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Carl Reiner dead at 98: Ocean’s Eleven star passes away at home

Hollywood legend Carl Reiner has passed away at home of natural causes, age 98, his assistant has confirmed.

2 min read
July 1, 2020 - 6:53AM
Ocean's Twelve – Trailer

Hollywood legend Carl Reiner has passed away at home of natural causes, age 98.

Reiner’s assistant Judy Nagy confirmed the news to Variety after reports he had died in Beverly Hills with his family close by.

The producer, director, comedian and Hollywood legend had won a Grammy award and nine Emmy’s over seven decades in the industry.

One of his final messages posted on Twitter was a sweet tribute to his wife and three children, Rob, Annie and Lucas Reiner.

“Nothing pleases me more than knowing that I have lived the best life possible by having met & marrying the gifted Estelle (Stella) Lebost---who partnered with me in bringing Rob, Annie & Lucas Reiner into to this needy & evolving world,” he wrote.

Reiner was born in The Bronx, New York to parents Bessie Mathias and Irving Reiner, a watchmaker, on 20 March 1922.

His father was an Austrian Jewish immigrant and his mother was a Romanian Jewish immigrant, IMDB reports.

The prolific comedian, actor, screenwriter and director’s career started with groundbreaking work in live television classics such as Your Show of Shows.

He made a best-selling album with Mel Brooks called 2000 Years with Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks which earned a Grammy nomination and ignited his writing career.

He first became a director on The Dick Van Dyke Show and went on to direct comedies, Oh God, with George Burns in 1977 and The Jerk, with Steve Martin in 1979, gaining more than 400 credits in his career.

He was awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2000 and in 2001 starred in the remake of Ocean’s Eleven along with the two sequels, Ocean’s Twelve and Ocean’s Thirteen.

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Cast members of the film 'Ocean's Thirteen' pose with producer Jerry Weintraub. They are from left Carl Reiner, Elliot Gould, George Clooney, Al Pacino, Weintraub, Andy Garcia and Ellen Barkin. Picture: AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian.
Cast members of the film 'Ocean's Thirteen' pose with producer Jerry Weintraub. They are from left Carl Reiner, Elliot Gould, George Clooney, Al Pacino, Weintraub, Andy Garcia and Ellen Barkin. Picture: AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian.
Actor George Clooney with Eddie Jemison, Bernie Mac, Elliott Gould, Scott Caan, Carl Reiner, Shaobo Qin, Brad Pitt, Casey Affleck, Don Cheadle and Matt Damon in a scene from film "Ocean's Twelve".
Actor George Clooney with Eddie Jemison, Bernie Mac, Elliott Gould, Scott Caan, Carl Reiner, Shaobo Qin, Brad Pitt, Casey Affleck, Don Cheadle and Matt Damon in a scene from film "Ocean's Twelve".

He was an avid Twitter user and had frequently posted updates from his life and memories during lockdown, including that he was making a book of his family’s artwork.

He was a vocal critic of President Trump and recently tweeted the Michelle Obama would be his pick for vice president as Joe Biden’s running mate.

Before his years in the entertainment industry, Reiner, a Georgetown University graduate, served his country in World War II, an experience documented in the 2018 PBS documentary “GI Jews: Jewish Americans in World War II.”

“I was sleeping on an upper bed when I heard a voice from the other side of the room,” Reiner told The Post at the time, slipping into a thick Southern accent.

“‘Reiner? Are you a Jewwww?’ I said, ‘Yes, why do you ask?’ He says, ‘Do you know a man named Goldfarb?’ I said, ‘No, where is he from?’ He says, ‘He’s from Shreveport. He owns a grocery store. He ain’t a bad guy. You don’t know him?’ He figured all Jews knew each other.

Actor, singer Bette Midler with film director Carl Reiner.
Actor, singer Bette Midler with film director Carl Reiner.

In the foreword of his 2012 memoir, “I Remember Me,” actor and comedian Billy Crystal wrote that Reiner “is not just a funny man who has made us laugh in one form or another for a very long time.”

“He has been comedy’s North Star. A constant. I’ve always looked at his career as one of the best ever and most important,” wrote Crystal who called Reiner “a nice genius” and “one of the great sketch comedians of all time.”

Social media was flooded with tributes to the actor

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Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity-life/carl-reiner-dead-at-98/news-story/8538b67592fc3d022d94eea661121c5c