From Hollywood to Brentwood, LA mourns beloved director Rob Reiner | Los Angeles
Los Angeles mourned the deaths of beloved Hollywood director Rob Reiner and his wife Michelle on Monday morning as police announced the arrest of their son on suspicion of murder.
News of the apparent murder of the filmmaker behind When Harry Met Sally, Misery, Stand By Me, The Princess Bride and This is Spinal Tap sent shockwaves through Los Angeles, from the affluent Brentwood neighborhood where he and his wife were found dead to Hollywood Boulevard.
At Rob Reiner’s Walk of Fame star in the heart of Hollywood, some fans stopped by to pay tribute.
“This is something I can do with my pain and honor everything he accomplished and everything he meant to my generation and other generations,” said Stephanie Bower, a longtime history professor who lives a 15-minute bus ride from Reiner’s star on Hollywood Boulevard.
Bower, who left a pink bouquet, said that the news affected her very much. “I didn’t sleep well last night… I’m thinking about the causes it represents. It’s hard for young people to know what All in the Family is like,” he said, referring to the groundbreaking 1970s sitcom that starred Reiner. “It was a huge breakthrough in addressing the issues. It was brave.”
Bower said that Reiner’s film, Stand by Me, was also one of his favorite films: “It was such a simple and masterfully written story. It really reflected childhood.”
Bower said he took action to find out about Reiner I met his wife She was on the set of the movie When Harry Met Sally and it inspired her to fall in love with him. change the ending of the movie. He said it was hard to accept his son’s arrest on murder charges. “This is such a tragedy that it is not an isolated tragedy… This is not an isolated family tragedy.”
Robert Morgan, driving a Hollywood sightseeing tour bus, pulled over to take a photo of Reiner’s Walk of Fame star early Monday morning.
“As a parent, it really hurts, it really hurts,” said Morgan, who had tears forming in her eyes. He said he spoke to his daughter on the phone about the news and was afraid a family tragedy would culminate in this kind of violence. “What could make a child feel like this? It’s so heartbreaking. You raise your children with love, you give everything, how can this happen?”
Fans also paid tribute to Reiner’s long history of activism. Reiner fought for marriage equality in California and co-founded a group. Funded legal challenge to Proposition 8A ballot measure that would repeal gay marriage. He had recently been outspoken against Donald Trump, who insulted the director in a social media post about his death on Monday.
Ace Smith, a veteran Democratic strategist who worked with former vice president Kamala Harris he told the Los Angeles Times He said Reiner was “a unique person who can really switch between entertainment and politics.”
“He really took the time to understand politics in real depth and make a big impact in California,” Smith told the paper.
Alana Brown, a visitor from Detroit who passed Reiner’s star on Hollywood Boulevard, said she was grateful for Reiner’s activism and willingness to use her voice. “It’s nice to have a white, rich, prominent person who is willing to speak out against Trump’s policies. It’s very important to have allies like that. We need as many allies as possible.”
Brown said he also reflected on Reiner’s long legacy in film, including acting roles in All in the Family and 2013’s Wolf of Wall Street. “The scope of his work was incredible,” he said.
Michele Reiner was a photographer worked She has appeared in some of her husband’s films over the years and served as a producer on his film Spinal Tap II: The End Continues, which was released earlier this year. She and her husband started a venture called I Am Your Child in the 1990s. Raising awareness about early childhood development.
Fans also gathered outside the Chinese Theater in Hollywood on Sunday night, where Rob Reiner’s hands were laid in cement.
