Rob Reiner Biography
Born: March 06, 1947
Date of Birth: March 6, 1947
Born to an entertainment-oriented family (his father is comedy giant Carl Reiner), in the Bronx, New York, Rob Reiner was 12 when he moved with his family to Los Angeles, and it was there that he started acting in regional theater. After studying drama at UCLA, he co-founded the improvisational comedy troupe The Session with Richard Dreyfuss.
At the age of 21, he joined Steve Martin on the writing team of the television show The Smothers Brothers' Comedy Hour. Reiner made his feature film debut as an actor in his father's autobiographical Enter Laughing (1967), but his first real break came in 1971 when he won the part of Michael Stivic, the staunchly liberal foil to Carroll O'Connor's hilariously backwards Archie Bunker in the ground-breaking sitcom All in the Family.
Rob ultimately found the role confining and spent much of his time thinking about how to get out of his contract. He remained with the series until 1978, winning two Emmy awards by the time he left. In addition to the show, Rob also appeared in television movies and launched his own series, co-starring himself with his then-wife Penny Marshall. The series, a semi-autobiographical comedy, More Than Friends, lasted only a season. Its demise was followed shortly by that of Rob and Penny's marriage.
Reiner became a director in 1984 with the cult favorite This Is Spinal Tap, a satirical mockumentary of the rise and fall of a fictional rock group. His sophomore effort, The Sure Thing (1985), was another one of those John Cusack 80's comedies about young love. The following year, the director hit his stride with his third effort, Stand By Me. In this coming-of-age saga based on a Stephen King short story, Reiner successfully blended comedy, drama and sentiment and managed to create believable young characters. As a director of mainstream films, Reiner went on to prove himself in a variety of genres. His The Princess Bride (1987) was a sharply funny but sweet romantic fantasy, while his When Harry Met Sally... (1989), written by Nora Ephron, stands as one of the most successful romantic comedies of the 1980s. The same year, Reiner co-founded Castle Rock Productions; the company's name refers to a fictional town created by Stephen King.
Rob began the 1990s by successfully trying his hand at darker fare with Misery, a claustrophobic drama, again based on Stephen King's writing, that featured exceptional performances from James Caan and Kathy Bates, who won an Oscar for her role. The 1992's A Few Good Men was similarly successful, earning a Best Picture Oscar nomination and another Golden Globe nomination for Reiner. The director went on to handle subjects as diverse as romantic comedy (with 1995's The American President) and the civil rights movement (the following year's Ghosts of Mississippi). In 1999, he produced, directed and starred in The Story of Us, a romantic comedy starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Bruce Willis. The same year, he received a star on the Walk of Fame, right next to his father's star.
Rob took a break from directing for a while before releasing the box office/critical bomb, Alex & Emma (2003), starring Luke Wilson and Kate Hudson. More recently, he directed and starred in the political drama, Shock and Awe (2018).
During the filming of When Harry met Sally... (1989), he met his current wife Michele Singer, with whom he shares three children.