Carl Reiner, whose long career as a writer, producer, director and actor brought forth comedy gems like “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” “The 2000 Year Old Man,” “Oh God,” “The Jerk,” and “All of Me,” died Monday night in his Beverly Hills home, according to reports. He was 98.
Reiner’s assistant told Variety that he died of natural causes.
He was one of show business’ best liked men, the tall, bald Reiner was a welcome face on the small and silver screens, in Caesar’s 1950s troupe, as the snarling, toupee-wearing Alan Brady of “The Dick Van Dyke Show” and in such films as “The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming” and “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.”
In recent years, he was part of the roguish gang in the “Ocean’s Eleven” movies starring George Clooney and appeared in documentaries including “Broadway: Beyond the Golden Age” and “If You’re Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast.”
Reiner’s wife Estelle died in 2008. The two had been married for almost 65 years and had three children — Annie, Lucas and Rob Reiner, a fellow filmmaker and frequent collaborator with his father.
Days before his death, Reiner shared this message on Twitter:
Nothing pleases me more than knowing that I have lived the best life possible by having met & marrying the gifted Estelle (Stella) Lebost---who partnered with me in bringing Rob, Annie & Lucas Reiner into to this needy & evolving world.
— carl reiner (@carlreiner) June 27, 2020
Almost as celebrated as Reiner’s prolific career was his longtime friendship with fellow comedy icon Mel Brooks, whom he met while working on Sid Caesar’s TV variety show, “Your Show of Shows.” The pair’s relationship was the subject of an in-depth profile in The Guardian earlier this year.
“I think Jews were naturally funny because they were low on the totem pole, so they made fun of the people higher on the pole,” Reiner quipped in front of a reporter during an afternoon in his home with Brooks.
“Oh yeah, that’s good,” Brooks said. “Carl’s very quick. He’s going to be 98 in March and he’s quicker than anybody.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
