he spoke on the phone with Rob Reiner the night before he died on Sunday.

Writing on X/Twitter, Idle said: “Rob Reiner was a lovely man. I spoke to him last night for over an hour. I always enjoyed his company.

“I met him at his Dad’s in 1975. He was telling me about fiming at Stonehenge and his thoughts for the future. This is so awful. I shall miss him. A clever, talented and very thoughtful man. So awful.”

The news of Rob Reiner and Michele Singer’s deaths has prompted an outpouring of tributes from across the world of entertainment and politics.

A spokesperson for Norman Lear, who created All in the Family (Reiner’s breakout role), said he was “devastated”.

“Norman often referred to Rob as a son, and their close relationship was extraordinary, to us and the world,” a statement read. “Norman would have wanted to remind us that Rob and Michele spent every breath trying to make this country a better place.”

Elijah Wood said he was “horrified to hear” the news, while John Cusack, who starred in Reiner’s 1985 comedy The Sure Thing, wrote: “Shocked by the death of Rob Reiner – a great man.”

Rob Reiner met his future wife Michele Singer while shooting When Harry Met Sally – and their real-life romance inspired the ending of the film.

The original ending of the film did not show Harry Billy Crystal) and Sally (Meg Ryan) ending up together, with Reiner telling CNN in 2024: “It was going to be the two of them seeing each other after years, talking and then walking away from each other.”

Reiner wrote this ending before he met Singer, but after being introduced by the film’s cinematographer, Addams Family director Barry Sonnenfeld, he had a change of heart.

The ending shows Harry and Sally getting together at a New Year’s Eve party, following which they get married.