“When Harry Met Sally” star Meg Ryan paid tribute to director Rob Reiner on December 17, sharing a photo of the pair dancing together while making the 1989 film.
“Oh how we will miss this man,” she began via Instagram. “Thank you, Rob and Michelle, for the way you believe in true love, in fairy tales, and in laughter. Thank you for your faith in the best in people, and for your profound love of our country. I have to believe that their story will not end with this impossible tragedy, that some good may come, some awareness raised… I don’t know, but my guess is that they would want that to be hopeful and humane, to be something that brings us all to a greater understanding of one another and to some peace.”
Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, were found dead inside their Brentwood, Calif. home on Sunday afternoon at 78 and 68, respectively. The Los Angeles Police Department said at the time that their deaths were being investigated as a homicide, but that they had not identified a suspect and no one had been detained.
“It is with profound sorrow that we announce the tragic passing of Michele and Rob Reiner,” a family spokesman said in a statement. “We are heartbroken by this sudden loss, and we ask for privacy during this unbelievably difficult time.”
Courtesy of Columbia Pictures/Everett Collection
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Billy Crystal, Ryan’s costar in “When Harry Met Sally,” wrote a statement as well, with other close friends of Reiner including Larry David, Albert Brooks and Martin Short.
“Absorbing all he had learned from his father Carl and his mentor Norman Lear, Rob Reiner not only was a great comic actor, he became a master storyteller,” the statement read in part. “There is no other director who has his range. From comedy to drama to ‘mockumentary’ to documentary, he was always at the top of his game. He charmed audiences. They trusted him. They lined up to see his films. His comedic touch was beyond compare, his love of getting the music of the dialogue just right, and his sharpening of the edge of a drama was simply elegant.”
The statement, which is written in full on The Associated Press, concluded with, “There is a line from one of Rob’s favorite films, ‘It’s a Wonderful Life,’ ‘Each man’s life touches so many other lives, and when he isn’t around, he leaves an awful hole, doesn’t he?’ You have no idea.”
“When Harry Met Sally” was among Reiner’s most beloved directorial efforts and is regarded as one of the best rom-coms of all time. The film, written by Nora Ephron, follows Crystal and Ryan as two friends who continue to have chance encounters over a 12-year period and eventually fall in love. Its dialogue and scenes — including one in Katz’s Delicatessen where Ryan fakes an orgasm — continue to permeate pop culture, with Crystal and Ryan reuniting for a Super Bowl commercial based on the scene last year.
Reiner’s directing credits also include “This Is Spinal Tap” and its recent sequel, “Stand by Me,” “The Princess Bride” and “A Few Good Men.”
From Variety US