Rob Reiner Biography

Brother Lucas co-wrote and directed ‘The Spirit of ‘76’ (1990) and wrote and directed ‘The Gold Cup’ (2000). As a child, Rob Reiner lived in New Rochelle, New York. The family moved when he was 13, to Los Angeles, where he attended Beverly Hills High School, graduating in 1964. Other celebrity graduates include Nicolas Cage, David Schwimmer, Lenny Kravitz and Angelina Jolie.

Reiner’s first foray into television was when he co-wrote the series ‘The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour’ (1967-1970). He followed this with ‘The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour’ (1969-1972) another television series. And so would begin his long relationship with television work that would continue to the present day.

On 10 April 1971, Reiner married Penny Marshall and became step-father to Tracey, her daughter from a previous marriage, who adopted his surname. Throughout its run from 1971 to 1978, he co-starred in the witty ‘All in the Family’, one of television’s benchmark sitcoms. He won two Emmy awards for his role as Michael Stivic, the liberal son-in-law of the prejudiced Archie Bunker, who called him ‘Meathead’. Interestingly, it was the first comedy series filmed directly onto videotape.

When ‘All in the Family’ (1971-1978) came to an end, Reiner made some unsuccessful attempts at writing a follow-up series. He then co-wrote and co-produced with his wife, Penny Marshall, a made for television movie, ‘More than Friends’ (1979). It was a romantic comedy based on their courtship, in which Reiner starred. With sad irony, shortly after the film’s release, the couple were divorced, in 1979.

Having a film director father meant that Reiner was also able to gain exposure and experience in his father’s films. These include his big screen debut as Carl Baxter in ‘Enter Laughing’ (1967), and as defendant, Roger, in the comedy ‘Where’s Poppa?’ (1970). Other movies he acted in during the 1970s include ‘Halls of Anger’ (1970), ‘Summertree’ (1971), ‘The Enforcer’ (1976) and ‘Fire Sale’ (1977).

Reiner co-wrote the first episode of ‘Happy Days’ (1974-1984), the well-loved television series starring Henry Winkler as ‘The Fonze’. He married Michele Singer on 19 May 1979. The couple are still together and have three children. Reiner continued his prolific appearances in television shows until well into the 1980s, after which he concentrated more exclusively on big screen movies. His television work of this period includes episodes of ‘The Rockford Files’, ‘Saturday Night Live’, ‘The Partridge Family’ and ‘The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson’. Reiner co-wrote, co-produced, and starred in comedy drama ‘Million Dollar Field’ (1982), another television film.

Two years later, he had his first hit as big screen director and co-writer, with ‘This is Spinal Tap’ (1984), it was to be the start of a long and successful career of film directing. He starred as Marty DeBergi in this ‘rockumentary’ about the world’s loudest band, British heavy metal group Spinal Tap, a spoof of the rock ‘n’ roll scene, posing as a real documentary of a real band. Reiner directed two more films, ‘The Sure Thing’ (1985) and ‘Stand by Me’ (1986), before he had the opportunity to create his own independent film and television studio.

Together with Martin Shafer, Marc Shaiman and Alan Horn, Reiner founded Castle Rock Entertainment in 1987. The company was named in honour of a fictional town in a Stephen King short story. Reiner worked with King on a number of films. In 1994, Turner Broadcasting acquired Castle Rock. It eventually turned into Time Warner, then Warner Brothers, which now holds full worldwide distribution rights of all Castle Rock films.

Reiner’s Castle Rock’s director debut release was ‘When Harry Met Sally...’ (1989). The movie was a box office success and had Best Director nominations from the Directors Guild of America and the Hollywood Foreign Press. Reiner’s mother, Estelle Reiner, may be remembered as the older lady in the delicatessen who says, “I’ll have what she’s having” after Sally fakes an orgasm.

