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\nMel Brooks doesn’t believe his late best friend Carl Reiner would have survived his son Rob Reiner’s murderBrooks and the elder Reiner had a lifelong friendship that went back to the 1950s.Brooks opens about Carl’s 2020 death in the HBO documentary Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man!, premiering Jan. 22 and 23<\/p>\n
Mel Brooks<\/a> is \u201cglad\u201d his late best friend Carl Reiner<\/a> did not live long enough to have to cope with the murder of his son Rob Reiner<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n At the Los Angeles premiere of the two-part HBO documentary Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man!<\/a> on Jan. 20, the legendary filmmaker, 99, briefly reflected on the death<\/a> of Rob, who was allegedly killed by his son Nick<\/a>, along with his wife Michele Singer Reiner, in December.\n<\/p>\n At a Q&A following the premiere at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in L.A., moderator Judd Apatow<\/a>, who co-directed the documentary with Michael Bonfiglio, told Brooks that \u201cmany people\u201d have cited him and Carl \u2014 and specifically, their famous “2000 Year Old Man” comedy sketches \u2014 as their reason for pursuing careers in comedy.\n<\/p>\n In response, Brooks said, \u201cOh, very sweet. Anyway, Carl, with what’s happened, I’m glad that he passed away when he did.\u201d He added, \u201cI mean, he never could have survived this terrible, terrible thing,\u201d the Young Frankenstein director added, referring to Rob\u2019s untimely death.\n<\/p>\n Mel Brooks at the Los Angeles premiere of ‘Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man!’ on Jan. 20.<\/p>\n Emma McIntyre\/Getty<\/p>\n Brooks also shared a few more words about his close friendship with Carl, who died in 2020 at age 98<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n \u201cI loved him. I loved Carl,\u201d Brooks said. \u201cAnd I used to really… There was no fake laughter. I used to really break him up. He’d grab his belly and sometimes he’d fall down.\u201d\n<\/p>\n Carl, the documentary subject added moments later, was the \u201csweetest guy that ever lived.\u201d\n<\/p>\n Never miss a story \u2014 sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter<\/a> to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer\u200b\u200b, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.\n<\/p>\n