Rob Reiner

Rob Reiner
Rob Reiner at the 1988 Emmy Awards
Spouse(s)	Penny Marshall (1971-1979) Michele Singer (1989-)

Robert "Rob" Reiner (born March 6, 1945) is an American actor, director, producer, writer, children's advocate and political activist.

As an actor, Reiner first came to national prominence as Archie Bunker's and Edith Baines-Bunker's son-in-law, Michael "Meathead" Stivic (played by Carroll O'Connor and Jean Stapleton respectively), on All in the Family, a role that earned him two Emmy Awards during the 1970s. As a director, Reiner was recognized by the Directors Guild of America (DGA) with nominations for Stand by Me, When Harry Met Sally..., and A Few Good Men. He was trained at the UCLA Film School.

Biography

Early life

Reiner was born in The Bronx, New York, the son of Estelle (née Lebost), an actress, and Carl Reiner, a comedian, actor, writer, producer, and director. As a child, Reiner lived in New Rochelle, New York, where his family resided at 48 Bonnie Meadow Road, similar to the fictitious address of 148 Bonnie Meadow Road, as the Petries on The Dick Van Dyke Show, the 1960's CBS sitcom created by his father. (It may not be a coincidence that lead character on that show was named Rob.) When Reiner was about 13, the family moved to the Los Angeles area, where Reiner attended Beverly Hills High School and the University of California, Los Angeles. He also has a sister, Sylvia Anne (Annie) Reiner (b. 1947), who is a poet, playwright and author; and a brother, Lucas Reiner (b. 1960), a painter, actor, and director.

Career

Reiner became famous playing Michael "Meathead" Stivic, Archie Bunker's liberal son-in-law, on Norman Lear's 1970s sitcom All in the Family, which was the most-watched television program for five years in the United States (1971–1977). The term "Meathead," referring to Reiner's character Mike Stivic in All in the Family, became a pop culture reference. Indeed, Reiner has stated that "I could win the Nobel Prize and they’d write 'Meathead wins the Nobel Prize.'"

Reiner was the celebrity guest, with his civilian contestant partner, to have had the first successful Winner's Circle win occurred on The $10,000 Pyramid during its debut week in March of 1973 on CBS, when he successfully used the clue "A doughnut" for "Things With A Hole." Interestingly, when Pyramid host Dick Clark was playing as a celebrity guest on the syndicated Bill Cullen-hosted $25,000 Pyramid in 1975, he had trouble with the same exact subject and eventually came up with the same clue Reiner used earlier when time was running out, resulting in a $25,000 win. Meanwhile, Reiner reappeared on Pyramid, but for the weekly Cullen edition during its initial 1974-75 season on just two episodes only.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Reiner was best known as a director of successful Hollywood films. Some of these films — such as The Princess Bride, Stand By Me and This Is Spinal Tap— have achieved cult status. He has stated that the film which will go down as his masterpiece is Stand by Me. The film is also his favorite film of his own work. In 1994 (after a three-year development period), Reiner was slated to direct the big-screen adaptation of Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods, with Robin Williams as The Baker, Goldie Hawn as The Baker's Wife, Cher as The Witch, and Roseanne Barr as Jack's Mother. For unspecified reasons (though it is speculated to be due to the decline in popularity of musical films) this production fell through and the film was never started.

Reiner went on to direct other critically and commercially successful films with his own company, Castle Rock, such as Misery, A Few Good Men, and his most commercially successful work - When Harry Met Sally..., which has become a classic romantic comedy. However his career has seen less commercial success in recent years, starting with North, which was critically panned (notoriously by Roger Ebert: "I hated this movie. Hated hated hated hated hated this movie."). His subsequent films Alex & Emma and Rumor Has It have been unsuccessful both critically and commercially. His next feature, The Bucket List is due in December, 2007 and will star Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman as two terminally ill men who escape from a cancer ward and head off on a road trip with a wish list of tasks to accomplish before they die.

He has guest-starred in a number of movies, mostly in small roles including Throw Momma From The Train, Sleepless in Seattle, Bullets Over Broadway , The First Wives Club, and Primary Colors.

