The death of Rob Reiner touched me more deeply than most celebrity deaths, in large part because it's almost as if I know the family. My favorite TV show growing up was The Dick Van Dyke Show, which was created, and co-written, by Rob’s father Carl. (He also sometimes appeared in it, playing, apparently totally out of character, the draconian boss, Alan Brady.) And then, one decade later, I watched, with most of America, All in the Family, in which Rob played Archie Bunker’s liberal son-in-law.
A couple of years ago I watched Rob’s documentary about his longtime friend Albert Brooks, and heard them in interviews, talking about their days growing up in L.A. The day they met in high school, Brooks tried to impress Reiner by saying he knew Carl Reiner, to which Rob replied: “I do too. He’s my father.” My favorite story was the one Rob told of wanting, as a child, to change his name. He mentioned this to his mother, who understood that it must be difficult growing up in the shadow of such a famous man. She asked him what he wanted to change his name to. He said he wanted to change it to Carl.
Carl Reiner died five years ago at the age of 98. Dick Van Dyke just celebrated his 100th birthday. In a sane world, Rob Reiner would have many happy years ahead of him.
