Ramblin' with Roger

Rob Reiner, I knew pretty early on, was Hollywood royalty. He was the son of Carl Reiner, who worked alongside Sid Caesar and Mel Brooks in the 1950s and ’60s. I mainly knew that he created “The Dick Van Dyke Show” based on those days, plus many other comedy projects.

Like most people of a certain age, I first saw Rob Reiner regularly in the Norman Lear sitcom All in the Family (1971-1979) as Mike Stivic, the son-in-law of Archie Bunker, who referred to Mike as “Meathead.” Or worse.  But my favorite Archie/Mike scene involves socks and shoes; the concept was replicated in the December 10, 2025 Pearls Before Swine. 

From Variety: “‘I’m not exaggerating in the slightest when I say that among American studio talents, I consider Rob Reiner the best director never to have been nominated for best director,’ writes chief film critic Peter Debruge. ‘Just look at his credits. The guy was the Billy Wilder of our generation: a filmmaker with an instinct for comedy who could operate across genres, making films with brash, larger-than-life characters you recognized instantly and felt you’d known your whole life.'”

 Critics have considered his run of films from 1985 to 1994, all but one of which I saw in the cinema at the time, to be among the most incredible runs. And many of them have memorable lines that have entered the general lexicon.

This Is Spinal Tap (1985) – “up to 11“

The Sure Thing (1986), I never saw

Stand by Me (1987)

The Princess Bride (1989) – “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.” And many more.

When Harry Met Sally… (1990) – “I’ll have what SHE’S having.” The line was delivered by Rob’s mom, Estelle.

Misery (1992) – “I’m your number-one fan.”

A Few Good Men (1994) -“You can’t handle the truth!”

Changing the ending

 From the LA Times: Michele Singer “was gigging as a photographer in the late 1980s, visiting film sets as part of her income. One of those sets was ‘When Harry Met Sally …,’ the romantic comedy Rob Reiner was directing in New York, a film that would go on to become one of the era’s defining hits. Having divorced actor and director Penny Marshall eight years earlier, Reiner said he noticed his future wife across the set and was immediately drawn to her.

“Scripted by Nora Ephron, the film was originally written to leave its central couple, played by Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal, separate, crossing paths over the years without ending up together. But after meeting [his future wife], Reiner reconsidered. He rewrote the final scene so the characters reunite and marry, an ending that helped make the film a beloved classic.”

Michele was a photographer who “moved from still images into filmmaking and later into producing, with work that blended performance, politics, and persuasion.”

From here: “Alongside her husband, Singer Reiner supported initiatives focused on early childhood education, family well-being, and social development. Her involvement was typically behind the scenes, reflecting her preference for substance over public recognition.”

Family dynamics

THR notes, “Nick Reiner has been arrested in connection with the homicide investigation into the deaths of his parents, Rob and Michele Reiner.

“It is not the first time that tension between the son and his parents has come into the public eye. Ten years ago, Rob and Nick actually made a movie about the challenges the Reiners faced.

“The younger Reiner had long struggled with addiction. The family’s 2015 film drama, Being Charlie, documented the resultant struggles. Nick co-wrote the script with a friend from rehab, inspired by their experiences, while Rob directed the movie, drawing off what he went through as a father. Sanctioned by the family, the movie offers an unusually candid glimpse into the inner workings of the Reiner household in those years when Nick’s challenges grew. Cary Elwes played the Rob stand-in and Nick Robinson the Nick Reiner character.”

Legacy  

Here’s a Photo gallery from IMDb and Tributes from actors and fellow directors about Rob. CBS Sunday Morning – From the archives: Three with Rob Reiner

From the Atlantic:

“The shocking loss of the filmmaker and actor Rob Reiner is especially distressing because of the manner of his death…

“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.

“Rob 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.'”