Rob Reiner, 76, grew to become a breakout TV star from his function as Michael “Meatball” Stivic in hit 70s sitcom, All within the Household. That gig gave him a ardour to get behind the digicam – directing a few of the most beloved movies of our time together with The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally, Stand By Me, A Few Good Males and Distress.
Simply 16 years outdated when President John F. Kennedy was tragically assassinated, Reiner has spent his whole life questioning whodunnit. At the moment he claims to have solved America’s “biggest homicide thriller” after speaking with authors, witnesses and forensic specialists to create a 10-part podcast to coincide with the sixtieth anniversary of JFK’s assassination.
SENIOR PLANET talks homicide and flicks with Rob, the son of actress Estelle Reiner and comic, actor, author and director Carl Reiner:
Q: Was All within the Household your favourite performing function?
ROB: I suppose so – simply because it was such a fantastic expertise. However I additionally liked performing in The Wolf of Wall Road as a result of I started working with Martin Scorsese who’s a superb director.
Q: “I’ll have what she’s having,” was such a memorable line from When Harry Met Sally… Was that your favourite movie to direct?
ROB: Its onerous to select a favourite as a result of they’re like your youngsters – you’re keen on all of them, even the n’er do wells. However, of all of the movies I’ve made, the one which means essentially the most to me is Stand By Me, as a result of it displays my sensibility and character. Additionally, I made it at a time once I was, creatively, breaking away from the sorts of issues my father did, and doing one thing extra according to myself. So the truth that it was profitable validated me at the moment so I suppose it means essentially the most to me. However I really like plenty of the movies I’ve made.
Q: Spinal Faucet is such a cult basic. Are you getting the band again collectively for Spinal Faucet II?
ROB: Sure, the entire band shall be there plus Paul McCartney, Elton John, Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood are dedicated. I believe we’re additionally gonna have Ringo, Mick Fleetwood and Questlove. It could have been completed by now however the strike pressured us to push it to 2024.
Q: What’s your secret to ageing with perspective?
ROB: I believe that comes from my mom and father. My dad was 98 and my mom was 94 once they every handed away – they usually had been each energetic and dealing and doing what they liked proper up until the top. So, as they are saying, it’s within the genes.
Q: And likewise the key to your 36 yr marriage to photographer Michele Singer?
ROB: We’re good pals. That’s what it comes right down to. We get alongside simply nice and luxuriate in one another’s firm. We’re on the identical aspect politically however we found just lately that we additionally like working collectively in different methods.
Q: What do you do to maintain match?
ROB: I exercise with a coach thrice per week. I do a mixture of stretching, weights and aerobics, simply mixing them collectively, after which I simply attempt to stroll if I’ve time. At my age, I believe strolling day-after-day might be one of the best train you are able to do.
Q: You’ve at all times been an activist for a lot of causes. And had been even going to run in opposition to California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2006. Why didn’t you?
ROB: I thought of it however I had a household assembly – and my children had been very younger on the time. So all of us talked about it and had a vote within the household – and I solely acquired 40% in my family. So I figured if I can’t even carry my family – it’s not a good suggestion.
Q: What’s your strongest reminiscence of JFK’s tragic assassination?
ROB: I’ll always remember it. I used to be in my physics class in highschool and one of many college students walked in, whispered into my instructor’s ear, and he turned to us and mentioned: I’ve some horrible information. Everyone was surprised, and we had been despatched house from faculty. After which we went to our televisions and that’s all we did – watched TV to see what what was occurring…For People, this was a nationwide trauma of epic proportions. You’ll by no means ever neglect the place you might be and the way you felt at that time. The best way I liken it’s – let’s say you had a pricey liked one murdered – you wouldn’t cease till you came upon who did this and why.
Q: Has this been in your thoughts for the previous 60 years?
ROB: It’s not like wall to wall focus for 60 years since you solely study little bits and items – dribs and drabs that come out with a few years in between. So that you hear one thing and go, ‘Whoa, what does that imply by way of the entire image?’ So, until you’re steeped on this factor, you don’t know what this stuff imply.
“However, through the years, you begin to get an image of what all this implies and the way it all suits collectively. And that’s what we needed to do with the podcast – to place every part we’ve realized over a interval of 60 years into one 10-part podcast and inform the story in a means that folks can perceive. Individuals who weren’t alive on the time will perceive what occurred; individuals who had been will study different issues that they hadn’t identified about. And I believe, by the top, we do inform the total story of what occurred.
Q: What’s your pet idea?
ROB: Nicely, to start with, I can inform you for a indisputable fact that this was not completed by one individual – Lee Harvey Oswald was not the lone murderer. There have been others concerned. And it received’t make any sense until you hearken to the entire podcast the place we laid all of the groundwork and the muse for why we come to a sure conclusion.
However, by the tenth episode, we’re going to call who we suppose had been the shooters – individuals we all know that had been in Dallas that day – and we’ll title the the positions round Dealey Plaza the place they had been positioned as greatest we are able to. I’ve been to Dealey Plaza many instances and talked to everyone who was there that day, that’s nonetheless alive – forensic specialists, CIA brokers, FBI and Secret Service brokers. We’ve talked to everyone that was round at the moment. We will’t know definitively, however based mostly on all the knowledge we’ve gathered, it’s fairly conclusive.”
Rob Reiner and Soledad O’Brien’s 10-part podcast, “Who Killed JFK?” Is at the moment streaming on iheartradio at “https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-who-killed-jfk-127000428/?embed=true”
Gill Pringle started her profession as a rock columnist for fashionable British newspapers, touring the world with Madonna, U2 and Michael Jackson. Shifting to Los Angeles 27 years in the past, she interviews movie and TV personalities for prestigious UK shops, The Impartial, The i-paper and The Sunday Instances – and, after all, Senior Planet. A member of Critics Alternative Affiliation, BAFTA and AWFJ, she wrote the screenplay for 2016 Netflix household movie, The three Tails Film: A Mermaid Journey. An award-winning author, in 2021 she was honored by the Los Angeles Press Membership with 1st prize on the NAEJ Awards.
Picture Credit score (prime): Romy Reiner
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