Filmmaker Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer, were found dead on Sunday at their Brentwood. The news has shocked Hollywood to the core, as not only was Reiner a popular and respected figure with a long career of success, he was also behind some of the greatest American films ever made, particularly in the comedy and rom-com genres.

Though he rose to prominence as an actor in Norman Lear’s 1970s situation comedy All in the Family, Reiner transitioned into directing in the 1980s and unarguably achieved greater success. Reiner’s opening seven-film run of This Is Spinal Tap (1984), The Sure Thing (1985), Stand By Me (1986), The Princess Bride (1987), When Harry Met Sally (1989), Misery (1990) and A Few Good Men (1992) is regularly cited on social media among film fans and critics as one of the greatest hot streaks enjoyed by any director working in Hollywood.

His first film was the mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap, which follows the misadventures of fictional British rock band Spinal Tap — played by Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer — on a disastrous tour of the U.S. in support of their new album, Smell the Glove. In the “doc,” Reiner also plays director Marty Di Bergi, who interviews the band as things go from bad to worse. The film is credited with launching the mockumentary genre and is regarded as one of the greatest comedies ever made, and several phrases from the film — such as putting things “up to eleven” — still permeate pop culture.

This Is Spinal Tap spawned a thousand imitators, was referenced to oblivion in other art and also led to a Reiner-directed sequel in 2025, Spinal Tap II: The End Continues.

Flush from the critical success of This Is Spinal Tap in 1984, Reiner directed the romantic road movie The Sure Thing, starring rising actors John Cusack and Daphne Zuniga, which was released a year later. The film told the story of two college students traveling across country over the Christmas holidays. Sure Thing was a critical and financial success and was praised for applying the traditional rom-com format to a film involving teenagers in an age when films like Porky’s were far more pervasive and influential.

Reiner’s streak continued in 1986 with Stand by Me, the feature adaptation of Stephen King’s novella The Body. The film, which starred rising actors Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman and Jerry O’Connell, told the story of four boys in 1959 Maine who decide to look for the dead body of a missing boy. The film, which was a big hit with critics and was a huge success at the box office, earned an Academy Award nomination for best adapted screenplay and secured Reiner his first Golden Globe nomination for best director. Since its release, Stand by Me has endured as a classic and like This Is Spinal Tap has been referenced in other popular films and TV series.

In 1987, Reiner again struck gold with the fantasy comedy The Princess Bride, another film that has seemingly only become more popular over time and that has had a lasting legacy on pop culture. The movie, an adaptation of William Goldman’s book The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern’s Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure, The “Good Parts” Version, featured an ensemble cast of actors and comedians including Cary Elwes, Robin Wright, Mandy Patinkin, Chris Sarandon, Christopher Guest, Wallace Shawn, Peter Falk, a very young Fred Savage and Billy Crystal, as well as the wrestler André the Giant in a hugely memorable role as Fezzik. Once again, Reiner’s film was responsible for a number of phrases to enter the lexicon, including Patinkin’s Inigo Montoya’s line “Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die” and Shawn’s Vizzini’s “Inconceivable!” and Elwes’ Westley’s “As you wish.”

By now a dominant force in Hollywood, Reiner’s purple patch continued in 1989 with When Harry Met Sally, a film that is widely considered one of Hollywood’s greatest rom-coms. Written by Nora Ephron and starring Meg Ryan, Billy Crystal, Carrie Fisher and Bruno Kirby, When Harry Met Sally tells the story of Harry (Crystal) and Sally (Ryan) and their friendship, which evolves from platonic to something more over the span of 12 years. A massive success, the film made $92.8 million at the box office and Ephron was nominated for an Oscar for her script. When Harry Met Sally also became a pop culture phenomenon. Most notably, the fake orgasm scene that was shot in New York’s Katz Deli made the food spot a popular tourist attraction.

Reiner returned to Stephen King for inspiration for his 1990 movie Misery, adapting the author’s 1987 novel of the same name. Misery starred James Caan as a famous writer who is held captive by a crazed fan played by an incredible Kathy Bates, a performance that would win her a well-deserved Academy Award for best actress.

A Few Good Men would bookend what many regard as Reiner’s unprecedented opening run as a director. Released in 1992, the film was another adaptation of a popular book, this time John Grisham’s military court legal drama. A Few Good Men starred Tom Cruise as a fresh-faced JAG Corps lawyer going up against a terrifying Jack Nicholson playing a USMC colonel responsible for the U.S. Navy’s Guantánamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba. Elevating the courtroom scenes, Reiner helped Nicholson to one of his career best performances and the film was nominated for four Oscars, including best picture and best supporting actor for Nicholson.

In the 1990s, 2000s and beyond, Reiner became more involved in politics, so much so he became one of the most prominent Hollywood liberals in the public conscience, and he was parodied as such in South Park. His film work in this period was still prolific but didn’t meet with the same critical praise as his early, still the filmmaker was able to produce a few gems, including the Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman buddy comedy The Bucket List in 2007. The film followed two terminally ill friends checking off things they’ve always wanted to do before they died. Though it received a lukewarm reception from critics, The Bucket List made a $175 million at the global box office, and in keeping with Reiner’s uncanny ability to penetrate the zeitgeist, the movie popularized the concept of the “bucket list.”