In the wake of the shocking deaths of Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, attention has inevitably turned to the Brentwood home where the couple spent more than three decades. The house carries a history that’s personal for the When Harry Met Sally filmmaker. To him, it was the real-life version of a dream shaped by television, friendship, and mentorship. It also came with a twist: the home once belonged to his boss and longtime friend Norman Lear, and without meaning to, the Spinal Tap helmer ended up buying it.
In a 2015 PBS American Masters digital interview, Reiner remembered the days when he’d go over to Lear’s place to play tennis while working on one of the greatest sitcoms of all time, All in the Family. He was taken with the house from the start, the kind of place that lodges itself in your mind. The comedy mainstay said he’d look around and think:
