PinnedUpdated Dec. 15, 2025, 3:31 a.m. ETTributes rolled in late Sunday for Rob Reiner — whose warm, empathetic work as a director and actor made him a pillar of Hollywood for decades — as investigators worked to determine what led to the deaths of Mr. Reiner and his wife, Michele.The police said they were investigating “an apparent homicide” after the couple were found dead in their home in the upscale Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles on Sunday afternoon. Their family confirmed the deaths through a spokesman.Mr. Reiner, 78, was the son of a pioneering television comedian. He became a popular sitcom actor himself before directing a slate of beloved films including “This Is Spinal Tap,” “When Harry Met Sally …” and “The Princess Bride.” He went on to become a force in California and national Democratic politics, championing gay marriage and early childhood development programs.Los Angeles Police Department officials said that officers responded to a death investigation at the Reiners’ home at about 3:40 p.m. on Sunday and found two bodies. Police officials said on Sunday night that investigators were trying to get a search warrant for the home, and they did not identify a suspect.Late Sunday night, Brentwood was quiet and the streets were empty except for a cluster of police cars and news vans near the Reiners’ home. The authorities had both ends of the block cordoned off with yellow police tape.Here’s what else to know:Reiner’s work: As an actor and director, Mr. Reiner’s Hollywood career spanned decades, including an eight-year run on “All in the Family,” a 1970s sitcom. More recently, Mr. Reiner had cameos in television shows like “New Girl” and “The Bear.” The actor Sean Astin, speaking on behalf of SAG-AFTRA, called Mr. Reiner “one of the most significant figures in the history of film and television.”Democrats mourn: Democratic leaders including former President Barack Obama, Gov. Gavin Newsom of California and Mayor Karen Bass of Los Angeles said they were heartbroken by the loss of Mr. Reiner and his wife. Mr. Reiner will be remembered not only for his films and television but also “for his extraordinary contribution to humanity,” Mr. Newsom said.Brentwood’s identity: The Brentwood neighborhood has long felt like more of a small town unto itself than a part of the sprawl of Los Angeles. Its natural beauty and luxurious amenities make the area popular among movie stars, politicians and executives.Rachel Parsons contributed reporting from Los Angeles, and Derrick Bryson Taylor and Julia Jacobs from New York.Dec. 15, 2025, 3:17 a.m. ETRob Reiner in 2012. He helped overturn Proposition 8, California’s ban on gay marriage.Credit...Kevork Djansezian/Getty ImagesFrom seeking to limit chain stores in Malibu, Calif. to helping to overturn Proposition 8, California’s short-lived ban on gay marriage, Rob Reiner was a well-known champion of liberal causes, and Democratic Party leaders on Sunday mourned the news that he and his wife, Michele, had died at their home in Los Angeles.Former President Barack Obama said that he and his wife, Michelle, were “heartbroken,” and that Mr. Reiner’s legacy went far beyond his prolific career as a film and television actor and director.“Beneath all of the stories he produced was a deep belief in the goodness of people — and a lifelong commitment to putting that belief into action,” Mr. Obama wrote in a statement on X. “Together, he and his wife lived lives defined by purpose. They will be remembered for the values they championed and the countless people they inspired.”Mayor Karen Bass of Los Angeles called their deaths a tragedy that would reverberate through Hollywood and the civic fabric of California. She praised Mr. Reiner for helping to create a statewide early childhood development initiative and for being an advocate for the L.G.B.T.Q. community.Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that it was “hard to think of anyone more remarkable and excellent in every field and endeavor they pursued.” She said on X that Mr. Reiner “cared deeply about people and demonstrated that in his civic activities,” noting that he supported the state’s First 5 initiative, which aims to improve the well-being of young children and their families, and fought against Proposition 8.Gov. Gavin Newsom of California described Mr. Reiner as “the big-hearted genius behind so many of the classic stories we love,” whose empathy added depth and timelessness to his work. He added that Mr. Reiner’s political advocacy “made California a better place.”Dec. 15, 2025, 2:29 a.m. ETRachel ParsonsReporting from Los AngelesIt’s nearing midnight, and the area around the Reiners’ Brentwood home is still and quiet. About half a dozen police personnel are milling about near a mobile command post blocking the street on one side of the residence.Dec. 15, 2025, 2:21 a.m. ETReporters gathering near Rob Reiner’s residence in Brentwood, Los Angeles, on Sunday.Credit...Ethan Swope/Associated PressBrentwood, where Rob and Michele Reiner lived, is a wealthy neighborhood of Los Angeles that has long felt like a small town — albeit one where residents tend to be much more famous than elsewhere.Mansions are tucked discreetly behind tall hedges and along winding hillside streets. A neighborhood hub is the Brentwood Country Mart, a shopping center that opened in 1948 and was built to look like a red barn. Its tenants include Goop, Gwyneth Paltrow’s lifestyle brand, and a market and restaurant that offers caviar service.A range of Hollywood stars, media executives and politicians have called Brentwood home, including Ms. Paltrow, LeBron James, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bob Iger, Disney’s chief executive. Former Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, own a home there.Rick Caruso, a billionaire developer of high-end shopping centers and hotels, made an unsuccessful run for mayor in 2022 inspired largely by the homelessness he saw on the streets near his Brentwood home. (He lost that race to Mayor Karen Bass but has encouraged speculation that he could run again next year, in the aftermath of the devastating Palisades fire, which prompted evacuations in Brentwood.)Perhaps because of its allure for celebrities, Brentwood has also been a setting for scandals over the decades.O.J. Simpson lived in a Brentwood mansion when his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, was murdered in 1994. Even after he was acquitted, the community there did not welcome him back.And the Brentwood Spanish colonial-style house where Marilyn Monroe died in 1962 was the subject of a lengthy battle. In 2023, the Los Angeles City Council voted to spare the home from demolition. In September, a judge denied a request from the house’s current owners to raze it.Dec. 15, 2025, 1:52 a.m. ETThe actor Sean Astin, president of the film and TV actors’ union known as SAG-AFTRA, called Rob Reiner “one of the most significant figures in the history of film and television.” Reiner had been a member of the union for nearly 60 years, Astin said.