Rob Reiner’s son Nick charged with homicide for death of filmmaker and wife

LOS ANGELES - The son of Hollywood actor and filmmaker Rob Reiner has been arrested and charged with the murder of his parents after they were found dead in their home over the weekend, the Los Angeles Police Department said on Dec 15.

Nick Reiner, 32, who had struggled with substance abuse, was arrested on the night of Dec 14 and is being held in jail with no bail, the police department said in a press release.

Jail documents earlier showed bail had been set at US$4 million (S$5.2 million).

Police found

Rob Reiner, 78, the director of beloved movies like When Harry Met Sally... and his wife Michele, 70, dead

at their home in the upscale Brentwood neighbourhood of Los Angeles on Dec 14 afternoon.

The police said their investigation “determined that the Reiners were the victims of homicide” and that their son “was responsible for their deaths.” Nick Reiner was arrested later on the night of Dec 14.

For years, Nick Reiner, 32, spoke openly about his battles with drug abuse and periods of homelessness that occurred when he refused to enter rehab. He told People magazine in a 2016 interview that he first went into rehab for drug abuse at age 15. He eventually had at least 17 stays in facilities.

Those experiences inspired the movie Being Charlie, co-written by Nick Reiner and his father.

“It was the most personal thing I’ve ever been involved in,” Rob Reiner told podcaster Marc Maron in 2016.

Local media reported that Nick had been spotted arguing with his parents on the night of Dec 13 at a holiday party hosted by comedian Conan O’Brien.

Months earlier, Rob Reiner had been photographed with his wife and three children at the Sept 9 Los Angeles premiere of Reiner’s last film, Spinal Tap II: The End Continues. Pictures showed Nick with a shaved head and a beard, the only person not smiling.

From ‘meathead’ to ‘spinal tap’

Tributes poured in for Rob Reiner, who was active in politics, supporting liberal causes.

“He has improved countless lives through his creative work and advocacy fighting for social and economic justice,” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement.

As an actor, Reiner was best remembered for his role on the 1970s television comedy hit All in the Family as Mike “Meathead” Stivic, the son-in-law and liberal foil of the lead character.

The role garnered Reiner two Emmy awards for outstanding supporting actor.

Reiner went on to have a prolific Hollywood career as a director, starting with This is Spinal Tap, a 1984 mockumentary about a fictional hard rock band. The film became a cult classic, known for its mostly improvised script, with Reiner playing the faux documentary filmmaker Marty DiBergi.

“That was the trick - to make fun of it and at the same time, honour it,” Reiner told CBS’ 60 Minutes in 2025 as he promoted a sequel, Spinal Tap II: The End Continues.

Reiner directed nearly two dozen films in all, including classics such as Stand by Me, a 1986 coming-of-age drama about four boys who set out to find the body of a missing youth, and 1989’s When Harry Met Sally often cited as one of the greatest romantic comedies of all time.

That movie featured the famed line, “I’ll have what she’s having,” delivered by the director’s real-life mother, Estelle Reiner, reacting to a faked orgasm in a restaurant.

Reiner also directed the 1987 fairy-tale adventure The Princess Bride, the 1990 psychological thriller Misery, and the 1992 military courtroom drama A Few Good Men.

Progressive causes

Michele Reiner was at one time a photographer who captured the image of US President Donald Trump that appears on the cover of his book Trump: The Art of the Deal. Rob Reiner, the son of the late comedy writer and actor Carl Reiner, also made campaign ads for 2004 Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry and campaigned against a 2008 California effort to ban same-sex marriages.

Prior to Nick Reiner’s arrest, Mr Trump, without evidence,

said on social media

that their deaths were “reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME.”

Reiner was first married to Penny Marshall, who starred in the TV sitcom Laverne & Shirley, and was also a producer and director.

He was an adoptive father to Marshall’s daughter and had three children with Michele. REUTERS