The Real Reason Rob Reiner Divorced His 1st Wife Before He & His 2nd Spouse Were Allegedly Murdered by Their Son
StyleCaster Editors
After the tragic news of the iconic director’s death, Rob Reiner‘s life is being revisited. One of those interesting aspects is his first marriage to Big director Penny Marshall.
Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele, were found dead on the afternoon of Dec. 14. After their bodies were found, the Reiner family said in a statement to Variety, “It is with profound sorrow that we announce the tragic passing of Michele and Rob Reiner. We are heartbroken by this sudden loss, and we ask for privacy during this unbelievably difficult time.” Their son, Nick, was arrested and charged with two counts first-degree murder in connection with the fatal stabbing of his parents.
Before his marriage to Michele Singer, Rob Reiner was married to director and actress Penny Marshall from 1971 to 1981. They collaborated on many projects together, and Reiner adopted Marshall’s daughter, Tracy, from her first marriage.
Why did Rob Reiner and Penny Marshall divorce?
Rob Reiner and Penny Marshall separated due to the demands of their jobs. Before their divorce, Marshall talked to the Ventura County Star about how they barely see each other at home because of her series Laverne and Shirley.
“The series has kept me so busy that I’m not moping around the house like I used to, which has taken some pressure off Rob,” Marshall said. “Since he started his Fire Sale movie and I got back into production of my series we haven’t seen one another too much. I think it’s been hardest on my daughter, Tracy.”
“The responsibility of running a family and doing a show — plus we just moved into a new house in Encino — has been impossible,” she said. “But Rob does cook and does the shopping. I clean up after him.”
Despite the divorce, Marshall revealed to Vulture in 2012 that there was hope that the two would get back together. “We stayed together longer because of pride,” she recalled. “We always thought we would get back together when we were much older. But he’s got a wife and family now. His grandkids went to school with my kids. We still get along.”
Penny Marshall died on Dec. 17, 2018, as a result of heart failure from diabetes. “I loved Penny,” Reiner wrote in a since-deleted Instagram tribute post. “I grew up with her. She was born with a great gift. She was born with a funnybone and the instinct of how to use it. I was very lucky to have lived with her and her funnybone. I will miss her.”
How did Rob Reiner and Michele Singer meet?
Rob Reiner met Michele Singer on the set of the critically acclaimed film When Harry Met Sally…, which he directed. He and screenwriter Nora Ephron changed the ending of the movie after he met his future wife.
“It was going to be the two of them seeing each other after years, talking and then walking away from each other,” he recalled to CNN. “Because I had been married for 10 years, I’d been single for 10 years and I couldn’t figure out how I was ever going to be with anybody,” he added, “and that gave birth to When Harry Met Sally.”
