Michael McKean is still processing the shocking death of his friend Rob Reiner, who was murdered alongside his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, in December 2025.
The “Better Call Saul” alum, 78, met Reiner in 1969 when they were introduced by David Lander, who went on to star opposite McKean in “Laverne & Shirley.”
McKean says he and Reiner “were pretty close.
“He was a great guy to hang out with, he was an amazing guy, and he was always ready to laugh, and he was always ready to eat,” he noted, remembering the one time the “When Harry Met Sally” director called him a “genius.”
“It was because I brought a five-pound bag of pistachios to a meeting,” McKean recalled with a laugh. “He was a beautiful guy.”
And the “Best in Show” star was equally effusive about Reiner’s wife, Michele.
“His wife was remarkable and very efficient and very disciplined as far as the projects we worked on,” he recalled fondly.
McKean played David St. Hubbins in 1984’s “This is Spinal Tap,” which was directed by Reiner, and then reprised the role in “Spinal Tap II: The End Continues” last year.
Rob, 78, and Michele, 70, were found stabbed to death inside their Brentwood home last December. Shortly afterward, their troubled son, Nick, 32, was arrested and later charged with two counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances of multiple murders and personal use of a knife.
McKean took part in an emotional salute to the late actor/director at this year’s Oscars, which included stars from his other movies like Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan from “When Harry Met Sally,” Kathy Bates from “Misery,” and Fred Savage, Carey Elwes, Mandy Patinkin and Carol Kane from “The Princess Bride.”
He stood alongside his fellow “Spinal Tap” star, Christopher Guest.
The “A Mighty Wind” star will be appearing at New York City Center in a revival of “Are You Now or Have You Ever Been,” which uses original transcripts of artists who were called before the House Committee on Un-American Activities hearings and put in the impossible situation to name colleagues who were suspected of being a “communist” or never work again.
