Early life

Reiner was born to a Jewish family in The Bronx, New York, and is the son of Estelle Reiner (née Lebost; 1914-2008), an actress, and Carl Reiner, a renowned comedian, actor, writer, producer, and director. As a child, Reiner lived at 48 Bonnie Meadow Road in New Rochelle, New York; the home of the fictional Petrie family in The Dick Van Dyke Show, created by Rob's father, was 148 Bonnie Meadow Lane. He studied at the UCLA Film School.

Career

In the late 1960s, Reiner acted in bit roles in several television shows including Batman, The Andy Griffith Show, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. and The Beverly Hillbillies. He began his career writing for the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in 1968 and 1969. Two years later, Reiner became famous playing Michael Stivic, Archie Bunker's liberal son-in-law, on Norman Lear's 1970s situation comedy All in the Family, which was the most-watched television program in the United States for five seasons (1971-1976). The character's nickname became closely associated with him, even after he had left the role and went on to build a high-profile career as a director. Reiner has stated, "I could win the Nobel Prize and they'd write 'Meathead wins the Nobel Prize'." For his performance, Reiner won two Emmy Awards in addition to three other nominations and five Golden Globe nominations. After an extended absence, Reiner has recently returned to television acting with a recurring role on New Girl (2012-present).

In 1972, Reiner, Phil Mishkin, and Gerry Isenberg created the situation comedy The Super for ABC. Starring Richard S. Castellano, the show depicted the life of the harried Italian American superintendent of a New York City apartment building and ran for 10 episodes in the summer of 1972. Reiner and Mishkin co-wrote the premiere episode.

Beginning in the 1980s, Reiner became known as a director of several successful Hollywood films that spanned many different genres. Several of these film remains highly popular with fans and critics. Some of his earlier films include cult classics such as the rock-band mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap (1984) and the comedic fantasy film The Princess Bride (1987), as well as his period piece coming of age tale Stand by Me (1986), which was also highly acclaimed. He often collaborates with film editor Robert Leighton, whom he also shares with fellow director-actor Christopher Guest as their go-to editor.

Reiner has gone on to direct other critically and commercially successful films with his own company, Castle Rock Entertainment. These include several iconic films such as the romantic comedy When Harry Met Sally... (1989), which has been critically ranked among the all-time best of its genre, the tense thriller Misery (1990), for which Kathy Bates won the Academy Award for Best Actress, and his most commercially successful work, the military courtroom drama A Few Good Men (1992), which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. Subsequent films directed by Reiner include the political romance The American President (1995), the courtroom drama Ghosts of Mississippi (1996), and the uplifting comedy The Bucket List (2007).

Reiner has continued to act in supporting roles in a number of movies and television shows, including Throw Momma from the Train (1987), Sleepless in Seattle (1993), Bullets Over Broadway (1994), The First Wives Club (1996), Primary Colors (1998), EDtv (1999), New Girl (2012-present), and The Wolf of Wall Street (2013). He has also parodied himself with cameos in works such as Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star (2003) and 30 Rock (2010).

Politics and activism

Reiner has devoted considerable time and energy to liberal activism in recent years. His lobbying as an anti-smoking advocate in particular, earned his likeness a satirical role in a South Park episode titled "Butt Out".

Reiner is a co-founder of the American Foundation for Equal Rights, which initiated the court challenge against California Proposition 8 which banned same-sex marriage in the state.

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 the first chairman of First 5 California, from 1999 to 2006. Reiner came under criticism for campaigning for a ballot measure (Prop 82) to fund state-run preschools while still chair of the First Five Commission, causing him to resign from his position on March 29, 2006. An audit was conducted, and it concluded that the state commission did not violate state law and that it had clear legal authority to conduct its public advertising campaigns related to preschool. In the end, Prop 82 failed to win approval, garnering only 39.1% support.

Reiner was mentioned as a possible candidate to run against California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2006 but decided not to run for personal reasons. He campaigned extensively for Democratic presidential nominee Al Gore in the 2000 Presidential election, and he campaigned in Iowa for Democratic Presidential candidate Howard Dean just before the 2004 Iowa caucuses. He endorsed Hillary Clinton for president for the 2008 election.

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

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

Personal life

Rob Reiner married actress/director Penny Marshall in 1971 and adopted Marshall's daughter, actress Tracy Reiner (A League of Their Own), from a previous marriage to Michael Henry. Reiner and Marshall divorced in 1981.

Reiner was introduced to his future wife, photographer Michele Singer, while directing When Harry Met Sally. The meeting not only resulted in his deciding to change the ending of that movie, but he also married Singer in 1989. They have three children. In 1997, Reiner and Singer founded the "I Am Your Child Foundation," and in 2004, they founded the "Parents' Action for Children," a non-profit organization with a dual purpose: a) to raise awareness of the importance of a child's early years by producing and distributing celebrity-hosted educational videos for parents, and b) to advance public policy through parental education and advocacy.

Reiner has stated that his childhood home was not observantly Jewish, although he did have a Bar Mitzvah ceremony. He identified himself as having no religious affiliation on the January 13, 2012, episode of Real Time with Bill Maher. Reiner later told Huffington Post contributor Debra Oliver that while he rejected organized religion, he was sympathetic to the ideas of Buddhism.

In addition to his four children, Reiner has five grandchildren, through his daughter Tracy.

