Senior Planet talks to…Rob Reiner

Rob Reiner, 76, became a breakout TV star from his role as Michael “Meathead” Stivic in hit 70s sitcom, All in the Family. That gig gave him a passion to get behind the camera – directing some of the most beloved films of our time including The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally, Stand By Me, A Few Good Men and Misery.

Just 16 years old when President John F. Kennedy was tragically assassinated, Reiner has spent his entire life wondering whodunnit. Today he claims to have solved America’s “greatest murder mystery” after talking with authors, witnesses and forensic experts to create a 10-part podcast to coincide with the 60th anniversary of JFK’s assassination.

SENIOR PLANET talks murder and movies with Rob, the son of actress Estelle Reiner and comedian, actor, writer and director Carl Reiner:

Q: Was All in the Family your favorite acting role?

ROB: I guess so – just because it was such a great experience. But I also loved acting in The Wolf of Wall Street because I got to work with Martin Scorsese who’s a brilliant director.

Q: “I’ll have what she’s having,” was such a memorable line from When Harry Met Sally… Was that your favorite film to direct?

ROB: Its hard to pick a favorite because they’re like your children – you love them all, even the n’er do wells. But, of all the films I’ve made, the one that means the most to me is Stand By Me, because it reflects my sensibility and personality. Also, I made it at a time when I was, creatively, breaking away from the kinds of things my father did, and doing something more in line with myself. So the fact that it was successful validated me at that time so I guess it means the most to me. But I love a lot of the films I’ve made.

Q: Spinal Tap is such a cult classic. Are you getting the band back together for Spinal Tap II?

ROB: Yes, the whole band will be there plus Paul McCartney, Elton John, Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood are committed. I think we’re also gonna have Ringo, Mick Fleetwood and Questlove. It would have been finished by now but the strike forced us to push it to 2024.

Q: What’s your secret to aging with attitude?

ROB: I think that comes from my mother and father. My dad was 98 and my mother was 94 when they each passed away – and they were both active and working and doing what they loved right up till the end. So, as they say, it’s in the genes.

Q: And also the secret to your 36 year marriage to photographer Michele Singer?

ROB: We’re good friends. That’s what it comes down to. We get along just great and enjoy each other’s company. We’re on the same side politically but we discovered recently that we also like working together in other ways.

Q: What do you do to keep fit?

ROB: I workout with a trainer three times a week. I do a combination of stretching, weights and aerobics, just mixing them together, and then I just try to walk if I have time. At my age, I think walking every day is probably the best exercise you can do.

Q: You’ve always been an activist for many causes. And were even going to run against California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2006. Why didn’t you?

ROB: I considered it but I had a family meeting – and my kids were very young at the time. So we all talked about it and had a vote in the family – and I only got 40% in my own family. So I figured if I can’t even carry my own family – it’s not a good idea.

Q: What is your strongest memory of JFK’s tragic assassination?

ROB: I’ll never forget it. I was in my physics class in high school and one of the students walked in, whispered into my teacher’s ear, and he turned to us and said: I have some terrible news. Everybody was stunned, and we were sent home from school. And then we went to our televisions and that’s all we did – watched TV to see what what was going on…For Americans, this was a national trauma of epic proportions. You’ll never ever forget where you are and how you felt at that point. The way I liken it is – let’s say you had a dear loved one murdered – you would not stop until you found out who did this and why.

Q: Has this been on your mind for the past 60 years?

ROB: It’s not like wall to wall focus for 60 years because you only learn little bits and pieces – dribs and drabs that come out with many years in between. So you hear something and go, ‘Whoa, what does that mean in terms of the whole picture?’ So, unless you’re steeped in this thing, you don’t know what these things mean.

“But, over the years, you start to get a picture of what all this means and how it all fits together. And that’s what we wanted to do with the podcast – to put everything we’ve learned over a period of 60 years into one 10-part podcast and tell the story in a way that people can understand. People who were not alive at the time will understand what happened; people who were will learn other things that they hadn’t known about. And I think, by the end, we do tell the full story of what happened.

Q: What’s your pet theory?

ROB: Well, first of all, I can tell you for a fact that this was not done by one person – Lee Harvey Oswald was not the lone assassin. There were others involved. And it won’t make any sense unless you listen to the whole podcast where we laid all the groundwork and the foundation for why we come to a certain conclusion.

But, by the 10th episode, we’re going to name who we think were the shooters – people we know that were in Dallas that day – and we’ll name the the positions around Dealey Plaza where they were positioned as best we can. I’ve been to Dealey Plaza many times and talked to everybody who was there that day, that’s still alive – forensic experts, CIA agents, FBI and Secret Service agents. We’ve talked to everybody that was around at that time. We can’t know definitively, but based on all the information we’ve gathered, it’s pretty conclusive.”

Rob Reiner and Soledad O’Brien’s 10-part podcast, “Who Killed JFK?” Is currently streaming on iheartradio at “https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-who-killed-jfk-127000428/?embed=true”

Gill Pringle began her career as a rock columnist for popular British newspapers, traveling the world with Madonna, U2 and Michael Jackson. Moving to Los Angeles 27 years ago, she interviews film and TV personalities for prestigious UK outlets, The Independent, The i-paper and The Sunday Times – and, of course, Senior Planet. A member of Critics Choice Association, BAFTA and AWFJ, she wrote the screenplay for 2016 Netflix family film, The 3 Tails Movie: A Mermaid Adventure. An award-winning writer, in 2021 she was honored by the Los Angeles Press Club with 1st prize at the NAEJ Awards.

Photo Credit (top): Romy Reiner