Rob Reiner Was a Quiet Titan of Storytelling

"The shocking loss of the filmmaker and actor Rob Reiner is especially distressing because of the manner of his death: He and his wife, Michele, were found in their home in what appears to be a homicide. But he was also part of Hollywood for more than 50 years, the son of a comedy legend who built out a multi-threaded career of his own that included quintessential sitcoms, groundbreaking mockumentaries, and a cinematic legacy that went far beyond his comic origins. Reiner, 78, was an avuncular public figure through it all, taking on kindly-mentor and chipper-sidekick roles-both on- and off-screen-for decades, as well as a quietly brilliant force in the industry, producing the kind of intelligent, varied films no one could have expected from a man audiences once knew best as "Meathead.""

"Reiner was the son of Carl Reiner, who left his own indelible impression on entertainment, beginning as a pioneering sketch-comedy writer and collaborating with luminaries such as Sid Caesar, Mel Brooks, and Steve Martin over his many years (he died in 2020 at the age of 98). Rob followed a similar path up the showbiz ladder, doing bit parts in 1960s movies and writing with Martin on TheSmothers Brothers Comedy Hour;"

"In 1971, Reiner debuted as Michael "Meathead" Stivic, the young liberal foil to his cantankerous father-in-law, Archie Bunker (Carroll O'Connor), on the controversial hit sitcom All in the Family; it ran for nine seasons and won Reiner multiple Emmys. Despite the nickname, Meathead existed largely as a moral counterbalance to Archie, a bigoted, lovable loudmouth who battled with the younger generation over all the ways the times were a-changin'."

Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele, were found dead in their home in an apparent homicide. Reiner had a more than fifty-year presence in Hollywood as an actor, director, and producer. He was the son of Carl Reiner, a pioneering sketch-comedy writer who collaborated with Sid Caesar, Mel Brooks, and Steve Martin. Reiner performed bit parts in 1960s films and wrote with Steve Martin on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. He debuted in 1971 as Michael "Meathead" Stivic on All in the Family, a controversial hit that ran nine seasons and earned him multiple Emmys. Meathead served as the moral counterbalance to Archie Bunker.

Read at The Atlantic