Rob Reiner comes from a family steeped in Hollywood fame. His father Carl Reiner is the creator of the 1960’s Dick Van Dyke Show and his mother, Estelle Reiner, is described by The New York Times as the “matriarch of one of the leading families in American comedy.”
Estelle will forever be remembered for her dead-pan one-liner in When Harry Met Sally–directed by her son–where after Megan Ryan’s fake orgasm, she–as the elderly woman in the café–says, “I’ll have what she’s having.”
Reiner’s ex-wife, the late Penny Marshall–a prolific actor and director–is also part of a legendary Hollywood family. Her brother is the late Garry Marshall, whose talents touched many TV shows and films in a career spanning almost 60 years, and her daughter, Tracy–who was adopted by Reiner–is an actor credited with films like A League of Their Own.
Many people will remember Reiner, now 76, from his role as the affable hippie, Michael “Meathead” Stivic on the 1970’s hit TV series All in the Family. When Reiner wasn’t playing the comical adversary to the narrow-minded Archie Bunker, played by Carrol O’Connor, he was building his own family off screen.
First, there was the young Penny Marshall.
Before Marshall’s beloved Laverne was wearing tops with a cursive L monogramed to her clothes, she played a secretary on the Odd Couple, a show her big brother Garry was executive producer. Her character Myrna left the show to marry Sheldn, played by Rob Reiner who would also become her real-life husband in 1971.
Their paths almost crossed earlier, when Marshall auditioned for the role of Gloria Stivic, Reiner’s wife, on All in the Family, but the role went to Sally Struthers.
Though the two officially met in 1971, geographically, they had been close their entire lives. Reiner and Marshall grew up across the street from one another in their childhood Bronx homes.
In her 2014 memoir, My Mother Was Nuts, Marshall wrote, “It was a very wide street.”
Marshall went on to play the leading role in Laverne and Shirley, a character that was introduced in Happy Days–a show created by her big brother–as Fonzie’s love interest, and she directed her first movie, Jumpin’ Jack Flash in 1986, starring Whoopie Goldberg. Her director credits include the 1988 film Big with Tom Hanks, the Oscar-nominated film Awakenings in 1990 and 1992’s A League of Their Own that starred Geena Davis, Madonna and Marshall’s daughter, Tracy Reiner.
Adopted by Reiner, Tracy’s biological father is Michael “Mickey” Henry, the first husband of Marshall. Tracy was born in 1964 when Marshall was 19.
At the time, Marshall thought her teen pregnancy was a “major, life-changing mistake,” but deciding to build a family, her and Mickey married and had Tracy in 1946.
The young couple didn’t last and Marshall moved Tracy to Los Angeles, to live with her brother Garry, who at the time had writing credits with the Dick Van Dyke Show.
Garry helped her launch her career and when he became the executive producer of the Odd Couple, Marshall had her first big break.
Marshall and Reiner were married 10 years and despite divorcing, the two remained close. Tracy, who adopted Reiner’s last name, continued to look at him as a father, later as the grandfather to her five children.
In 2018, when Marshall died of complications from diabetes, shockwaves of her passing were felt around the world.
Heartbroken when he heard of Marshall’s death, Reiner posted a Tweet that said, “So sad about Penny.” He then wrote, “I loved Penny. I grew up with her. She was born with a great gift. She was born with a funnybone and the instinct of how to use it. I was very lucky to have lived with her and her funnybone. I will miss her.”
At the time of Marshall’s death, Reiner had been married to Michele Singer almost 30 years.
He met Singer on the set of When Harry Met Sally, which he directed and produced.
Reiner and Singer married in 1989 and have three children together, Jake, Nick, and Romy.
Reiner’s youngest daughter, Romy, is a dark-haired, freckle-faced beauty, who’s praised by fans that say she looks “flawless.”
In 2021, Romy posted a tribute to her dad on Father’s Day, “the man who I could talk to forever and also the man who I can sit in silence with and be perfectly content.”
It’s safe to say that Rob Reiner and Penny Marshall have had a huge influence on Hollywood.
Together and separately, they’ve been part of TV and film that the majority of us have seen and loved. Tell us what you think of this coupling and of Rob’s dedication to his family!
