Rob Reiner's son arrested in connection with his parents' deaths

BarcelonaActor, director, and producer Rob Reiner (78) and his wife, Michele Singer (68), were found dead Sunday afternoon—early Monday morning in Catalonia—in their Brentwood, California home. The cause of death was stab wounds. There were no signs of forced entry, and the case is being investigated as a homicide by the Brentwood Police Department. One of the couple's sons, Nick, was arrested hours later by police—Sunday afternoon, shortly after 9 p.m. in California—in connection with the double homicide, according to US media. The 32-year-old's bail was set at $4 million. Nick, who had struggled with drug addiction and had been in rehab several times, was one of Reiner's three children with Michele Singer, his second wife, whom he married in 1989. Another daughter, Romy, discovered her parents and called emergency services.

Rob Reiner leaves behind a legacy of immensely popular American film titles such as When Harry Met Sally (1989) and The Princess Bride (1987), in addition to a long history of political activism: he championed early childhood education programs in California and was a vocal critic of Donald Trump for years. The eldest son of comic book artist Carl Reiner, who won 11 Emmy Awards, and singer Estelle Reiner, Robert Reiner was born on March 6, 1947, in the Bronx, New York. He attended Beverly Hills High School and studied film at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). His early career was in television, where he starred in one of the sitcoms most popular of the 1970s in the United States, All in the familyA role that earned him two Emmys.

After reaching his peak in television, Reiner focused his creative efforts on film, but above all as a director. And his debut proved that he had something to say: This is the spinal plug (1984) is one of the funniest mockumentaries in film history, and a relentless satire of the excesses that had gripped the world of hard rock since the 1970s. The film traced the biography of a fictional British rock band through its stylistic changes, lyrics, and stage shows. It was a parody, but so incisive and funny that it became a cult classic among rock fans. Reiner had released the sequel to this film just a few months earlier, which opened the latest edition of In-Edit.

After a romantic comedy that came and went without much fanfare (Love games at university(with John Cusack), Reiner had one of the best creative streaks a director in Hollywood has had in recent decades: Count on me. (1986), The Princess Bride (1987), When Harry Met Sally (1989), Misery (1990) and Some good men (1992), the films that ultimately defined his career as a director. The diversity of styles is also striking: comedy, fantasy, courtroom drama, and two of the best Stephen King adaptations ever made, which the author himself has cited as his favorites for many years.

Count on me.The first King adaptation he directed portrays the transition from childhood to adulthood with a realism and tenderness unusual for Hollywood cinema. River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, Wil Wheaton, and Jerry O'Connell play four friends who take a trip to see the body of a missing boy. It's a simple adventure, without twists or surprises, but with dramatic depth and a bittersweet tone that captures the importance of early friendships. "I've never had friends like the ones I had when I was 12. Does anyone?" the narrator wonders at the end. A good example of his versatility is the radical change in tone of his next King adaptation, Miserywhich explored the disturbing relationship between a successful writer and an obsessive fan. Dark, gruesome, and featuring an extraordinary Kathy Bates who won the Oscar for Best Actress, it's a great thriller about the dark side of fame.

Reiner not only adapted King, he also brought the novel to the screen. The Princess Bride, William Goldman's *Inigo Montoya* is a fantastical adventure that draws on the imagery of fairy tales with a touch of irony, plenty of humor, a sense of wonder, and emotion. With a dedicated cast, it's one of those films that shaped the youth cinematic imagination of an era and left behind iconic scenes and lines in film history, such as "My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die." Another line that has become part of cinematic memory is the climactic line of...Some good men"Did you order Code Red?" Tom Cruise repeatedly asked Jack Nicholson in that exemplary courtroom drama about the case of two soldiers accused of killing a comrade at Guantanamo Bay. Reiner's only Oscar nomination was, precisely, for this film.

The jewel of this period and of Reiner's filmography is When Harry Met SallyReiner found the perfect tone and cast (Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal) to transform Nora Ephron's magnificent script into the gold standard of modern romantic comedy, and a brilliant evolution of the battle-of-the-sexes comedies, whose scenes are now cinematic history, like Meg Ryan's simulated orgasm. By the way, do you know who the woman was who said, "I'm going to have what she's having"? Estelle Reiner, the director's mother, who gave him this iconic line. With his father, however, Reiner had a more complex relationship: despite admiring and loving him deeply, he didn't feel very loved by him. In fact, in an interview, he commented that the character of Gordie from Count on me. He was self-inspired.

The rest of Reiner's directing career was much more low-key. Lots of uninspired romantic comedies (The President and Mrs. Wade, Alex and Emma, ​​Rumor Has It..., And Life Goes On) and some more ambitious melodramas like Our story (1999) or the autobiographical Being Charlie (2015), for which he drew inspiration from the family difficulties stemming from his son Nick's addiction to hard drugs and his time in rehabilitation centers and experiencing homelessness.

Shock in the world of politics and art

Reiner spearheaded anti-smoking campaigns in California and in 1998 secured the passage of Proposition 10, which allocated a tax on tobacco products to early childhood programs. At the time, then-Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, said of Reiner: "Thanks to his efforts, California has become a national leader in early childhood health and education services."

Prominent politicians, actors, and other artists have expressed their shock upon hearing the news. "Michelle and I are devastated by the tragic passing of Rob Reiner and his beloved wife, Michele. Rob's successes in film and television have given us some of our most treasured stories," former President Barack Obama wrote in X. Former US Vice President Kamala Harris noted that "the news broke his heart." California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, said the news broke. Donald Trump, on the other hand, posted a mocking message ridiculing Reiner's death and attributing it to "the rage he provoked in others" due to "his illness known as Trump Mental Disorder." According to the American president, Reiner was known for "driving people crazy with his rabid obsession with Trump, and his obvious paranoia reached new heights as the Trump administration surpassed all goals and expectations of greatness."