DISBELIEF

Rob Reiner’s Oldest Hollywood Friend in Denial About Murder

Albert Brooks and Rob Reiner were friends for more than 60 years.

The shock of Rob Reiner’s murder continues to reverberate for the late director’s closest friends.

Actor and comedian Albert Brooks said in a new CBS News special that he is still in utter disbelief that Reiner is gone.

“Rob was my oldest friend,” he said on the program. “It’s that simple. He’s the person that I’ve known the longest. Met him when I was 14 years old. So, I’m still in that not believing it stage.”

Reiner, 78, and his wife, Michele, 70, were found murdered at their Brentwood home on Sunday.

Their son, Nick Reiner, is the only suspect apprehended for the slayings. His parents’ bodies were discovered by his younger sister, Romy, 28. Reiner, 32, who struggled with addiction for much of his life, had also been diagnosed with schizophrenia and had been in a specialized rehab program to address the issues, per a new report from TMZ on Friday.

Reiner and Brooks came up together in the 1970s and collaborated on several films in the 80s.

In 2023, Reiner directed and produced an HBO documentary about Brooks’ comedy career, Albert Brooks: Defending My Life. Having met in high school, Reiner has shed light on his friend’s career evolution over the years—including Brooks’ foray into comedy. “Albert wanted to be a serious actor,” Reiner said. “He went to Carnegie Tech in Pittsburgh for its drama department, and he was talking about doing all this dramatic theater. We’d say, ‘Albert, you’re funny. What you do best is make people laugh.’ He fought that for the longest time, and finally, he started doing it and liking it.”

When asked why he wanted to make a documentary about Brooks, Reiner told CBS, “I knew all the things that Albert had done, I knew how brilliant he was. I wanted” other people “to know.”

Brooks was one of the longtime friends to sign a joint statement this week, honoring Reiner and wife, Michele. “Rob Reiner not only was a great comic actor, he became a master storyteller,” the statement reads, per The Associated Press. There is no other director who has his range. … He charmed audiences. They trusted him. They lined up to see his films.”

It concludes, “We were their friends, and we will miss them forever.”

CBS News: Rob Reiner - Scenes from a Life, a one-hour special, will be broadcast Sunday at 8:30 p.m. ET on CBS and will stream on Paramount+.

Eboni Boykin-PattersonEntertainment Reporter

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