Rita Wilson shared a lengthy tribute to Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner. The actress appeared in two of Rob Reiner’s films, North and The Story of Us, and co-starred with him in Sleepless in Seattle and Mixed Nuts.
“Yes, there is the work we did together — the films will be there to experience over and over again,” Wilson wrote in Variety. “What can’t ever be experienced again is running into Rob and Michele in the neighborhood and having a great laugh, or having dinner where Michele insists on having only one conversation.”
She added, “Nights like Rob and Michele inviting Sid Caesar, Mel Brooks, Larry Gelbart and his dad, Carl Reiner, to show their favorite clips from ‘Your Show of Shows’ and then talk about what it was like working together on that show. Or when they had ‘Bad Showbiz Night’ parties, where you were invited to bring your worst showbiz moment and share it with a room full of luminaries, who also braved exposing their own.”
Wilson remembered Michele as “a talented photographer who had a keen eye in her work and in her life” and noted that Rob “made history in multiple ways through his work.”
“Both of them made a difference in their civic contributions and actions,” Wilson wrote. “They made the world a better place. They loved their kids. Each one. They did everything right. They loved. They were loved.”
She concluded, “It’s hard to reconcile the goodness they offered to the world with this ending. It doesn’t make sense. But how they lived makes all the sense in the world.”
Wilson previously published a tribute on Instagram that celebrated Michele’s work as “an enormously talented photographer whose eye applied not only to what she captured on film but also to her own personal esthetic,” adding, “Her work as a producer focused on social justice and creating awareness of our world. She was wry, funny, opinionated but also reasonable and self reflective. She was so close to her sister and her family understanding the importance of close connection.”
Rob and Michele Reiner died on Sunday, Dec. 14 in a double homicide inside their Los Angeles home. The cause of death was revealed as “multiple sharp force injuries.” Their 32-year-old son, Nick, who has since been charged with their murders. Nick was charged with first-degree murder and appeared in court on Wednesday wearing a blue suicide-prevention gown and a waist shackle. His arraignment was postponed until Jan. 7 after his lawyer said it was “too early” to enter a plea in the “very, very complex” case.
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The Reiners had three children together. On Wednesday, their older son Jake, 34, and daughter Romy, 27, broke their silence to share their grief and thank supporters.
“Words cannot even begin to describe the unimaginable pain we are experiencing every moment of the day. The horrific and devastating loss of our parents, Rob and Michele Reiner, is something that no one should ever experience,” the siblings said in the statement obtained by Rolling Stone. “They weren’t just our parents; they were our best friends.”
