Beloved director and comic actor Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, were found dead in their Los Angeles home, in what authorities say is an “apparent homicide”

Yesterday (December 14), reports emerged 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 the Brentwood area. This followed a medical aid request being made to the Los Angeles Fire Department.

The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) later confirmed detectives from the robbery homicide division were investigating the deaths as an “apparent homicide”, with both TMZ and People reporting that the two had suffered wounds consistent with a knife attack.

A spokesperson for the Reiner family confirmed their deaths on Sunday evening, saying (via the Guardian): “It is with profound sorrow that we announce the tragic passing of Michele and Rob Reiner. We are heartbroken by this sudden loss, and we ask for privacy during this unbelievably difficult time.”

Rob Reiner (1947–2025) pic.twitter.com/zGC8sSMgis

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At a press conference on Sunday night, the chief detective of the LAPD, Alan Hamilton, said an investigation was ongoing.

“At this time, the LAPD is not seeking anyone as a suspect or as a person of interest,” Hamilton said, “and we will not be doing that until we conduct our investigation and we move forward.”

It was added that family members would be interviewed but that no one had yet been detained or was “being questioned as a suspect”.

Reiner had been married to photographer Singer Reiner since 1989, having got together while he was directing When Harry Met Sally. After being single for a decade, their new romance galvanised Reiner to change the original ending of the Nora Ephron classic, so that Harry and Sally ended up together.

The son of the renowned comic actor Carl Reiner and the singer Estelle Rebost, Reiner got into acting in the ’60s, landing his first big role as the Michael “Meathead” Stivic in all nine seasons of the sitcom All in the Family.

Rest in Peace, to the legendary director Rob Reiner. pic.twitter.com/f3Jwlme0mk

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Reiner made his directorial film debut in 1984 with much loved mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap, and followed it with a run of much loved hits including* Stand by Me* (1986), The Princess Bride (1987),* When Harry Met Sally* (1989), Misery (1990), and the Oscar nominated* A Few Good Men* (1992).

Reiner was always said to be particularly proud of Stand By Me, as he felt it was the first thing he made outside of his father’s shadow. “Spinal Tap was satire, and I love satire, but that was something my father had done,” he told the Guardian in 2018.

“And The Sure Thing was romantic comedy and he had done those. So Stand By Me was the first thing I did that was purely an extension of myself, and that meant a lot to me,”

Later films that Reiner directed included The American President (1995), The Bucket List (2007), and his final film, this year’s Spinal Tap II: The End Continues.

He also continued to act in small parts, including in Ephron’s Sleepless in Seattle, Postcards From the Edge, The First Wives Club, The Wolf of Wall Street, New Girl and The Bear.

As for Singer Reiner, her career began in photography, “MysteryDisc” video games and on Misery, which Reiner directed. She also acted, and was nominated for an Emmy for the documentary Albert Brooks: Defending My Life, which she produced and her husband directed. She also produced God & Country, an exploration into Christian nationalism in the United States.

With Hollywood now reeling from the news, Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass said Reiner’s death was a devastating loss for the city, adding that his work would continue to “reverberate throughout American culture and society.

“He has improved countless lives through his creative work and advocacy fighting for social and economic justice. An acclaimed actor, director, producer, writer, and engaged political activist, he always used his gifts in service of others.”