From left are Rob, Annie, and Lucas Reiner during a ribbon-cutting ceremony in July 2022 for an exhibit on Carl Reiner at the National Comedy Center in Jamestown. The three siblings shared memories of their father, who passed away in 2020. P-J file photo

It’s a sad day in the entertainment world.

Renowned director and filmmaker Rob Reiner is dead at 78.

According to The Associated Press, Reiner is known for classics like “The Princess Bride” and “When Harry Met Sally …”. He and his wife, Michele Singer, were found dead Sunday at their Los Angeles home. Authorities are investigating it as an apparent homicide. Reiner, son of comedy legend Carl Reiner, became a major Hollywood figure with hits like “This Is Spinal Tap.” He co-founded Castle Rock Entertainment, which produced successes like “Seinfeld.” Reiner was also a passionate liberal activist. His legacy includes a blend of comedy, drama, and advocacy, leaving a lasting impact on film and culture.

Reiner’s death will leave an indelible mark as he was a trailblazing filmmaker.

In July 2022 Reiner visited the National Comedy Center for the exhibit honoring the legacy of Carl Reiner, his father. Carl Reiner’s family toured the Comedy Center and participated in the ceremony. Rob, Lucas, and Annie Reiner also shared memories from their father’s prestigious career.

NCC unveiled the exhibit featuring iconic moments of Carl Reiner’s career in celebration of his 100th birthday. Carl Reiner passed away in 2020.

According to NCC Executive Director Journey Gunderson, Reiner consistently worked from a place of conviction and integrity.

“Together, he and Michele were a force–combining comedy, creativity, and public engagement into their shared endeavors. They were as committed to making a difference as they were to their careers, a rare combination that makes this loss feel all the more profound,” Gunderson said. “When visiting us to pay tribute to his father, Rob did so with reverence, humility, kindness, and a steadfast, enthusiastic intellect in matters of comedy and humanity. We are grateful to have known them both and for the impact they had on all of us.”

After starting out as a writer for “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour,” the AP noted, Reiner’s breakthrough came when he was, at age 23, cast in Norman Lear’s “All in the Family” as Archie Bunker’s liberal son-in-law, Michael “Meathead” Stivic. But by the 1980s, Reiner began as a feature film director, churning out some of the most beloved films of that, or any, era. His first film, the largely improvised 1984 cult classic “This Is Spinal Tap,” remains the quintessential mockumentary.

He was a legacy on and off screen, The AP said. For the next four decades, Reiner, a warm and gregarious presence on screen and an outspoken liberal advocate off it, remained a constant fixture in Hollywood. The production company he co-founded, Castle Rock Entertainment, launched an enviable string of hits, including “Seinfeld” and “The Shawshank Redemption.” By the turn of the century, its success rate had fallen considerably, but Reiner revived it, and this fall released the long-in-coming sequel “Spinal Tap II: The End Continues.”

All the while, Reiner was one of the film industry’s most passionate Democrat activists, regularly hosting fundraisers and campaigning for liberal issues. He was co-founder of the American Foundation for Equal Rights, which challenged in court California’s ban on same-sex marriage, Proposition 8. He also chaired the campaign for Prop 10, a California initiative to fund early childhood development services with a tax on tobacco products.

A law enforcement official told The AP that a son of Rob Reiner, Nick Reiner, was taken into custody Monday after the deaths of the director-actor and his wife at their home in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Fire Department responded to a medical aid request Sunday afternoon and discovered a 78-year-old man and a 68-year-old woman deceased inside. Detectives are investigating it as an apparent homicide.