Several friends of the late Rob Reiner and Michele Singer are remembering the couple after they were found stabbed to death in their home in California on Sunday.
Billy Crystal and Janice Crystal, Albert Brooks and Kimberly Brooks, Martin Short, Alan Zweibel and Robin Zweibel, Larry David and Ashley Underwood, Marc Shaiman and Lou Mirabal, Barry Levinson and Diana Levinson, and Ambassador James Costos and Michael Smith shared a joint statement with The Associated Press on Tuesday, paying tribute to the couple, who were frequent collaborators and worked together on several iconic classic films, including When Harry Met Sally… and Misery.
The statement memorialized Rob Reiner as an unparalleled director who “was always at the top of his game.”
“Absorbing all he had learned from his father Carl (Reiner) and his mentor Norman Lear, Rob Reiner not only was a great comic actor, he became a master story teller,” it read. “There is no other director who has his range. From comedy to drama to ‘mockumentary’ to documentary he was always at the top of his game. He charmed audiences. They trusted him. They lined up to see his films.”
“His comedic touch was beyond compare, his love of getting the music of the dialogue just right, and his sharpening of the edge of a drama was simply elegant,” the statement continued. “For the actors, he loved them. For the writers he made them better. His greatest gift was freedom. If you had an idea, he listened, he brought you into the process. They always felt they were working as a team. To be in his hands as a film maker was a privilege but that is only part of his legacy.”
Rob Reiner and Singer were also remembered for their activism.
“Rob was also a passionate, brave citizen, who not only cared for this country he loved, he did everything he could to make it better and with his loving wife Michele, he had the perfect partner,” their friends wrote. “Strong and determined, Michele and Rob Reiner devoted a great deal of their lives for the betterment of our fellow citizens. … They were a special force together-dynamic, unselfish and inspiring. We were their friends, and we will miss them forever.”
The friends ended their statement with a quote from what they said was one of Rob Reiner’s favorite films.
“There is a line from one of Rob’s favorite films, It’s a Wonderful Life, ‘Each man’s life touches so many other lives, and when he isn’t around, he leaves an awful hole, doesn’t he?'” they wrote. “You have no idea.”
Rob Reiner and Singer were found dead with stab wounds on Sunday in their Los Angeles home.
The couple’s son Nick Reiner was taken into custody on Sunday night and has since been charged by the Los Angeles district attorney with two counts of first-degree murder in relation to his parents’ deaths. He is currently being held without bail.
If convicted, the 32-year-old could face the death penalty.
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