Carl Reiner

(1922-)

Carl Reiner is a Jewish American stand-up comedian, actor, director, producer, writer and voice artist. Over the years he has won nine Emmy Awards and one Grammy Award.

He was born on March 20, 1922, in the Bronx, New York. In his early teens, Reiner got his start as a performer in a WPA Dramatic Workshop. He was educated at the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and served in the United States Army during World War II. During the war he was part of a troupe of touring GI performers.

Reiner later performed in several Broadway musicals, including Inside U.S.A., Alive and Kicking, and Call Me Mister. In 1950, he was cast in Sid Caesar’s Your Show of Shows. He also worked on Caesar’s Hour. Reiner then worked as the straight man to Mel Brooks’ “2000 Year Old Man” routines on records.

In 1961, Reiner created The Dick Van Dyke Show, which ran until 1966. Reiner directed his first feature film, in 1967, an adaptation of the play Enter Laughing. Between 1956 and 1967, Reiner won eight Emmys for his various works.

Three years later, in 1970, he directed his best-known film Where’s Poppa. Reiner also directed and co-wrote four comedy films in the early career of Steve Martin; The Jerk in 1979, Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid in 1882, The Man with Two Brains in 1983, and All of Me in 1984.

In 2000, Reiner was awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. In the 2010s, Reiner has acted or guest-starred on the following television shows: House, Two and a Half Men and Hot in Cleveland.

In 1943, Reiner married singer Estelle Lebost. The couple was married for 64 years until Estelle's death in 2008. Reiner is the father of actor/director Rob Reiner, poet, playwright and author Sylvia Anne Reiner, and painter/actor/director Lucas Reiner.

Sources: “Carl Reiner (1922 - ).” American Jewish Historical Society, American Jewish Desk Reference, (NY: Random House, 1999). pg. 479, Wikipedia, IMDB