Rob Reiner

Infobox Actor

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caption = The German premiere of "The Bucket List", 2008
birthdate = birth date and age|1947|3|6
birthplace = The Bronx, New York, USA
spouse = Penny Marshall (1971–1979)
Michele Singer (1989–present)
emmyawards = Outstanding Supporting Actor - Comedy Series
1974 "All in the Family"
1978 "All in the Family"

Robert "Rob" Reiner (born March 6, 1947) [ [http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=2:107886~T1 Rob Reiner biography] , allmovie.com] is an American actor, director, producer, writer, and political activist. As an actor, Reiner first came to national prominence as Archie and Edith Bunker's (played by Carroll O'Connor and Jean Stapleton respectively) son-in-law, Michael "Meathead" Stivic, on "All in the Family". That role earned him two Emmy Awards during the 1970s. As a director, Reiner was recognized by the Directors Guild of America (DGA) with nominations for "Stand by Me", "When Harry Met Sally...", and "A Few Good Men". He was trained at the UCLA Film School.

Biography

Early life

Reiner was born in The Bronx, New York, the son of Estella (née Lebost), an actress, and Carl Reiner, a comedian, actor, writer, producer, and director. [ [http://www.filmreference.com/film/74/Rob-Reiner.html Rob Reiner Biography (1947-) ] ] As a child, Reiner lived in New Rochelle, New York, where his family resided at 48 Bonnie Meadow Road. This is similar to 148 Bonnie Meadow Road, the fictional address of the Petries on "The Dick Van Dyke Show", the 1960s CBS sitcom created by his father.

At the age of 13 Rob relocated with his family to the Los Angeles area, where he attended Beverly Hills High School with Richard Dreyfuss and Albert Brooks. He went on to enroll at the University of California, Los Angeles. He also has a sister, Sylvia Anne (Annie) Reiner (born 1947), who is a poet, playwright, and author; and a brother, Lucas Reiner (born 1960), a painter, actor, and director.

Career

Reiner became famous playing Michael "Meathead" Stivic, Archie Bunker's liberal son-in-law, on Norman Lear's 1970s sitcom "All in the Family", which was the most-watched television program for five years in the United States (1971–1978). The nickname "Meathead", referring to Reiner's character Mike Stivic in "All in the Family", became a pop culture reference. Indeed, Reiner has stated that "I could win the Nobel Prize and they'd write 'Meathead wins the Nobel Prize.'" [ [http://www.yehey.com/entertainment/celebs/article.aspx?id=106489 Yehey! Entertainment ] ] In a 2004 interview on A&E Biography, Reiner said that he often enjoyed working with O'Connor on-screen, as well as becoming best friends and for having a second father-in-law, off-screen, too. Reiner continued being loyal to him until his death on June 21, 2001, at the time, he, alongside Sally Struthers and Danielle Brisebois, attended O'Connor's funeral.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Reiner was best known as a director of successful Hollywood films. Some of these films—such as "The Princess Bride", "Stand By Me", and "This Is Spinal Tap"— have achieved cult status. He has stated that the film which will go down as his masterpiece is "Stand by Me". The film is also his favorite film of his own work. In 1994 (after a three-year development period), Reiner was slated to direct the big-screen adaptation of Stephen Sondheim's "Into the Woods", with Robin Williams as The Baker, Goldie Hawn as The Baker's Wife, Cher as The Witch, and Roseanne Barr as Jack's Mother. For unspecified reasons (though it is speculated to be due to the decline in popularity of musical films) this production fell through and the film was never started.

Reiner went on to direct other critically and commercially successful films with his own company, Castle Rock, such as "When Harry Met Sally...", "Misery", and his most commercially successful work "A Few Good Men". [ [http://boxofficemojo.com/people/chart/?id=robreiner.htm Box Office Mojo: Rob Reiner] ]

However his career has seen less commercial success in recent years, starting with "North", which was critically panned (notoriously by Roger Ebert: "I hated this movie. Hated hated hated hated hated this movie." [cite web| url = http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19940722/REVIEWS/407220302/1023| title = North| accessdate = 2007-01-14| author = Ebert, Roger| authorlink = Roger Ebert| date = 1994-07-22| work = Chicago Sun Times| publisher = rogerebert.com| quote = I hated this movie. Hated hated hated hated hated this movie. Hated it.] ). His subsequent films "Alex and Emma" and "Rumor Has It" have been unsuccessful both critically and commercially. His next feature, "The Bucket List", was released in December 2007, and starred Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman as two terminally ill men who escape from a cancer ward and head off on a road trip with a wish list of tasks to accomplish before they die. Though it was more commercially successful, it too was met with poor critical reviews. Ebert, a thyroid cancer sufferer, was especially off-put by treatment of the disease in the film: "'The Bucket List' thinks dying of cancer is a laugh riot followed by a dime-store epiphany." [ [http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080110/REVIEWS/801100301/1023 The Bucket List :: rogerebert.com :: Reviews ] ]

He has guest-starred in a number of movies, mostly in small roles including "Throw Momma from the Train", "Sleepless in Seattle", "Bullets Over Broadway", "The First Wives Club", and "Primary Colors".

Personal life

Reiner is Jewish. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/5289328.stm BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Rob Reiner attacks Gibson's films ] ] He was married to actress-director Penny Marshall from 1971 to 1981. Marshall's daughter from a previous marriage, actress Tracy Reiner, co-starred in Marshall's "A League of Their Own". Reiner and Marshall divorced in 1981.

