Comedy Star Carl Reiner dies at 98

The prolific writer, comedian, director and actor Carl Reiner has died at age 98 of natural causes.

The US Comedy star also directed several films including Steve Martin vehicles The Jerk (1979) and All of Me (1984).

He was in 2001’s Ocean’s Eleven and its two sequels as conman Saul Bloom, and had a double act with Mel Brooks.

His career traversed seventy years and every medium from theater and recordings to television and movies, including directing Oh, God!, three collaborations with Steve Martin and a role as an elderly con man in the revived Ocean’s Eleven series.

Reiner won nine Emmy Awards, including five for The Dick Van Dyke Show, Variety notes, and he also won a Grammy with his frequent collaborator Mel Brooks for Best Spoken Comedy Album in 1999.

Carl reiner is survived by three children, including Rob Reiner, director of several hit movies and known for playing Archie Bunker’s son-in-law Meathead in the hit TV comedy All in the Family. Reiner’s wife of 64 years, Estelle, died in 2008.

Rob Reiner on Twitter mourned his father’s passing, saying, “As I write this my heart is hurting… He was my guiding light.”

Last night my dad passed away. As I write this my heart is hurting. He was my guiding light.

— Rob Reiner (@robreiner) June 30, 2020

Reiner also starred on Broadway and wrote many books, including several for children.

He was still doing voice roles in his 90s and had a key role in a documentary about people who keep busy into their tenth decade, titled If You’re Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast.

Reiner once wrote in his book My Anecdotal Life: “Inviting people to laugh at you while you are laughing at yourself is a good thing to do. You may be the fool but you are the fool in charge.”