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As a towering force in Hollywood, Rob Reiner made films that didn’t just reshape modern cinema but became the montage to countless lives, and today Tinseltown is in shock and mourning after he and his wife Michele were brutally killed In their Los Angeles home

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As a towering force in Hollywood, filmmaker Rob Reiner’s movies didn’t just reshape modern cinema they became the montage to countless people’s lives.

Following his and his wife, Michele’s brutal murders in their Los Angeles home on Sunday, Tinseltown is in shock and mourning today, having lost one of its most recognisable and dependable creative figures. Police are treating the case as “an apparent homicide”, a detail that has shocked even those long used to tragedy in the entertainment world.

The news prompted tributes from every corner of American life – politics, film, comedy and television – a reflection of Reiner’s impact over more than five decades. Former president Barack Obama said: “Michelle and I are heartbroken by the tragic passing of Rob Reiner and his beloved wife, Michele. Rob’s achievements in film and television gave us some of our most cherished stories on screen.” Meanwhile, ex-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called him “remarkable”, adding: “Rob was creative, funny, and beloved… Civically, he was a champion for the First Amendment and the creative rights of artists. And professionally, he was an iconic figure in film who made us laugh, cry and think with the movies he created.”

READ MORE: Rob Reiner death latest: Hollywood icon and wife ‘had throats slit after heated row’

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Monty Python legend Eric Idle, shaken after speaking to Reiner only hours before his death, said: “Rob Reiner was a lovely man. I spoke to him last night for over an hour… This is so awful. I shall miss him. A clever, talented and very thoughtful man. So awful.” He recalled having met Reiner at his father Carl Reiner’s home in 1975. “He was telling me about filming at Stonehenge and his thoughts for the future,” he wrote on X. “This is so awful. I shall miss him. A clever, talented and very thoughtful man. So awful.”

Kathy Bates, whose Oscar-winning role in Misery came under Reiner’s direction, said: “I’m horrified hearing this terrible news. Absolutely devastated. I loved Rob. He was brilliant and kind, a man who made films of every genre to challenge himself as an artist. He also fought courageously for his political beliefs. He changed the course of my life.”

Sean Astin, president of SAG-AFTRA, summed up what many inside the industry felt when he described Reiner as “one of the most significant figures in the history of film and television”.

No tribute could, however, overstate what he achieved. Reiner’s career spanned acting, writing, directing and political activism, excelling in them all. Few filmmakers produced a run as consistent or influential. From the ridiculous perfection of This Is Spinal Tap to the emotional coming-of-age movie Stand by Me, the fairy-tale charm of The Princess Bride, and the enduring warmth of When Harry Met Sally …, the director made movies that remained familiar without ever repeating themselves.

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Reiner was born into entertainment. His father, Carl Reiner, was the creative force behind The Dick Van Dyke Show, while his mother, Estelle, built her own career as an actress and singer. But despite being raised at the centre of the industry, Reiner said it was the atmosphere inside the home, where ideas were shared freely, and work was openly discussed, that formed him.

Creativity was expected, not performed, he once said. Reiner discovered acting at school and learned his craft the hard way, through small theatres and improv clubs. Fame arrived when he was cast as Meathead in All in the Family, a sharp-edged US sitcom that defined a generation of American television.

Across eight seasons, he played Archie Bunker’s liberal son-in-law, earning two Emmys and, more importantly, access to writers’ rooms, control booths and editing bays. While others rested between takes, Reiner studied how stories were put together. He always intended to direct.

He once said, “I acted when I was young, but at 19, I had my own theatre company where I acted but also directed. I also did some theatre in Los Angeles. So, I was always wanting to direct, even before I became an established actor.”

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In 1984, he got his chance. This Is Spinal Tap confused the studios but delighted critics, becoming one of comedy’s most repeated cult classics. What followed was an extraordinary sequence that would secure his place in film history: Stand by Me (1986), The Princess Bride (1987), When Harry Met Sally … (1989), Misery (1990) and A Few Good Men (1992). Each film different. Each a lasting hit.

Reiner once explained how The Princess Bride reflected him: “People take a look at ‘Princess Bride,’ and exclaim, ‘God, this is such an odd conglomeration.’ ‘How could you balance all those things?’ But it didn’t seem all that strange to me… because those are all parts of my personality. I’ve definitely got this satirical side to me, and this romantic side, and this more realistic way of looking at things.”

He brought all of those sides to When Harry Met Sally …. After divorcing actress Penny Marshall, he found himself back in the dating world, which inspired writer Nora Ephron to use his experiences to shape the script. The result, with Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan, became one of cinema’s most enduring romantic comedies.

