Martin Scorsese remembers Rob Reiner in touching NYT op-ed

Nick Reiner, the son of actor/director Rob Reiner and his wife Michele Reiner, is facing murder charges in connection with the deaths of his parents. Rob Reiner was an iconic figure in Hollywood and is remembered for the many films he directed — from "This Is Spinal Tap" to "When Harry Met Sally" — as well as his portrayal of Mike "Meathead" Stivic on Norman Lear's overtly political 1970s sitcom "All in the Family."

Rob Reiner and director Martin Scorsese, now 83, first met in the early 1970s. And Scorsese fondly remembers their friendship in an op-ed published by the New York Times on Christmas Day 2025.

"Rob Reiner was my friend, and so was Michele," Scorsese writes. "From now on, I’ll have to use the past tense, and that fills me with such profound sadness. But there’s no other choice."

Rob Reiner, like Scorsese, was a native New Yorker. And even though Reiner lived in Los Angeles, Scorsese — famous for "Taxi Driver," "Goodfellas," "Raging Bull" and countless other films — notes that "New York humor" greatly influenced his work.

"Right away, I loved hanging out with Rob," Scorsese recalls. "We had a natural affinity for each other. He was hilarious and sometimes bitingly funny, but he was never the kind of guy who would take over the room…. What happened to Rob and Michele is an obscenity, an abyss in lived reality. The only thing that will help me to accept it is the passing of time."

Martin Scorsese's full New York Times op-ed is available at this link (subscription required).