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Carl Reiner, beloved comedy legend, is dead at 98

Reiner died of natural causes on Monday night at his Beverly Hills home.

Adam Rosenberg

on June 30, 2020

Carl Reiner, beloved comedy legend, is dead at 98

Carl Reiner The Paley Honors: A Special Tribute to Television's Comedy Legends, Inside, Beverly Wilshire, Los Angeles, USA - 21 Nov 2019 Credit: Michael Buckner/Variety/Shutterstock

The legendary producer, writer, director, and actor Carl Reiner is dead at 98.

Reiner died of natural causes on Monday night at his Beverly Hills home, Variety reported. (TMZ first broke the news on Tuesday.) His passing marks the end of a wildly successful career that included timeless collaborations with Mel Brooks and indelible contributions across the board to TV and film.

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Reiner created (and produced and wrote and appeared on) The Dick Van Dyke Show. He directed bona fide Hollywood favorites like Steve Martin's The Jerk and The Man With Two Brains, as well as the classic Martin-Lily Tomlin comedy All of Me. He was also an actor, appearing in hits like It's a Mad, Mad, Mad World.

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Even younger audiences are familiar with Reiner's work. He was Saul Bloom in the Ocean's Eleven trilogy, and he voiced a toy rhino – Carl Reinerocerous – in Toy Story 4, a role he reprised for the Disney+ series, Forky Asks a Question. He also made more recent TV appearances in Family Guy, American Dad, Parks and Recreation, and Bob's Burgers.

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Reiner came up during an era of comedy when punching down wasn't quite so popular. It's a fact that was reflected again and again in his work, which may be best characterized as wholesome irreverence.

He was also, by most accounts, just a good person. Not because of any particular philanthropic work; more for the way he carried himself and his platform in the world. You can see the evidence of that splashed all throughout Reiner's prolific Twitter presence and public persona in general. In recent years especially, he embraced his role as a vocal critic of Donald Trump and the ideas he stands for.

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Reiner is survived by his three children, Annie, Lucas, and Rob (as in famed director, Rob Reiner). All three came from his marriage to Estelle Lebost, who died in 2008. The two married in 1943.

News of Reiner's death was immediately met online by an outpouring of grief for the fallen icon and sympathy for his family, as well as fond reminiscences of happier times.

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Topics Celebrities

Adam Rosenberg

Adam Rosenberg is a Senior Games Reporter for Mashable, where he plays all the games. Every single one. From AAA blockbusters to indie darlings to mobile favorites and browser-based oddities, he consumes as much as he can, whenever he can.Adam brings more than a decade of experience working in the space to the Mashable Games team. He previously headed up all games coverage at Digital Trends, and prior to that was a long-time, full-time freelancer, writing for a diverse lineup of outlets that includes Rolling Stone, MTV, G4, Joystiq, IGN, Official Xbox Magazine, EGM, 1UP, UGO and others.Born and raised in the beautiful suburbs of New York, Adam has spent his life in and around the city. He's a New York University graduate with a double major in Journalism and Cinema Studios. He's also a certified audio engineer. Currently, Adam resides in Crown Heights with his dog and his partner's two cats. He's a lover of fine food, adorable animals, video games, all things geeky and shiny gadgets.