“Our entertainment community and audiences around the world will mourn deeply,” he said. “On a personal note, so many of Mr. Reiner’s films and performances made me think, made me emotional and especially they made me laugh really hard. That’s how I will remember him.”Dec. 15, 2025, 1:31 a.m. ETOne of Rob Reiner’s final interviews addressed the current political moment. Speaking on MS NOW in October, he criticized the Trump administration’s efforts to influence entertainment and media companies, and drew comparisons between the administration’s actions and the era of McCarthyism. “That feels quaint compared to what’s going on in America right now,” Reiner said.Dec. 15, 2025, 1:11 a.m. ETRob Reiner, right, directing Tom Cruise in “A Few Good Men,” which was released in 1992.Credit...Columbia Pictures, via Getty ImagesRob Reiner was a son of Carl Reiner, who created and produced “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” and Estelle Reiner, an actress perhaps best known for the line “I’ll have what she’s having” in her son’s romantic comedy “When Harry Met Sally…”He was born in the Bronx and, from an early age, was influenced by his parents and their famous friends, including Sid Caesar and Mel Brooks.With that rich lineage, Mr. Reiner started in television in the 1960s, playing small roles like that of a delivery boy in a 1967 episode of “Batman.” That same year, he played an apprentice in an episode of “The Andy Griffith Show.”At age 23, Norman Lear cast him as Michael Stivic, better known as “Meathead,” the liberal son-in-law of the close-minded racist Archie Bunker in “All in the Family.” That show, Mr. Lear’s most famous sitcom, ran from 1971 to 1979 on CBS. Mr. Reiner won two Emmy Awards for the role.Mr. Reiner, left, with Sally Struthers, Jean Stapleton and Carroll O’Connor on the set of “All in the Family” in 1978.Credit...Ron Eisenberg/Michael Ochs Archives, via Getty ImagesMr. Reiner later followed in his father’s footsteps by becoming a director. He directed a host of hit movies, including “This Is Spinal Tap” (1984), “Stand by Me” (1986), “The Princess Bride” (1987) and “When Harry Met Sally…” (1989). His film “A Few Good Men,” a legal thriller, was nominated for best picture at the 1993 Academy Awards.While some in Hollywood might consider it a burden to have famous parents, Mr. Reiner deeply admired his father. “My father thought, ‘Oh, my God, this poor kid is worried about being in the shadow of a famous father,’” Reiner said in an interview with “60 Minutes” this year. “And he says, ‘What do you want to change your name to?’ And I said, ‘Carl.’ I just wanted to be like him.”Mr. Reiner, a Democrat, also got involved in politics. He spearheaded a successful 1998 ballot initiative in California that increased taxes on tobacco to pay for early childhood programs. He argued that the tax hike would help reduce smoking and establish services for children across the state in their formative years. He was so instrumental to the cause that it was known as the “Reiner Initiative,” and the funding established First 5 programs across the state that still exist today.Mr. Reiner in 1998, soliciting contributions for a California ballot initiative to tax tobacco to pay for early childhood programs.Credit...Reed Saxon/Associated PressIn 2006, Mr. Reiner was less successful at the polls. Voters rejected an initiative he led that would have raised income taxes on top earners to pay for half-day preschool for all 4-year-olds in California. Mr. Reiner, who led the First 5 state commission at the time, faced criticism that he had misused First 5 funds to promote universal preschool while his new initiative was on the ballot.Two decades ago, Mr. Reiner served as a liberal Hollywood counterweight to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, joining forces with labor unions to oppose the governor’s efforts to restrict the unions’ political activities. He was often discussed as a potential Democratic candidate for governor but ultimately decided not to run.Dec. 15, 2025, 12:55 a.m. ETThe family of Rob and Michele Reiner confirmed their deaths in a statement. “We are heartbroken by this sudden loss, and we ask for privacy during this unbelievably difficult time,” it said.Dec. 15, 2025, 12:47 a.m. ETYellow police tape has blocked off the street where Rob Reiner and his wife lived in the Brentwood neighborhood of West Los Angeles. A number of news cameras and trucks are positioned along the residential street.Credit...Ethan Swope/Associated PressDec. 15, 2025, 12:37 a.m. ETRachel ParsonsReporting from Los AngelesAt a news conference Sunday night, Alan Hamilton, deputy chief of the Los Angeles Police Department, said it was conducting a “death investigation” but would not release any information about the victims until the L.A. County coroner does so. Hamilton said the police had not identified a suspect and that no one was in custody. He said that investigators were trying to obtain a search warrant to enter the home.Credit...Ethan Swope/Associated PressDec. 15, 2025, 12:20 a.m. ETGov. JB Pritzker of Illinois said that he and his wife, MK, cherished the time they spent with Rob Reiner, and his wife, Michele, and were devastated to learn of their deaths. “Titans of the industry in every sense, the Reiners’ legacy is secured through works of art that impacted generations,” Pritzker said in a statement.Dec. 15, 2025, 12:19 a.m. ETMayor Karen Bass of Los Angeles confirmed the deaths of Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele, in a statement. She called their deaths a tragedy that is reverberating not only through Hollywood but also through the civic fabric of California. She praised Reiner for helping to create a statewide early childhood development initiative and for being an advocate for the L.G.B.T.Q. community.