Reiner married photographer Michele Singer in 1989. In 1997, Reiner and wife Michele founded the "I Am Your Child Foundation", now "Parents' Action for Children", a non-profit organization promoting early childhood development by producing and distributing celebrity-hosted educational videos for parents.

Activism

His activism in leftist politics is present in many sectors of society:

*In 1998, Reiner chaired the campaign to pass Prop 10, the California Children and Families Initiative, which created First 5 California, a program of early childhood development services, funded by a tax on tobacco products. He served as chairman of First 5 California from 1999 to 2006. Reiner was criticized for campaigning for a proposition (Prop 82) to fund state-run preschools while still chair of the First Five Commission, causing Reiner to resign from his position on March 29, 2006. An audit was conducted and it concluded the commission did not violate state law, and that the state commission had clear legal authority to conduct its public advertising campaigns related to preschool. Proposition 82 failed with 39.1% support.

*He tries to limit the amount of cigarette smoking in his films. [ [http://www.dga.org/news/v29_2/craft_smkg_704.php3 MAGAZINE | CRAFT| Smoking in the Movies: The DGA Responds to the Controversy | VOL 29-2: July 2004 ] ]

*He is a member of the Social Responsibility Task Force, an organization advocating moderation where social issues (like violence and tobacco use) and the entertainment industry meet.

*Reiner is also active in environmental issues, and successfully led the effort to establish California's Ahmanson Ranch as a state park and wildlife refuge rather than a commercial real estate development. On 7 July 2007, Reiner introduced Spinal Tap at the London Live Earth concert.

Reiner campaigned in Iowa for Democratic Presidential candidate Howard Dean just before the 2004 Iowa caucus, and campaigned extensively for Al Gore in 2000. He was mentioned as a possible candidate to run against California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2006, but decided not to run for personal reasons.

He has been a contributing blogger for The Huffington Post since May 2005. [ [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rob-reiner/ Rob Reiner - Politics on The Huffington Post ] ] Reiner had endorsed Hillary Clinton for president for the 2008 election cycle.

"South Park" parody

Reiner was the subject of a parody in the "South Park" episode "Butt Out". The episode portrays his anti-smoking activism as hypocritical, depicting him as using the same unethical tactics for which he criticizes the tobacco industry. It also suggests that his weight problem is just as dangerous. In accordance with the show's libertarian themes, [cite web|last = Winter|first = Bill|title = Trey Parker - Libertarian|publisher = Advocates for Self Government|url = http://www.theadvocates.org/celebrities/trey-parker.html|accessdate = 2008-02-16] the characters Kyle Broflovski and Stan Marsh even expose him as a fascist (and therefore, Cartman idolizes him), claiming that he actively coerces people into not smoking simply because he hates it. [cite episode|title=Butt Out|series=South Park|credits=Trey Parker (writer and director)|network=Comedy Central|airdate=2003-12-03|season=7|number=13]

Creator Trey Parker admits to a slight feeling of guilt in portraying Reiner so mercilessly, claiming he liked some of his earlier movies and was inspired by "Spinal Tap" to fuse music and comedy. [ According to the "Butt Out" commentary mini.]

Filmography

Film

* "Halls Of Anger" - actor (1969)
* "Fire Sale" - actor (1977)
* "The Jerk" - Truck Driver (uncredited) (1979)
* "This Is Spinal Tap" - Director, co-star (1984)
* "The Sure Thing" - Director (1985)
* "Stand By Me" - Director (1986)
* "The Princess Bride" - Director (1987)
* "When Harry Met Sally..." - Director (1989)
* "Misery" - Director (1990)
* "A Few Good Men" - Director (1992)
* "Sleepless in Seattle" - Jay (1993)
* "North" - Director (1994)
* "Bullets over Broadway" - Actor (1994)
* "The American President" - Director (1995)
* "Ghosts of Mississippi" - Director (1996)
* "The Story of Us" - Director, actor (playing "Stan") (1999)
* "EdTV" - actor (playing "Whitaker") (1999)
* "Alex & Emma" - Director with a role as book publisher (2003)
* "" - as Himself (2003)
* "Rumor Has It" - Director (2005)
* "Everyone's Hero" - Voice of Screwie (2006)
* "The Bucket List" - Director (2007)

Television

* "The Partridge Family" - Snake (1971)
* "All in the Family" - Michael Stivic (1971–1978)
* "The $10,000 Pyramid" - Guest as himself on debut week (1973)
* "Happy Days" - Cowrote the first episode (1974)
* "Likely Stories, Vol. 1" - Director (1981)
* "It's Garry Shandling's Show" - appeared several times as himself, helping Garry to 'advance the plot'. (1986–1990)
* "Morton & Hayes" - Narrator (1991)
* "The Larry Sanders Show" - Cameo playing himself in several episodes including Doubt Of The Benefit
* "Curb Your Enthusiasm" - Season 2, Episode 5 (as himself) (2001)
* "The Simpsons" - Guest Starred as Himself in Million Dollar Abie (2006)
* "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" - Guest Starred as Himself (2006)

References

External links

*imdb|0001661
* [http://www.hollywood.com/celebrity/Rob_Reiner/195555 Rob Reiner's biography, awards, and milestones] at Hollywood.com