By Desire Emmanuel with Agency Reports
Hollywood actor and director, Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele, were found dead in their Los Angeles, US home on Sunday, and police are investigating the circumstances as an apparent homicide, authorities said.
While police declined to publicly identify the two people found deceased, Mayor Karen Bass and California Governor Gavin Newsom each released statements confirming that Reiner, 78, and his wife, Michele, 68, had died.
“This is a devastating loss for our city and our country. Rob Reiner’s contributions reverberate throughout American culture and society, and he has improved countless lives through his creative work and advocacy fighting for social and economic justice,” the mayor wrote.
The Los Angeles Police Department issued a statement on social media calling the case an “apparent homicide.” Police had not detained anyone for questioning nor identified a suspect as of Sunday night, Deputy Chief Alan Hamilton told a press conference.
LAPD patrol officers dispatched to the home late Sunday afternoon discovered two bodies inside the residence. Emergency personnel had first responded to a call for medical aid, a city fire department official said earlier.
Detectives of the LAPD’s robbery-homicide unit were waiting for a search warrant before entering the home to conduct a thorough search and full-fledged investigation of the premises, Hamilton said.
As an actor, Reiner was best remembered for his role on the 1970s CBS television comedy hit “All in the Family” as Mike “Meathead” Stivic, the son-in-law and liberal foil of the lead character, working-class bigot Archie Bunker, played by Carroll O’Connor.
The role garnered Reiner two Emmy awards for outstanding supporting actor.
Reiner went on to have a prolific Hollywood career as a director, starting with “This is Spinal Tap,” a 1984 mockumentary following the trials and tribulations of a fictional hard rock band on tour.
Reiner directed nearly two dozen films in all, including classics such as “Stand by Me,” a 1986 coming-of-age drama about four boys who set out to find the body of a missing youth, as well as 1989’s “When Harry Met Sally …,” starring Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan.
Reiner’s wife was at one time a photographer who captured the image of Donald Trump that appears on the cover of his book “Trump: The Art of the Deal.”