Personal life

Reiner is Jewish. He was married to actress-director Penny Marshall from 1971 to 1979. Marshall's daughter from a previous marriage, actress Tracy Reiner, co-starred in Marshall's A League of Their Own. Reiner and Marshall divorced in 1979.

Reiner married photographer Michele Singer in 1989. In 1997, Reiner and wife Michele founded the "I Am Your Child Foundation", now "Parents' Action for Children", a non-profit organization promoting early childhood development by producing and distributing celebrity-hosted educational videos for parents.

In 2001, Reiner attended the funeral of Carroll O'Connor, along with Sally Struthers.

Political activism

In 1998, Reiner chaired the campaign to pass Prop 10, the California Children and Families Initiative, which created First 5 California, a program of early childhood development services, funded by a tax on tobacco products. He served as chairman of First 5 California from 1999 to 2006. Reiner was criticized for campaigning for a proposition (Prop 82) to fund state-run preschools while still chair of the First Five Commission, causing Reiner to resign from his position on March 29, 2006. An audit was conducted and it concluded the commission did not violate state law, and that the state commission had clear legal authority to conduct its public advertising campaigns related to preschool. Proposition 82 failed with 39.1% support.

Active in progressive and liberal politics, Reiner campaigned in Iowa for Democratic Presidential candidate Howard Dean just before the 2004 Iowa caucus, and campaigned extensively for Al Gore in 2000. Reiner was mentioned as a possible candidate to run against California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2006, but decided not to run for personal reasons.

He has been a contributing blogger for The Huffington Post since May 2005. He tries to limit the amount of cigarette smoking in his films, and is a member of the Social Responsibility Task Force, an organization advocating moderation where social issues (like violence and tobacco use) and the entertainment industry meet.

Reiner is also active in environmental issues, and successfully led the effort to establish California’s Ahmanson Ranch as a state park and wildlife refuge rather than a commercial real estate development. On 7 July 2007, Reiner introduced Spinal Tap at the London Live Earth concert.

As of October 1, 2007, Reiner has endorsed Hillary Clinton for president for the 2008 election cycle.

In popular culture

Reiner was the subject of a parody in the South Park episode "Butt Out," which criticized his objection to smoking as hypocritical, because of the idea that his weight problem was just as big a danger, if not more than smoking. He was also labelled a fascist by Kyle because he hates smoking and tries to force his opinions on others.

Filmography

• Fire Sale - actor (playing "Russel Fikus") (1977)
• The Jerk - Truck Driver (uncredited) (1979)
• This Is Spinal Tap - Director, co-star (1984)
• The Sure Thing - Director (1985)
• Stand By Me - Director (1986)
• The Princess Bride - Director (1987)
• When Harry Met Sally... - Director (1989)
• Misery - Director (1990)
• A Few Good Men - Director (1992)
• Sleepless in Seattle - Jay (1993)

• North - Director (1994)
• The American President - Director (1995)
• Ghosts of Mississippi - Director (1996)
• The Story of Us - Director, actor (playing "Stan") (1999)
• EdTV - actor (playing "Whitaker") (1999)
• Alex & Emma - Director with a role as book publisher (2003)
• Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star - cameo as Himself (2003)
• Rumor Has It - Director (2005)
• The Bucket List - Director (2007)

Television

• The Partridge Family - Snake (1971)
• All in the Family - Michael Stivic (1971-1978)
• The $10,000 Pyramid - Guest as himself on debut week (1973)
• Happy Days - Cowrote the first episode (1974)
• Likely Stories, Vol. 1 - Director (1981)
• It's Garry Shandling's Show - appeared several times as himself, helping Garry to 'advance the plot'. (1986-1990)
• Morton & Hayes - Narrator (1991)
• The Larry Sanders Show - Cameo playing himself in several episodes including Doubt Of The Benefit
• Curb Your Enthusiasm - Cameo in Season 2, Episode 5 (2001)
• Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip - Guest Starred as Himself (2006)

External links

• Rob Reiner at IMDb
• Rob Reiner's biography, awards and milestones, from Hollywood.com