Biography

Rob Reiner

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Overview

Born
March 6, 1947 · Bronx, New York City, New York, USA
Died
December 14, 2025 · Brentwood, Los Angeles, California, USA (murder by stabbing)
Birth name
Robert Reiner
Height
6′ 2″ (1.88 m)

Biography

Robert Reiner was born in The Bronx, New York City to Estelle Reiner (née Lebost) and Emmy-winning actor, comedian, writer, and producer Carl Reiner.The family moved to suburban New Rochelle, Westchester County, New York when he was a child. Their address there (on Bonny Meadow Lane) was the same as that of the Petrie family on The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961).

His father was his role model, as Carl Reiner had created and starred in The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961). Estelle Reiner was also an inspiration for him to become a director; her experience as a singer helped him understand how music was used in a scene. Rob often felt pressured about measuring up to his father's successful streak, with 12 Emmys and other prestigious awards.

When Rob graduated high school, his parents advised him to participate in Summer Theatre. Reiner got a job as an apprentice in the Bucks County Playhouse in Pennsylvania. He attended UCLA Film School to further his education. Reiner felt he still wasn't successful, despite having a recurring role on one of the biggest shows in the country, All in the Family (1971). He began his directing career with the Oscar-nominated films "This Is Spinal Tap", "Stand By Me", and "The Princess Bride".

In 1987, with these successful box-office movies under his belt, Reiner founded his own production company, Castle Rock Entertainment, along with Martin Shafer, Andrew Scheinman, Glenn Padnick, and Alan Horn. Under Castle Rock Entertainment, he went on to direct Oscar-nominated films "When Harry Met Sally", "Misery", and "A Few Good Men". Reiner credited former co-star Carroll O'Connor in helping him get into the directing business and showing Reiner the ropes.

Reiner was known as a political activist, co-founding the American Foundation For Equal Rights, a group that was an advisory for same-sex-marriage (called marriage equality). He spoke at rallies as an advocate for social change regarding issues including but not limited to domestic violence and tobacco use.

Reiner made cameo appearances on such television shows as "30 Rock", "The Simpsons", and "Hannah Montana", and in such films as "The First Wives Club", "Bullets Over Broadway", "Primary Colors", and "Throw Momma From The Train", among many others.
- IMDb mini biography by: Peter Sean

Family

Spouses
Children
Parents
Relatives

Trademark

Often includes references to his previous films
Frequently uses music by Marc Shaiman

Trivia

Was best friends in high school with Richard Dreyfuss, whom he later directed in Stand by Me (1986).
Of all the films he directed, he considered Stand by Me (1986) as his masterpiece and his favorite film.
Named his production company "Castle Rock" after a fictional town created by Stephen King (the two worked as a team on several movies together).
Was best friends with Billy Crystal.
Was good friends with Robin Williams, and revealed as he grieved over his passing away from suicide that, like Williams, he had suffered from depression.

Quotes

[on his All in the Family (1971) co-star Carroll O'Connor] He couldn't have been more different from Archie Bunker. He cared about the little guy. He shone a light on bigotry and ignorance and hope. Arguably, he created the single most indelible character in the history of American television.
[on why his career skidded in the late 1990s when he split his time between movies and politics] People kept asking me, "How do you balance it?," and the point is, you don't. I know now, about me: I can't split my attention in that way. It doesn't work. I mean, it shows, to be honest with you. You can't do both.
[on producing The Bucket List (2007)] This is kind of a little minefield here. You want to get the tone right for it. This is a subject that you have to deal with comically. It's still got to be funny. You want sentiment, not sentimentality. These are all the sidewalls you want to not fracture the picture on. Not that I don't like an easy job.
I like to think of myself as a very young old person. But you start thinking, "How many years am I going to have to be productive?" Especially in our business, youth is so stressed. You start thinking, "How many more movies am I going to get to make?" Maybe, if I'm lucky, I'll make five more.
Stand by Me (1986) was a unique directing experience because ideas came from everywhere. Doing a period piece about the world of childhood is an adventure, each day on-set; people from the crew threw their own childhood memories into the production.