Director Rob Reiner, wife found dead in Los Angeles home; son in custody, reports say

Rob Reiner and Michele Reiner
Rob Reiner and Michele Reiner LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 22: (L-R) Rob Reiner and Michele Reiner attend Human Rights Campaign's 2025 Los Angeles Dinner at Fairmont Century Plaza on March 22, 2025, in Los Angeles, California. The couple was found dead in their home on Dec. 14. (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for Human Rights Campaign) (Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for Human Rights Ca)

Actor turned director Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Reiner, were found dead inside a home in Los Angeles on Sunday.

Update 11:25 a.m. ET, Dec. 15: The Associated Press said that Rob and Nick Reiner had spoken publicly about the younger’s battle with addiction.

Nick Reiner had been in and out of nine rehab facilities by the time he was 18 and had times he was homeless and had relapsed, the AP reported.

He was clean by 2015, the Los Angeles Times reported

They worked together in the semi-autobiographical film “Being Charlie,” released in 2016, which Rob Reiner directed and Nick Reiner co-wrote.

The film focused on an actor who wanted to go into politics and a son who had a drug addiction, the Times reported.

“We didn’t go into it thinking this is going to be therapeutic or bring us closer, but it did come out that way,” Rob Reiner told the AP. “It forced us to understand ourselves better than we had. I told Nick while we were making it, I said, ‘you know it doesn’t matter, whatever happens to this thing, we won already. This has already been good.’”

Update 10:47 a.m. ET, Dec. 15: The Associated Press and TMZ are both reporting that the couple’s son, Nick Reiner, has been taken into custody.

Both outlets were citing unnamed sources.

TMZ confirmed the news, citing online records.

The AP said the 32-year-old was booked into jail by Los Angeles police and is being held on a $4 million bail. It is not known what charges he faces. He was taken into custody at 9:15 p.m. on Sunday and was booked at 5:04 a.m., according to the Los Angeles Times.

CNN reported that whatever charge he is facing, it is a felony.

Original report: Officials said they had stab wounds and a family member is being questioned, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press.

A spokesperson for the family confirmed their deaths, saying, “We are heartbroken by this sudden loss,” CNN reported.

The Los Angeles Fire Department was called to the scene for a medical aid call around 3:30 p.m. Sunday afternoon, officials said.

They found Reiner and his wife dead inside their home in the Brentwood section of the city.

CNN reported they were discovered by a family member.

Police are investigating their deaths as an apparent homicide.

The Los Angeles Times reported there was no sign of forced entry into the home.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass called his death devastating for the city.

“Rob Reiner’s contributions reverberate throughout American culture and society, and he has improved countless lives through his creative work and advocacy fighting for social and economic justice,” Bass said in a statement, the AP reported. “An acclaimed actor, director, producer, writer, and engaged political activist, he always used his gifts in service of others.”

California Governor Gavin Newsom called him a “renowned director, writer, and activist,” the Los Angeles Times reported.

Rob Reiner, the son of iconic comedian Carl Reiner, who died in 2020 at the age of 98, got his start in bit parts in shows such as “Manhunt,” “Gomer Pyle: USMC” and “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” before getting his big break as Michael “Meathead Stivic” in “All in the Family.”

He also found massive success behind the camera as a director of such films as “This Is Spinal Tap,” “Stand by Me,” “The Princess Bride” and “When Harry Met Sally...”

The latter is where he met his wife of more than 30 years, photographer Michele Singer, the AP reported. She also became a producer for films directed by her husband, such as “Spinal Tap II: The End Continues,” the Los Angeles Times reported.

They had three children together.

Before his marriage to Michele Singer Reiner, had been married to actress and director Penny Marshall from 1971 to 1981. The couple adopted their daughter, Tracy. Marshall died in 2018.

The Times called Reiner a “leading political voice in Hollywood,” who was a co-founder of the American Foundation for Equal Rights.

Check back for more on this developing story.

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