Work

Filmography

As director

Year	Film	Notes
1984	This Is Spinal Tap	Also actor and writer
1985	The Sure Thing
1986	Stand by Me	Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Director Nominated - Independent Spirit Award for Best Director Nominated - Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing - Feature Film
1987	The Princess Bride	Also producer
1989	When Harry Met Sally...	Also producer Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Director Nominated - BAFTA Award for Best Film Nominated - Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing - Feature Film
1990	Misery	Also producer
1992	A Few Good Men	Also producer Nominated - Academy Award for Best Picture Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Director Nominated - Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing - Feature Film
1994	North	Nominated - Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Picture Nominated - Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Director
1995	The American President	Also producer Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Director
1996	Ghosts of Mississippi	Also producer
1999	The Story of Us	Also actor and producer
2003	Alex & Emma	Also actor and producer
2005	Rumor Has It...
2007	The Bucket List	Also producer
2010	Flipped	Also producer and writer
2012	The Magic of Belle Isle	Also producer
2014	And So It Goes	Also actor and producer
2015	Being Charlie	Also producer
2016	LBJ	Also producer

As actor

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1967	Enter Laughing	Clark Baxter
1969	Halls of Anger	Leaky Couloris
1970	Where's Poppa?	Roger
1971	Summertree	Don
1977	Fire Sale	Russel Fikus
1979	The Jerk	Truck Driver Picking Up Navin	Uncredited
1984	This Is Spinal Tap	Marty DiBergi	Also director and writer
1987	Throw Momma from the Train	Joel
1990	Postcards from the Edge	Joe Pierce
1990	Misery	Helicopter pilot	Uncredited Also director and producer
1993	Sleepless in Seattle	Jay
1994	Bullets over Broadway	Sheldon Flender
1994	Mixed Nuts	Dr. Klinsky
1995	For Better or Worse	Dr. Plosner
1995	Bye Bye Love	Dr. David Townsend
1996	The First Wives Club	Dr. Morris Packman	National Board of Review Award for Best Cast
1998	Primary Colors	Izzy Rosenblatt
1999	EDtv	Mr. Whitaker
1999	The Muse	Rob Reiner
1999	The Story of Us	Stan	Also director and producer
2001	The Majestic	Studio executive	Voice role
2003	Alex & Emma	Wirschafter	Also director and producer
2003	Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star	Rob Reiner
2006	Everyone's Hero	Screwie	Voice role
2013	The Wolf of Wall Street	Max Belfort
2014	And So It Goes	Artie	Also director and producer

Television

As actor

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1967	The Mothers-In-Law	Joe Turner	TV series One episode
1967	Batman	Delivery Boy	TV series One episode
1967	The Andy Griffith Show	Joe, The Printer's Apprentice	TV series One episode
1967-1969	Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.	Various	TV series 3 episodes
1969	The Beverly Hillbillies	Mitch	TV series 2 episodes
1971	The Partridge Family	Serpent	TV series One episode
1971-1978	All in the Family	Michael Stivic	TV series regular Actor - 182 episodes Writer - 4 episodes Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series (1974, 1978) Nominated - Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series (1972, 1973, 1975) Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Television (1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977)
1974	The Rockford Files	Larry 'King' Sturtevant	TV series One episode
1974	The Odd Couple	Sheldn, Myrna's boyfriend	TV series One episode
1978	Free Country	Joseph Bresner	TV series 5 episodes
1978	More Than Friends	Alan Corkus	TV Movie
1979	Archie Bunker's Place	Michael Stivic	TV series 2 episodes
1982	Million Dollar Infield	Monte Miller	TV movie Also writer
2012-2015	New Girl	Bob Day	TV series 6 episodes

As writer or director

Year	Title	Notes
1967	The Smothers Brothers	TV series Writer only 20 episodes
1971-1972	All in the Family	Writer - 4 episodes Also actor
1972	The Super	TV series Co-creator and writer
1974	Happy Days	TV series Co-wrote the first episode
1978	More Than Friends	TV Movie
1981	Likely Stories: Vol. 1	TV movie Writer and director
1982	Million Dollar Infield	TV movie Also actor

As self

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1973	The $10,000 Pyramid	Guest as himself on debut week	TV series 5 episodes
1975	Saturday Night Live	Host/Various	TV series One episode
1987-1990	It's Garry Shandling's Show	Himself	TV series 4 episodes
1991	Morton & Hayes	Narrator	TV series 6 episodes
1994	The Larry Sanders Show	Himself	TV series One episode Cameo
2001	Curb Your Enthusiasm	Himself	TV series One episode Cameo
2006	The Simpsons	Himself	TV series One episode Cameo Voice role
2006	Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip	Himself	TV series One episode Cameo
2009	Hannah Montana	Himself	TV series One episode Cameo
2009	Wizards of Waverly Place	Himself	TV series One episode Cameo
2010	30 Rock	Rep. Rob Reiner	TV series One episode Cameo
2010-2016	Real Time with Bill Maher	Guest	TV series Six episodes
2014	The Case Against 8	Himself	HBO Documentary
2015	Happyish	Himself	TV series
2015	The Comedians	Himself	TV series One episode

Charities

Rob Reiner supports the following charitable causes: Smoking & Smoking-Related Illnesses, Gay Rights, Health Education, Children, Animals, Environment.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]