During filming, he met photographer Michele Singer. They fell in love quickly and married within seven months. That relationship even changed the movie’s ending, a detail Reiner openly acknowledged. Originally, Harry and Sally were meant to walk away from one another. His own happiness made that impossible.

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Reiner and Michele went on to have three children – Jake, Nick and Romy – and he adopted Tracy, Penny Marshall’s daughter from a previous marriage. Only last year, he made clear where his priorities lay: “My wife and kids. That’s the most important to me. There’s that joke, nobody on their deathbed ever said, ‘I should have spent more time at the office.’ Nobody says that.”

Alongside directing, Reiner continued to act, appearing in films such as The Wolf of Wall Street, as well as the sitcom New Girl and, most recently, The Bear. Of his films, he once said: “I love the idea of making movies that kids and adults can go to together and both get something out of it, and not just, ‘Oh, I’ve got to take my kid to the movie because they want to see the next, you know, ‘Hannah Montana’ movie or whatever.’”

Away from Hollywood, he also fought political battles. A lifelong Democrat, he pushed for early-childhood programmes, worked with unions and campaigned for same-sex marriage rights. He supported a 1998 California initiative raising tobacco taxes to fund children’s services.

Angry Ginge, 24, managed to shift 7kg whilst taking part in I’m A Celebrity but his BMI was higher than expected after he did the test alongside campmate Lisa Riley

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Furious Angry Ginge lived up to his name after discovering the results of his BMI test – finding out he’s still classed as overweight despite weeks of eating next to nothing in camp.

The King of the Jungle shifted 7kg on the show as the stars suffered from a serious lack of food in the Outback. But despite the impressive weight-loss, it was still not enough for the streaming star to be considered officially healthy.

Campmate Lisa Riley joined the social media star, real name Morgan Burtwistle, as they pumped their details into the website which calculate your body mass index. Your BMI is a value derived from the mass and height of a person and is defined as the body mass divided by the square of the body height, taking into account age and gender.

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But Ginge was not happy when he read his data after living off rice, beans and animal’s unmentionables for almost a month. As they waited, he told Lisa: “I lost 7kg. I was in the overweight category. So now, am I going to be in healthy or am I still overweight?”

Then the big reveal came and he found out he had a BMI of 26 – keeping him in the overweight range. “For f**k’s sake, man,” he fumed to his co-star, who dropped from a size 28 to a size 12 in just 18 months. Lisa didn’t let fans in on her result.

The NHS website states: “An overweight result suggests you could benefit from making some healthy changed. If you want to lose some weight, working towards a healthier weight range could reduce the risk of long-term conditions such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease.”

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Speaking on This Morning, presenters Cat Deeley and Ben Shepard asked Ginge how he dealt with the food deprivation in camp. He responded: “To be honest, I was actually looking forward to that because I went on there as a bit of a weight loss journey and I lost 7kg. So I can’t say it wasn’t successful.”

Going forward, he aims ro maintain his weight loss and confirmed he is going to “cut down on fizzy drinks”. Ginge was crowned the winner last Sunday with Tom Read Wilson finishing in second place. Former EastEnders actress, Shona McGarty, finished in third place and musician Aitch was voted out on Saturday night.

When asked about the lack of food, he said: “I was looking forward to that, I went on there as a bit of a weight loss journey, and I lost seven kg, so I can’t say it wasn’t successful.” While laughing, Ginge added: “I’m probably not recognisable.”

After arriving back at his hotel, Ginge was met with snacks including Pringles and a can of Red Bull to boost his energy levels. But there was one thing he had his mind on – a full English breakfast, which he devoured, but he laughed when revealing that he left the tomatoes on the side so he could focus on hash browns.

One memorable moment of Ginge’s experience was winning milk bottle sweets with Kelly Brook and his close pal Aitch. But unbeknownst to their campmates, the trio secretly ate some of the sweet treats before returning to camp. This, however, became public knowledge when Kelly dropped the bombshell that they’d eaten some when she was evicted.

Ginge said: “I’ll be honest, Kelly, she bottled that one if you pardon the pun, she just said there was more than 10, so we could play it off as 13, if she said there were 20, we were going to struggle. I didn’t enjoy stealing them, but I’m not going to lie, they were bloody delicious.”

Having found fame on social media thanks to streaming, Ginge spends a significant proportion of his day on his phone and laptop, something which he now admits will change. He said: “I think it’s matured me into more of a family man, I take for granted going for meals with my family, always on my phone.”