Carl Reiner, iconic comedian and creator of ‘The Dick Van Dyke Show,’ dead at 98
Carl Reiner’s first book was called “Enter Laughing,” and it truly was the story of his life.
The Bronx native, a comedy titan as a writer, producer, actor and director for decades, best known for creating “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” died Monday at 98, Variety reported.
He was with his family when he died at his home in Beverly Hills, California. Reiner died of natural causes, his assistant, Judy Nagy, told Variety.
Reiner could truly do it all. He directed comedy smashes such as “Oh God” with George Burns and “The Jerk” with Steve Martin, and sold millions of records as the straight man to pal Mel Brooks’ 2000 Year Old Man.
But television was perhaps his best medium. He became a hot commodity as Sid Caesar’s foil in the 1950s, but it was the role he didn’t play that may have brought his greatest contribution to comedy culture.
After his time with Caesar, Reiner was offered starring roles in sitcoms, but he thought the scripts were weak. Reiner’s wife, Estelle, said that he could write a better show, so that’s what he did, creating a autobiographical pilot, in which he starred. It went nowhere.
Actor-turned TV producer Sheldon Leonard, however, saw the failed pilot, and offered to give it another shot. Reiner said he didn’t want to be disappointed again, but Leonard had a solution.
“He says, ‘You won’t fail. I’ll get a better actor to play you,’” Reiner recalled to Conan O’Brien.
The “better actor” was Dick Van Dyke, and with Reiner writing and producing, “The Dick Van Dyke Show” became a comedy classic. Van Dyke played Rob Petrie, a comedy writer living in New Rochelle, N.Y., at the time.
The characters wrote for the egotistical star Alan Brady. At first Reiner played Brady only from the back, but then realized Brady needed to be seen and heard, so he fully took on the character for occasional guest appearances.
The show ran for five seasons, winning 15 Emmys, before Reiner and company decided to go out on top.
From there, Reiner went on to films. “Enter Laughing” in 1967 was his first, but his true breakthrough came in the heavenly hit “Oh God” in 1977. Two years later, Reiner and Martin began a highly successful collaboration. The comedian appeared in Reiner’s next four films: “The Jerk (1977), “Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid” (1982), “The Main With Two Brains” (1983) and “All of Me” (1984).
Reiner often acted in small parts in his films, but was no slouch as an actor. He starred in “The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming” in 1966, and was a familiar face on the big and small screens for decades. Nearing 80, he began an acting renaissance with a role in 2001’s “Ocean’s Eleven,” opposite Hollywood heavyweights including George Clooney and Brad Pitt. He appeared in two “Ocean’s” sequels and piled up a string of guest starring credits in TV shows.