{"id":97948,"date":"2025-12-17T07:09:19","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T07:09:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/97948\/"},"modified":"2025-12-17T07:09:19","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T07:09:19","slug":"rob-reiner-was-more-than-a-hollywood-legend-he-helped-shape-california-politics-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/97948\/","title":{"rendered":"Rob Reiner was more than a Hollywood legend. He helped shape California politics"},"content":{"rendered":"

This story<\/a> was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up<\/a> for their newsletters.<\/p>\n

The rest of the country may remember Hollywood legend Rob Reiner for his work in front of and behind the camera, but in California, he leaves behind a political legacy that endures beyond his films and movie and television roles.<\/p>\n

Reiner, a longtime Democratic activist, donor and fundraiser, played a critical role in the legalization of same-sex marriage in California, and he was a driving force behind California\u2019s signature early-childhood development program,\u00a0First 5<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Reiner, 78, was found stabbed to death along with his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, inside their Brentwood home Sunday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Police investigators announced Monday that their son Nick Reiner, 32, had been arrested and was being held on suspicion of their murder. Rob and Nick Reiner once worked together on\u00a0a semi-autobiographical film<\/a>\u00a0about Nick Reiner\u2019s lifelong struggles with addiction.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t believe it,\u201d former California Gov. Gray Davis told CalMatters on Monday in a phone interview. \u201cI mean, Rob and Michele have been part of Sharon and I\u2019s life for over 30 years.\u201d Sharon Davis is the former governor\u2019s wife.<\/p>\n

Davis said he\u2019ll never forget when Rob Reiner in 1991 invited him \u2014 then California\u2019s elected controller \u2014 to hang out on the set of Reiner\u2019s \u201cA Few Good Men.\u201d Davis got to watch for hours as actors such as Tom Cruise, Kevin Bacon, Demi Moore and Jack Nicholson did their scenes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought: I am so proud to live in a state where quality filmmaking takes place,\u201d Davis said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But a few years later, the two became something akin to coworkers. Davis was elected governor the same night in 1998 that Reiner\u2019s Proposition 10 ballot initiative passed. The initiative created a new tax on tobacco that funded the programs for children younger than 5 that are now in every California county.<\/p>\n

Davis said the two were at the same Election Night party in 1998 as the results came in. Davis said he and his administration later worked with Reiner to ensure the First 5 program got implemented. Davis appointed Reiner to chair the program\u2019s California Children and Families Commission, a position he held until 2006.\u00a0Reiner resigned amid\u00a0<\/a>allegations he was using taxpayer funds to promote his Proposition 82, an unsuccessful ballot initiative that sought to tax the wealthy to fund preschool for all children.<\/p>\n

\u201cRob was not just a talker. He was a doer,\u201d Davis said. \u201cA lot of other people would give a nice speech, they would come to a press conference and then they thought their job was over, and certainly we appreciate that. I mean, they have other things to do. But the difference was Rob called you up and said, \u2018What can I do next?\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

Mike Roos, a former California legislator, political strategist and lobbyist, worked closely with Reiner on the Prop. 10 campaign.\u00a0He said they got to know each other, and it was clear to Roos that Reiner loved his children dearly.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis has been just one of the most horrible things I could ever imagine, knowing him and knowing his love and the investment that he made in every one of those kids in that family,\u201d Roos said, \u201cbut particularly how he cared and talked so thoughtfully about the struggles that Nick had in that period of time when I knew him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Later, Reiner would help found the American Foundation for Equal Rights. The group paid for the legal fight against\u00a0Proposition 8<\/a>, the 2008 ballot measure that banned same-sex marriage in California. The U.S. Supreme Court overturned Prop. 8 in 2013.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kris Perry, the former executive director of First 5 and a lead plaintiff in the case that got Prop. 8 overturned, said Rob and Michele Reiner also stood by her and her wife, Sandy Stier, as they and the other plaintiffs defended their right to marry in the landmark case.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThey continued over a five-year period to champion the cause by speaking out themselves, bringing more support to the case, doing media interviews, and, more importantly, being kind and generous \u2026 year after year after year,\u201d Perry said. \u201cThey cared about us as people throughout that entire process. They left this indelible impression on all of us of what it means to be a real leader, to not only make something possible, but to stand beside people during the fight.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said Reiner wasn\u2019t just a figurehead at First 5, either. He attended Children and Families Commission meetings every month and was deeply involved in discussions of \u201chow to invest, where to get results, how to hold people accountable,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Gov. Gavin Newsom over the weekend said Reiner\u2019s impressive body of professional work, which included \u201cWhen Harry Met Sally,\u201d \u201cStand By Me\u201d and \u201cThe Princess Bride,\u201d taught \u201cgenerations how to see goodness and righteousness in others \u2014 and (encouraged) us to dream bigger.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat empathy extended well beyond his films,\u201d Newsom said in a statement. \u201cHe made California a better place through his good works. Rob will be remembered for his remarkable filmography and for his extraordinary contribution to humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Reiners donated about $2.7 million to help Democrats over their lifetime, The New York Times reported, including $100,000 to support then-President Joe Biden\u2019s 2024 reelection. He later joined actor George Clooney in urging Biden to drop out, saying, \u201cWe need someone younger to fight back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not everyone had nice things to say about Reiner. President Donald Trump, whom Reiner frequently criticized, called Reiner a \u201ctortured and struggling but once very talented movie director and comedy star\u201d in a social media post. He claimed Reiner\u2019s death was linked to a \u201cmind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Democratic U.S Rep. Laura Friedman, who represents the Hollywood area, said in an interview she \u201creally felt sick over seeing Donald Trump\u2019s post about this terrible murder.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Friedman, a former film and television producer, said Reiner\u2019s art reflected his politics. She said he advocated for being decent to each other and against bigotry \u2014 unlike Trump who she said has a \u201cunique ability to divide Americans and make people angry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reiner, she said, often used humor to \u201cbring us together \u2026 and do it in a way that was somehow gentle and loving at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n

CalMatters<\/a> is a nonpartisan and nonprofit news organization bringing Californians stories that probe, explain and explore solutions to quality of life issues while holding our leaders accountable.<\/p>\n

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