Harrison Held’s SceneAroundTown: Hollywood–Remembering The Reiner’s
On December 14th, one day after we celebrated the legendary Dick Van Dyke turning 100 the unspeakable happened when we lost Rob & Michele Reiner–two of Hollywood’s most beloved and respected people. We are still haunted by their tragic deaths.
I’ve been acquainted for many years with several members of the Reiner family, our paths crossing many times and the news hit me very very hard. I’m still recovering from my traumatic brain injury and this has been very difficult to write. Patriarch Carl Reiner was a hero to me. Thanks to Me TV while writing this, like comfort food, reruns of Carl’s The Dick Van Dyke show have been playing as well as reruns of All in The Family which introduced Rob Reiner to millions of us as a great actor. Rob was terrific on the show but his talents just weren’t in performing… For decades he entertained us with his directing and film making which he loved to do. I remember when I was at a screening of The Bucket List and Rob was sitting near me gaging the audience reactions… I could tell how happy he was when he made us laugh… and when we were moved. He was a truly gifted story teller.
To me the Reiner’s were legendary… What a talented and very nice family. Brother Lucas is a gifted artist and sister Annie is a great singer like her mother was. Carl used to say “She’s inarguably the world’s greatest Jazz singer/ psycho- analyst in the world”… I remember at one of Annie’s shows Carl’s best friend Mel Brooks gently heckling her from the audience… What a great night in Hollywood. As a child Rob had full access to his father’s office where he read scripts and learned the ins and outs of making great entertainment, He absorbed it all like a sponge. Rob was nice, talented, down to earth, hard working and ambitious and Michele Singer Reiner was a great photographer and his loving partner supportive of his creative and mutual humanitarian efforts.
Around 2008 my friend Marsha Groff was the publicist for the Backlot Film Festival and Carl was being honored. She asked me would I help out… Of course I did and it was a great night… Rob and Michele attended plus Penny Marshall, Dick Van Dyke, Rose Marie, Michele Lee, Stella Stevens, Marvin Paige, Kat Kramer and many other friends and fans. It was an incredible event. The evening began with a buffet reception. I said to Marsha “I can’t see our honoree Carl Reiner and guests standing in line at a buffet… is it okay to put plates of food on their table?” She agreed it was a good idea so I put together big platters for their table and it made me very happy to see them enjoying the food. A small accomplishment but a good move.
During the awards part of the evening someone on the dias said that when Rob was a little boy he was asked what he wanted to be when he grew up. “I want to be Carl” he had said. There was a warm collective sigh and gush of affection from the audience. With Dad Carl as his hero Rob grew up to be the kind, intelligent and talented man he was. The Reiner’s were Hollywood Royalty and well known to be good people. The next day I ran into Garry Marshall (another one of my heroes) when he was hosting one of his famous baseball games. We spoke through the chain link fence… I met Garry when I did a red carpet interview with him at a premier and over time he got to know me and was always super nice. I told him about Carl being honored the night before. I’ll never forget Garry smiling at me through the chain link fence and saying “You know Harrison, I like Carl”.
In 2018 Rob was honored with the inaugural Stanley Kramer “Social Justice” Award from the AAFCA (African American Film Critics Association) for his American political drama LBJ, as well as his body of work and social justice activism. That’s where I took the photo of him in this column. He was beaming and very happy. Kat Kramer says “I remember the Reiner family attended and sat with my mother and myself at the table… Michele produced many of his projects and supported Rob in his causes. Rob was a political and environmental activist. He founded the American Foundation for Equal Rights. At one point I was going to reach out to Rob to serve on the advisory board for Kat Kramer’s Films That Change The World”. Looking back on it, I wish I had. Rob always helped when I reached out for assistance”.
Yes, Rob and Michele Reiner were wonderful people and we will always remember them fondly as well as Carl and wife Estelle too. Around 2005 I was asked by Rumor Has It prop man Sean Mannion to be in his short film he was making to honor Rob called Hooray for Hollywood. It was an honor to be included with the likes of Jennifer Aniston, Mark Ruffalo, Shirley MacLaine, Mena Suvari , Richard Jenkins, etc Rest in Peace Michele & Rob – you will always be remembered.
Carol Burnett’s millions of fans are very happy that they can see her in her latest role as Norma on Palm Royale….I took the picture of Carol at her Hollywood Highschool square ceremony a few years back…Congratulations to Andrew Stevens on his great doc about his beloved Mom Stella Stevens… Stella was a dear friend of mine…we really miss her. The multi talented Allan Bernhoft had a nice visit with the legendary Stevie Wonder… Congratulations Allan on your new film Everyone Asked About You in which you are getting much acclaim….Congratulations to author/super fan Mark Malkoff on his great new book “Love Johnny Carson” written with David Ritz… Congratulations to Jacob Elordi on your amazing work in Frankenstein and to costumer Mikael Sharafyan on your AARPA career achievement award …… Finally congratulations to my good friend Karen Sharpe Kramer who joined her good friend Barbara Eden for a new documentary reminiscing about their memorable work together on the iconic I Dream of Jeannie… I’m including a picture of her as the scheming Sherie Belle on Bonanza when she guest starred with Leonard Nimoy. Thank you Me TV – I guess you are my muse – ha ha and very inspiring…
And speaking of inspiration I want to give a shout out to the memory of the late great Army Archerd who inspired me to be a columnist… Years ago I had hosted and produced a TV show called a Tribute to the Legendary Katharine Hepburn airing on Christmas Eve – my guests were Karen Sharpe Kramer (her late great husband Stanley Kramer directed Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner), Kat Kramer (KH’s God Daughter) and director Mark Rydell (On Golden Pond). Army kindly included us in his Christmas column sandwiched between Carl and Estelle Reiner celebrating their anniversary and what Julie Andrews , Elizabeth Tayor and other Stars were doing for the holidays… It was a nice piece of publicity that I’m still grateful for… I’ve made many of my dreams come true. I hope you do too.
A hot new doc… Director Mark Mori’s Baristas vs Billionaires tells the inside story of the Starbucks baristas’ union movement who have just voted to go on a national strike in 25 cities across the country in their fight for a fair contact. Produced by Monica Matulich, the film will be presented soon by Kat Kramer’s Films That Change The World” and SHEroesForChange. Kat says “This important film shines a light on courage and shows how collective action can help shift the balance of power back to working people. It’s a great film and I was able to get the legendary Susan Sarandon to narrate it”.
Happy healthy and safe 2026 and thank you for your support and good thoughts. HH
Photos courtesy HH, Martin Rayala,The Reiner Family, Christine Malkoff, Alice Manning, Alan Bernhoft, Jennifer Kramer, Instagram