Rubrique « Les faits divers désolants »

Beloved Hollywood director/actor/producer Rob Reiner and his wife Michele were murdered by their adult son Nick at their Los Angeles home today, according to multiple reports. Per TMZ, the couple appeared to have “suffered lacerations consistent with a knife.”

The Los Angeles Police Department and Robbery Homicide Division are investigating. Nick Reiner reportedly struggled for years with drug addiction and homelessness.

Reiner, 78, was the son of legendary writer/actor/director Carl Reiner. He starred from 1971-1978 as the lovable Michael “Meathead” Stivic on All in the Family, and went on to direct such beloved films as Stand by Me, The Princess Bride, A Few Good Men, and When Harry Met Sally. But it was his stewardship of the pioneering 1984 rock’n’roll mockumetary This Is Spinal Tap that cemented his place in the hearts of music fans.

Reiner directed, co-wrote, and starred as the film’s fictional director, Mary DiBergi, who chronicled a disastrous album launch and U.S. tour by fading U.K. rockers Spinal Tap (Michael McKean, Christopher Guest and Harry Shearer). The film’s spot-on portrayal of rock’n’roll behavior and clichés became the stuff of legend — memorized on tour buses by bands all over the world and its dialog recited like Bible verse for decades ever since. [ Spin ]