Rob Reiner was identified to tens of millions as a TV actor and movie director.
But the Brentwood resident, identified for the basic movies “Stand by Me” and “When Harry Met Sally,” was additionally a political power, an outspoken supporter of progressive causes and a Democratic Party activist who went past the everyday position of celebrities who host glitzy fundraisers.
Reiner was deeply concerned in points that he cared about, corresponding to early childhood schooling and the legalization of homosexual marriage.
Reiner, 78, and his spouse, Michelle Singer Reiner, have been discovered useless inside his residence Sunday, sparking an outpouring of grief from those that labored with him on a wide range of causes.
Ace Smith — a veteran Democratic strategist to former Vice President Kamala Harris, Gov. Gavin Newsom, former Gov. Jerry Brown and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton — had identified Reiner for many years. Reiner, he stated, approached politics in another way than most celebrities.
“Here’s this distinctive human being who actually did make the leap between leisure and politics,” Smith stated. “And he actually spent the time to know coverage, actually, in its true depth, and to make a huge effect in California.”
Reiner was a co-founder of the American Foundation for Equal Rights, the group that efficiently led the combat to overturn Proposition 8, the 2008 poll measure that banned same-sex marriage. He was energetic in youngsters’s points by the years, having led the marketing campaign to move Proposition 10, the California Children and Families Initiative, which created an formidable program of early childhood growth companies.
Proposition 10 was thought of landmark coverage. Reiner enlisted assist in that effort from Steven Spielberg, Robin Williams, and his personal father, comedy legend Carl Reiner.
“He wished to make a distinction. And he did, and he did profoundly,” Smith stated.
After Proposition 10 handed, Reiner was named the chair of the California Children and Families Commission, also called First 5 California. He resigned from the submit in early 2006 after the fee ran $23 million in adverts touting the significance of preschool as Reiner was gathering help for Proposition 82.
The measure, which was unsuccessful, would have taxed the rich to create common preschool in California.
The filmmaker and his spouse spent greater than $6 million on the failed proposition. They additionally donated vital sums to help nationwide Democratic Party teams and candidates together with Jerry Brown, Gray Davis, Ed Rendell and Andrew Cuomo.
Bruce Fuller, a UC Berkeley professor of schooling and public coverage, known as Reiner “a caring and vigilant advocate for youngsters. He added cachet and money to California’s motion to open preschools for tens of hundreds of younger households over the previous quarter-century.”
Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who had identified Reiner since he was a state lawmaker within the Nineties, labored with him on Proposition 10 and was impressed with how Reiner embraced the trigger.
“He was a person with a superb reply. It wasn’t politics as a lot as he was all the time targeted on the humanity amongst us,” Villaraigosa stated. ‘When he obtained behind a difficulty, he knew all the things about it.”
“Just a extremely particular man. A horrible day,” the previous mayor stated.
Mayor Karen Bass stated in an announcement that she was “heartbroken” by the day’s occasions, saying Reiner “all the time used his items in service of others.”
“Rob Reiner’s contributions reverberate all through American tradition and society, and he has improved numerous lives by his artistic work and advocacy preventing for social and financial justice,” the mayor stated.
“I’m holding all who cherished Rob and Michele in my coronary heart,” Bass stated.
Newsom added, “Rob was a passionate advocate for youngsters and for civil rights — from taking up Big Tobacco, preventing for marriage equality, to serving as a strong voice in early schooling. He made California a greater place by his good works.”
“Rob might be remembered for his exceptional filmography and for his extraordinary contribution to humanity,” the governor stated.
