Billy Crystal and wife Janice Crystal, along with other close Hollywood friends, are remembering When Harry Met Sally director Rob Reiner two days after his death.
A joint statement was shared to The Associated Press on Tuesday, December 16, by the Crystals, Albert and Kimberly Brooks, Martin Short, Alan and Robin Zweibel, Larry David and Ashley Underwood, Marc Shaiman and Lou Mirabal, Barry and Diana Levinson and Ambassador James Costos and Michael Smith.
“Going to the movies in a dark theater filled with strangers having a common experience, laughing, crying, screaming in fear, or watching an intense drama unfold is still an unforgettable thrill. Tell us a story audiences demand of us,” the statement began. “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. 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.”
The statement continued, “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. 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.”
The statement then noted Rob’s interests outside of the world of entertainment. “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 [Singer Reiner], he had the perfect partner. 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.”
Rob’s longtime friends concluded their tribute with a poignant film reference. “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?’ You have no idea.”
Rob and Michele were found dead in their Los Angeles home on December 14. He was 78, while she was 68. A spokesperson for the Reiner family told Variety in a statement at the time, “It is with profound sorrow that we announce the tragic passing of Michele and Rob Reiner. We are heartbroken by this sudden loss, and we ask for privacy during this unbelievably difficult time.”
Rob and Michele shared three children: sons Nick and Jake Reiner and daughter Romy Reiner. Rob is also the father to daughter Tracy, whom he adoptive while married to late ex-wife Penny Marshall.
Following reports that a family member was involved in the fatal incident at their Reiners’ home, the Los Angeles Police Department Parker City Jail confirmed Nick’s arrest without bail on December 15. He was officially charged with two counts of first degree murder on Tuesday. If found guilty, he could face life in prison with no chance of parole or the death penalty.
As details continued to emerge surrounding Rob and Michele’s deaths, Hollywood stars shared heartfelt tributes in the director’s honor. Crystal and Larry David were reportedly spotted arriving separately at the couple’s house on the day they died.
According to ABC 7, Billy and his wife, Janice Crystal, were seen walking down the street where the Reiners lived. A neighbor told the outlet that Billy “looked like he was about to cry.”
Billy and Rob met in 1975 while working together on All in the Family. Rob played Michael “Meathead” Stivic on the Norman Lear sitcom, and Billy was cast as his best friend. Playing close pals on screen forged a real-life friendship between the actors.
“What impressed me the most about Rob was, one, he was so genial, but two, he was so smart,” Billy recalled in a column written for The Hollywood Reporter in 2016. “It was Rob who was fixing the script with the writers and the producers; it was Rob who was making sense out of what we had to do in the piece. He was so smart and so accurate and funny at the same time. And he was a terrific actor as well. It’s a very impressive combination of talents that I first met — plus, he was just hilarious.”
The pair went on to work together on several of Rob’s hit films, including This Is Spinal Tap, When Harry Met Sally and The Princess Bride.
“If you look at, say, his first eight movies, they’re all different,” Billy continued. “Spinal Tap is a classic, and then Stand by Me, which is tender and charming and insightful, and then When Harry Met Sally, which is a funny romantic comedy, and Misery and A Few Good Men. I don’t know of any other director at the time who had the scope he had and the ability to pull off all the different genres he did. He’s daring, and he doesn’t repeat himself.”
Along with his talent, Billy praised his friend’s “wonderful heart” and passion for activism. He went on to share one of his “favorite” memories from the first screening of When Harry Met Sally.
“Rob and I were sitting in the back next to each other. Then the orgasm scene happens, and the place goes berserk. When Rob’s mother, Estelle, says, ‘I’ll have what she’s having,’ it was thunderous, a laugh you can only hear with the best of jokes in a concert hall,” Billy recalled. “It’s those moments that make movies so spectacular: You set up the joke in September, and you don’t hear the punch line until May. We just grabbed each other’s hands because we knew something exciting was about to happen with this movie.”
