We previously reported that the former All In The Family star Rob Reiner was found dead along with his wife Michele on Sunday, December 14. They were allegedly stabbed to death by their own son Nick, who reportedly slit each of their throats. He has since been arrested and charged with their double murders.
Now, Reiner’s former All In The Family co-star Sally Struthers, who played his wife on the show, is speaking out to honor him. She’s also revealing the one thing that Reiner taught her during their All In The Family days that she’s never forgotten.
Struthers Remembers Reiner
Struthers, 78, described Reiner as being a script-doctor “machine.” She remembers him offering her invaluable career advice early on when her lines were being cut from All In The Family, which ran from 1971 until 1979.
“If you can make the show itself more important than your own part, you will wind up offering to give up some of your lines,” Struthers recalls Reiner telling her.
On All In The Family, Struthers and Reiner famously played Gloria and Michael Stivic. They were the liberal counterparts to Struthers’ on-screen conservative working-class parents, who were portrayed by Carroll O’Connor and Jean Stapleton.
Struthers and Reiner each left the show after its eighth season. It was claimed that their characters had moved to California with their son. When Struthers briefly reprised the role of Gloria in a short-lived spinoff, it was revealed that Michael had left her and their son off-camera.
“Gloria Bunker Stivic would have remarried,” Struthers told Woman’s World. “Someone just as inspiring as her first husband, because Mike taught Gloria a lot.”
Immediately after it was announced that Reiner had been murdered, Struthers paid tribute to him in a brief statement.
“There are no words,” Struthers told Deadline. “This is beyond devastating and my heart is with their family.”
Reiner Murders
The Reiners were last seen on the night of Saturday, December 13, when they attended a Christmas party with Nick that was hosted by Conan O’Brien. There, Nick was seen acting strangely, and other guests saw him get into a heated argument with Rob.
“Nick was freaking everyone out, acting crazy, kept asking people if they were famous,” a source told People Magazine.
Rob, Michele, and Nick eventually left the party together. It is believed that Nick killed them in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Later that day, a masseuse arrived at the Reiner home for a prescheduled appointment. When nobody answered the door, the masseuse called the Reiners’ 27 year-old daughter Romy, who lives across the street.
Romy was able to enter the home, only to find the body of her father. She immediately fled and told her roommate, who was waiting outside, to call the police. Romy was so distraught by the bloody scene that she didn’t notice the body of her mother. She had to be told by paramedics upon their arrival that her mother was dead as well.
Nick was apprehended around six hours later near the University of Southern California campus. By then, he had checked into a local hotel, with his room there being covered in blood.
Whether you were a fan of Reiner’s or not, it can’t be denied that what happened to him and his wife is an unspeakable tragedy. We can’t imagine what Struthers and everyone else who knew and loved Reiner are going through right now.
Rest in peace, Rob and Michele Reiner.