Rob Reiner, acclaimed filmmaker and activist, found murdered with his wife

Rob Reiner, who rose to stardom on the beloved sitcom All in the Family before becoming a director and helming some of the most beloved films of his generation, has died. He was 78 years old. According to Variety, Reiner and his wife Michele Singer were found dead in their Brentwood home earlier today, seemingly stabbed to death.

Earlier tonight, TMZ reported that two people were found dead at the Reiner residence, but the names of the deceased and the nature of their deaths was not immediately known.

People reports that “numerous sources” say the couple’s son Nick Reiner is the likely killer. Nick has struggled with addiction, as depicted in the semi-autobiographical film Being Charlie, which Rob and Nick Reiner co-wrote.

Appearing on All in the Family from 1971 until its finale in 1979, Reiner married Penny Marshall in 1971, and the pair divorced in 1981. Marshall had a similar career path to Reiner’s, rising to fame on Laverne & Shirley before becoming a celebrated director. In 1989, Reiner married Singer. Singer, a photographer, met Reiner while he was directing When Harry Met Sally…, just one of Reiner’s hugely successful films.

Before marrying Reiner, Singer reportedly took a photograph of now-President Donald Trump, which would serve as the cover to his book The Art of the Deal.

The couple had three children together: Jake, Nick, and Romy. Romy maintains an active social media presence, and frequently featured her father in her content. As recently as last week, Romy Reiner shared photos of her parents on her Instagram account.

Reiner’s directing career was bookended in an unexpected way: in 1984, his first feature film was This is Spinal Tap, and in 2025, he released Spinal Tap II: The End Continues. In between, Reiner helmed a number of the most beloved movies of the 1980s and ’90s, including Stand By Me, The Princess Bride, Misery, and A Few Good Men. While his role as a director and producer largely took over his career, Reiner continued to act in various projects throughout his life, appearing as an actor in projects ranging from The Jerk and Mixed Nuts to The Simpsons and The Bear. 

Reiner was a progressive activist and outspoken critic of the Trump administration, harkening back to his early days as Michael “Meathead” Stivic, the liberal “voice of reason” on All in the Family. In that series, Carroll O’Connor played the volatile, bigoted Archie Bunker. During his lifetime, Reiner co-founded the American Foundation for Equal Rights, which helped drive the push to legalize gay marriage in California and the United States.