The 1990s found Reiner directing films as diverse as ‘Misery’ (1990), a psychological thriller based on a Steven King novel, starring Kathy Bates; ‘A Few Good Men’ (1992), a military crime thriller with Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, Demi Moore, Kevin Bacon and Keifer Sutherland; and ‘North’ (1994), a comedy adventure with Elijah Wood and Bruce Willis. Also directed under the Castle Rock banner were hit comedy ‘The American President’ (1995), with Michael Douglas and Annette Bening; true story ‘Ghosts of Mississippi’ (1996), starring Alec Baldwin, Whoopi Goldberg and James Woods; the television movie ‘I Am Your Child’ (1997), ‘Spinal Tap: The Final Tour (1998)’, and ‘The Story of Us’ (1999), the romantic comedy with Bruce Willis and Michelle Pfeiffer, in which Reiner also starred.

Throughout all his directing and writing, Reiner continued acting. Some of his movies include ‘Throw Momma from the Train’ (1987), directed by Billy Crystal; ‘Postcards from the Edge’ (1990); ‘The Spirit of 76’ (1990), directed by his brother Lucas Reiner; ‘Sleepless in Seattle’ (1993), with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan; Woody Allen’s ‘Bullets over Broadway’ (1994); ‘Bye Bye, Love’ (1995) with Matthew Modine and Randy Quaid; and the hilarious story of revenge, ‘The First Wives Club’ (1996), starring Bette Midler, Goldie Hawn, Diane Keaton and Maggie Smith. In October 1999, Reiner was recognised for his considerable contributions to the film industry with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It is placed directly next to his father’s star.

The coming of the new millennium saw no signs of Reiner slowing down. He directed and appeared in two romantic comedies, ‘Alex & Emma’ (2003), with Kate Hudson and Luke Wilson, and ‘Rumor Has It...’ (2005), with Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Costner and Shirley MacLaine. He provided voices for ‘The Majestic’ (2001), a romantic drama starring Jim Carrey; ‘Hopeless Pictures’ (2005), a television series; and ‘Everyone's Hero’ (2006), an animated comedy co-directed by the late Christopher Reeve. He is director of ‘Whiskey River’ (2007), a drama currently in production, about an American soldier injured in Iraq, the release date is still to be announced.

In 2002, three of the films Reiner directed appeared in the American Film Institute’s list of Top 100 US Love Stories. They are ‘When Harry Met Sally’ (1989), ranked number 25; ‘The American President’ (1995), ranked number 75; and ‘The Princess Bride’ (1987), ranked number 88.

In terms of giving back to the community, Reiner and his wife, Michele, together with Ellen Gilbert, formed the ‘I Am Your Child Foundation’ in 1997. It is a non-profit organisation, committed to advancing the interests of families and children. It was launched at the White House, during a conference on early brain development, hosted by President Clinton and the First Lady. It was also screened as an ABC prime-time special, co-written, co-produced and directed by Reiner and hosted by Tom Hanks.

The Foundation currently enjoys support from celebrities such as Jamie Lee Curtis, Andy Garcia, Maria Shriver, and Gloria Estefan, as well as from hundreds of national organisations, businesses and government agencies. It continues to work towards a nationwide, comprehensive and integrated programme of early childhood development services, including health care, child care, parent education and intervention for families at risk.

Reiner is also a keen supporter of the National Resources Defense Council, a non-profit organization concerned with environmental protection, public health and the conservation of land and natural resources

He may be approaching age 60, but Reiner has no intention of changing anything now. He loves what he does and plans to continue as long as he is able. He has always had an interest in politics. In more recent years, he was a driving force in the 1998 US ballot initiative to initiate a cigarette tax, which would then be used for early childhood development programmes. The ballot was passed, albeit by a slim margin. He supported Al Gore in the 2000 US presidential election and has been a contributing ‘blogger’ since May 2005 at The Huffington Post, a left-leaning political group internet ‘weblog’. He was tagged as a possible candidate to run against California Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2006, although he declined for personal reasons.