• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, December 17, 2025

Take a look at the list of Rob Reiner’s movie and TV credits on Wikipedia and prepare to be awed.

In the obituaries and news coverage of his death, mention is made of a few of the movies he directed, and his one and only role as a regular cast member on a TV show -- “All in the Family.” But there was so much more.

Born on March 6, 1947, Reiner was 24 in 1971 when he was cast as Mike Stivic -- nicknamed Meathead by his father-in-law Archie Bunker (Carroll O’Connor).

The importance, notoriety or infamy -- whatever you want to call it -- of “All in the Family” has been gone over a million times ever since it premiered. 

But for anyone who was alive during the show’s run from 1971 to 1978, the image of Meathead arguing with Archie across the era’s left-right political and social divides is indelible.

Reiner had been an actor in bit parts on TV since 1966 -- three episodes on “That Girl,” three on “Gomer Pyle USMC,” one-offs on “Batman,” “The Andy Griffith Show” and others.

After “All in the Family,” he continued to turn up from time to time on TV. A recurring role on the Fox comedy “New Girl” in 2011 was the longest run he had in a single show after “All in the Family” -- 10 episodes.

But by then, he had long been established as a movie director of consequence, starting with the very first movie he directed, “This Is Spinal Tap” in 1984.

The list of movies he directed after that are among the best-remembered movies ever made: “Stand By Me,” “The Princess Bride,” “When Harry Met Sally …,” “Misery,” “A Few Good Men,” “The American President,” “Ghosts of Mississippi” and others.

The son of Carl Reiner -- one of the titans of TV history -- Rob Reiner was a member of the Hollywood community for his entire life. By all appearances, he and his wife, Michele, were very well-liked.

As his long string of movie hits unfolded in the 1980s and his reputation for reliability grew, he became one of those trusted directors who the A-list stars apparently felt comfortable with.

He worked with many of them -- Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson and Demi Moore (“A Few Good Men”), Kathy Bates and James Caan (“Misery”), Michael Douglas and Annette Bening (“The American President”), Jack Nicholson (again) and Morgan Freeman (“The Bucket List”), Bruce Willis and Michelle Pfeiffer (“The Story of Us”) and Diane Keaton (“And So It Goes”).

He was that rare thing in Hollywood -- the famous director whose best-known movie titles could be recalled and recited by just about anyone.

In the dual media of movies and television in 2025, Rob Reiner had a stellar year. His career as a director came full circle with the “Spinal Tap” sequel “Spinal Tap: The End Continues,” which turned out to be his last movie.

On TV, he played a recurring character on three episodes of “The Bear,” his last TV role.

His work was a welcome part of all of our lives for more than 50 years. His work entertained us, moved us, and made us laugh. 

Now, he and his wife have been murdered. Although none of us knew him personally, we reacted to the news of his death as if we did.