Carl Reiner

Actors/Filmmakers

Carl Reiner (March 20, 1922 – June 29, 2020) is an American comedian, actor, director, screenwriter, and publisher whose career spans seven decades. During the early years of television comedy from 1950 to 1957, he co-wrote and acted on Caesar’s Hour and Your Show of Shows, starring Sid Caesar. In the 1960s, Reiner was best known as the creator, producer, writer, and actor on The Dick Van Dyke Show. Reiner famously formed a comedy duo with Mel Brooks in “2000 Year Old Man” and acted in films such as Stanley Kramer‘s It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, World (1963), with Spencer Tracy, Edie Adams, Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, Buddy Hackett, Ethel Merman, Dorothy Provine, Mickey Rooney, Dick Shawn, Phil Silvers, Terry-Thomas, and Jonathan Winter; Norman Jewson’s The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming (1966), with Eva Marie Saint, Alan Arkin, Brian Keith, Theodore Bikel, Jonathan Winters, John Phillip Law, Tessie O’Shea, and Paul Ford; the TV movie Stokie (1981), with Danny Kaye, Eli Wallach, George Dzundza, Brian Dennehy, and Ed Flanders; and Steven Soderbergh‘s Ocean’s film series (2001–2007), which collectively featured George Clooney, Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, Andy García, Bernie Mac, Julia Roberts, Don Cheadle, Elliott Gould, and Al Pacino.

He also had great success as a film director and writer and in the 1970s and 1980s. He co-wrote and directed some of Steve Martin‘s most successful films, including The Jerk (1979). He also directed notable comedies such as Where’s Poppa?, with George Segal, Ron Leibman and Ruth Gordon; (1970), Oh, God! (1977), with George Burns, John Denver, Terri Garr, and Donald Pleasance; The Man with Two Brains (1983), with Martin, Kathleen Turner, and David Warner; All of Me (1984), with Martin and Lily Tomlin; and Summer Rental (1985), with John Candy; Over his long and distinguished career, Reiner has won many awards and honors including nine Emmy Awards, one Grammy Award, and The Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. He is the father of actor and director Rob Reiner and author Annie Reiner and the grandfather of Tracy Reiner.

Each review will be linked to the title below.

Film

  • Happy Anniversary (1959) – directed by David Miller – actor
  • The Gazebo (1959) – directed by George Marshall – actor
  • The Violinist (1959) – short – actor
  • Gidget Goes Hawaiian (1961) – directed by Paul Wendkos – actor
  • Anatole (1962) short – uncredited voice
  • The Thrill of It All (1963) – directed by Norman Jewison – actor, writer
  • It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) – directed by Stanley Kramer – actor
  • John Goldfarb, Please Come Home (1965) – directed by J. Lee Thompson – uncredited cameo
  • The Art of Love (1965) – directed by Norman Jewison – actor, writer
  • Alice of Wonderland in Paris (1966) – directed by Gene Deitch – voice
  • The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming (1966) – directed by Norman Jewison – actor
  • Don’t Worry, We’ll Think of a Title (1966) – directed by Harmon Jones – uncredited actor
  • Enter Laughing (1967) – co-writer, director
  • A Guide for the Married Man (1967) – directed by Gene Kelly – actor
  • The Comic (1969) – director, co-writer, actor
  • Generation (1969) – directed by George Schaefer – actor
  • Where’s Poppa? (1970) – director
  • Oh, God! (1977) – director, actor
  • The One and Only (1978) – director
  • The End (1978) – directed by Burt Reynolds – actor
  • The Jerk (1979) – director, actor
  • History of the World: Part I (1981) – directed by Mel Brooks – uncredited voice
  • Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid (1982) – director, co-writer, actor
  • The Man with Two Brains (1983) – director, co-writer
  • All of Me (1984) – director
  • Summer Rental (1985) – director
  • In the Mood (1987) – directed by Phil Alden Robinson 1 uncredited voice
  • Summer School (1987) – director, actor
  • Bert Rigby, You’re a Fool (1989) – director, writer
  • The Spirit of ’76 (1990) – directed by Lucas Reiner – actor
  • Sibling Rivalry (1990) – director
  • Fatal Instinct (1993) – director, actor
  • That Old Feeling (1997) – director
  • The Slums of Beverly Hills (1997) – directed by Tamara Jenkins – actor
  • The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle (2000) – directed by Des McAnuff – actor
  • Ocean’s Eleven (2001) – directed by Steven Soderbergh – actor
  • The Majestic (2001) – directed by Frank Darabont – voice
  • Good Boy (2003) – directed by John Hoffman – voice
  • Ocean’s Twelve (2005) – directed by Steven Soderbergh – actor
  • The Blue Elephant (2006) – voice
  • Ocean’s Thirteen (2007) – directed by Steven Soderbergh – actor
  • Dumbbells (2014) – directed by Christopher Livingston – actor
  • Duck Duck Goose (2018) – directed by Chris Jenkins – voice
  • Toy Story 4 (2019)* – directed by Josh Cooley – voice

TV

  • Your Show of Shows (1950–54) – writer, actor
  • Caesar’s Hour (1954–1957) – writer, actor
  • The Sid Caesar Show (1958) – actor
  • The Dinah Shore Chevy Show (1959–1960)
  • The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961–66) – creator, writer, actor
  • The Comedy Spot (1962)
  • The Judy Garland Show (1963)
  • The Celebrity Game (1964–1965)
  • The New Dick Van Dyke Show (1971–1974) – creator
  • Lotsa Luck (1973 – co-creator
  • The Dick Van Dyke Show Revisited (2004)
  • The Cleveland Show (2010–2011)