Comedy legend,ultimate actor and director, Carl Reiner; passes away at 98

by Shatakshi Gupta

On Monday, we lost an inventive as well as one of the most creative and innovative writer, actor and director, Carl Reiner. He passed away in the age of 98. He was a legend of comedy. Judy Nagy, Reiner’s assistant stated that he died on Monday night due to natural causes, in his home which is located in Beverly Hills, in California.

Carl Reiner was the creator of one of the most popular “The Dick Van Dyke Show”, and in this show he played himself as Alan Brady. Not only this, he also received five Emmy Awards for this amazing show.

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His movie “Oh God!” is again a commendable example of his work as a director. This movie starred George Burns and John Denver; All of me, with Steve Martin and Lily Tomlin; and the 1970 comedy Where’s Poppa? He was especially proud of his books, including Enter Laughing, an autobiographical novel later adapted into a film and Broadway show; and My Anecdotal Life, a memoir published in 2003. Also he gave an account of his childhood as well as of his creative journey in his book which was released in 2013,“I Remember Me”.

In recent years, he was part of the roguish gang in the Ocean’s Eleven movies starring George Clooney and appeared in documentaries including Broadway: Beyond the Golden Age and If You’re Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast.

But many remember Reiner for The Dick Van Dyke Show, one of the most popular television series of all time and a model of ensemble playing, physical comedy and timeless, good-natured wit. It starred Van Dyke as a television comedy writer working for a demanding, eccentric boss (Reiner) and living with his wife (Mary Tyler Moore in her first major TV role) and young son in suburban New Rochelle, New York.

The Van Dyke show is probably the most thrilling of my accomplishments because that was very, very personal,” Reiner once said. “It was about me and my wife, living in New Rochelle and working on the Sid Caesar show.” Reiner is the father of actor-director Rob Reiner. His death was first reported Tuesday by celebrity website TMZ.