Mel Brooks recently opened up on the slaying of Rob Reiner and said the tragic passing would have devastated his best friend — Rob’s father, and Brooks’ fellow comedy legend — the late Carl Reiner.
Mel Brooks talks about Carl Reiner
Speaking at the premiere of the upcoming documentary “Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man!,” on January 20th, Brooks somberly expressed relief that Carl Reiner, who died in 2020 at age 98, was not alive to see Rob Reiner and wife, Michele Singer Reiner, killed on December 14th.
“Anyway, with Carl, with what’s happened, I’m glad that he passed away when he did,” Brooks said during a Q&A with Judd Apatow.
“He never could have survived this terrible, terrible thing.”
“I loved him. I loved Carl,” Brooks added.
Nick Reiner has been charged with the double-m*rder of his parents and is due back in court on Feb. 23.
Rob Reiner makes a posthumous interview appearance in “The 99-Year-Old Man!,” the two-part documentary premiering January 22nd and 23rd on HBO (8 ET/PT), directed by Apatow and Michael Bonfiglio.
In the documentary, Rob Reiner opens up on meeting Brooks for the first time at age four when the comedy writer slept over at the family’s home. Brooks became a fixture at the Reiner household thereafter.
The son also speaks about how Carl Reiner would play the straight man in sketches with Brooks, such as their famed “The 2000 Year Old Man” routine.
“My father was like a second banana. He never felt like he needed to be the star,” Rob Reiner says in the documentary.
“He would push Mel into a corner that would make Mel explode with creativity and humor.”
Brooks, who lost his father at age two to tuberculosis, revered the older Carl Reiner.
The son also speaks about how Carl Reiner would play the straight man in sketches with Brooks, such as their famed “The 2000 Year Old Man” routine.
“My father was like a second banana. He never felt like he needed to be the star,” Rob Reiner says in the documentary. “He would push Mel into a corner that would make Mel explode with creativity and humor.”
