Rob Reiner & His Wife Murdered in Their Hollywood Home

This has been a pretty horrible weekend.

First, there was the mass shooting at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island which claimed the lives of 2 people with 9 other people wounded. 

Then came the massacre of a Chanukah party in Sydney, Australia. The death toll now stands at 15 with the gunmen being a father and son.

In between all of this, I have tried to live joyously in celebrating Dick Van Dyke's 100th birthday last night. Earlier this evening, I met up with two couples to watch It's a Wonderful Life at the Brattle Theatre followed by a wonderful dinner at a new Asian restaurant in Harvard Square.

Now, I come home to the news that actor-director Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele, were found stabbed to death in their Hollywood home. It is one thing for Dick Van Dyke to outlive Carl Reiner. It is quite another to outlive Rob Reiner.

It was only last weekend that I attended a special screening of Stand by Me in Lynn, Massachusetts in which the three surviving stars Jerry O'Connell, Corey Feldman and Wil Wheaton were effusive in their praise of Rob Reiner who directed the film. The trio are planning to do more of these screenings in the new year but in light of tonight's horrific news, the retrospective will undoubtedly take on a far sadder tone.

On a personal note, I saw Reiner at the Beacon Theatre in New York City with Michael McKean, Harry Shearer and Christopher Guest during a 35th anniversary screening of This is Spinal Tap in April 2019. As it turned, this year's sequel Spinal Tap II: The End Continues would prove to be Reiner's last film as both an actor and a director. Sadly, it truly was the last tap.

Of course, when something like this happens it is only natural to wonder how this horrific event came to pass. There was the possibility of a robbery gone bad. I also could not help but think that Reiner's political activism or the fact he was Jewish might have factored into this attack. However, it appears the Reiners were murdered by their own son. Whatever the circumstances, the Reiners died a horrible death.

Of course, Reiner's work will live on. But he had more to give. Rob and Michele Reiner should have left this world naturally. Then again, the same can be said for those two students at Brown University and the 15 people celebrating Chanukah at Bondi Beach. R.I.P. to all.