ROB REINER Biography - Actors and Actresses

 
 

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ROB REINER

Name: Rob Reiner                                                                           
Born: 6 March 1947 The Bronx, New York                                                     
                                                                                           
Robert Singer "Rob" Reiner (born March 6, 1947) is an American actor,                     
director, producer, writer and political activist. As an actor, Reiner first               
came to national prominence as Archie Bunker's (played by Carroll O'Connor) and           
Edith Baines-Bunker's (played by Jean Stapleton) 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.                                                   
                                                                                           
Reiner was born in The Bronx, New York, the son of Estelle (nee Lebost), an               
actress, and Carl Reiner, a comedian, actor, writer, producer, and director.               
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 1960's CBS sitcom created           
by his father.                                                                             
                                                                                           
When Reiner was about 13, the family moved to the Los Angeles area, where Reiner           
attended Beverly Hills High School and the University of California, Los Angeles.         
He also has a sister, Sylvia Anne (Annie) Reiner (b. 1947), who is a poet,                 
playwright and author; and a brother, Lucas Reiner (b. 1960), a painter, actor,           
and director.                                                                             
                                                                                           
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 term "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.'" 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, off-screen, too.             
                                                                                           
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 Misery, A Few Good Men, and his most                 
commercially successful work - When Harry Met Sally..., which has become a                 
classic romantic comedy. 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.")             
His subsequent films Alex & 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.                                               
                                                                                           
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.