Rob Reiner

Director Rob Reiner (R) and his wife Michele Singer Reiner pictured in April. The couple have been found dead at their home in Los Angeles in what authorities are investigating as a homicide. Photograph: Todd Williamson/JanuaryImages/Shutterstock Director Rob Reiner (R) and his wife Michele Singer Reiner pictured in April. The couple have been found dead at their home in Los Angeles in what authorities are investigating as a homicide. Photograph: Todd Williamson/JanuaryImages/Shutterstock Rob Reiner, the director of beloved films including When Harry Met Sally, Misery, Stand By Me, The Princess Bride and This is Spinal Tap, has died aged 78 in an apparent homicide, along with his 68-year-old wife Michele Singer Reiner. Reports first began to emerge on Sunday afternoon that the bodies of a 78-year-old man and a 68-year-old woman had been found by authorities inside a home owned by Reiner in Brentwood, Los Angeles , after a medical aid request was made to the Los Angeles Fire Department. Los Angeles Police Department later confirmed detectives from the robbery homicide division were investigating the deaths as an “apparent homicide”. Both TMZ and People reported that the two had suffered wounds consistent with a knife attack. Investigators were questioning a family member, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation. Investigators believe the pair suffered stab wounds, said the official, who could not publicly discuss details of the investigation and spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity. A spokesperson for the Reiner family confirmed their deaths on Sunday evening. “It is with profound sorrow that we announce the tragic passing of Michele and Rob Reiner,” the family spokesperson said in a statement to media. “We are heartbroken by this sudden loss, and we ask for privacy during this unbelievably difficult time.” At a press conference on Sunday night, LAPD chief detective Alan Hamilton said the investigation was ongoing. Reiner had been married to photographer Singer Reiner since 1989. The couple met while he was directing When Harry Met Sally, which he’d made with his friend Nora Ephron after 10 years of being single; inspired by their new romance, Reiner changed the film’s original downbeat ending so that Harry and Sally ended up together. The son of the renowned comic actor Carl Reiner and the singer Estelle Lebost, Reiner was born in the Bronx, New York, in 1947. He initially went into acting in the 1960s, landing his first big role as the countercultural Michael “Meathead” Stivic in all nine seasons of the sitcom All in the Family. He won two of five Emmy nominations for his performance, and was also nominated for five Golden Globes in the role. Rob Reiner on the set of the beloved romcom When Harry Met Sally. Photograph: Allstar Picture Library Ltd/Alamy Reiner made his directorial film debut in 1984 with much loved mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap, which follows a dopey British heavy metal band. He followed it with a rapid run of hits including Stand by Me (1986), The Princess Bride (1987), When Harry Met Sally (1989), which is often ranked among the best romantic comedies of all time, Misery (1990), and A Few Good Men (1992), which was nominated for an Oscar for best picture. Later films that Reiner directed included The American President (1995), The Bucket List (2007), and his final film, the 2025 sequel Spinal Tap II: The End Continues. Over his career he was nominated for four Golden Globes for best director and three Directors Guild of America awards. Rob Reiner and River Phoenix during the filming of Stand By Me. Photograph: PictureLux/The Hollywood Archive/Alamy He also continued to act in small parts, including in Ephron’s Sleepless in Seattle as Tom Hanks’ friend, Postcards From the Edge, The First Wives Club, The Wolf of Wall Street, New Girl and The Bear. He also frequently played himself in comedies including 30 Rock, The Simpsons, Hannah Montana, The L