Rob Reiner Described Dad Carl as 'My Idol' at 2017 Hand and Footprint Ceremony: 'Stood for Everything I Wanted to Be’
- - Rob Reiner Described Dad Carl as 'My Idol' at 2017 Hand and Footprint Ceremony: 'Stood for Everything I Wanted to Be’
Desiree Anello, Scott HuverDecember 18, 2025 at 1:11 AM
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Carl Reiner and Rob Reiner are honored with Hand and Footprint Ceremony in 2017 -
Rob Reiner opened up about his and Carl Reiner’s sweet father-son relationship during their joint Hand and Footprint Ceremony at Hollywood’s Chinese Theatre in 2017
“My father was my idol, I looked up to him,” Rob said at the time
While Carl died of natural causes in 2020, Rob and his wife, Michele, were found dead in their Los Angeles home on Dec. 14
Rob Reiner always strived to follow in his father Carl Reiner’s footsteps.
In 2017, the late All in the Family actor and the legendary comedian became the first father-son duo to be honored together during a Hand and Footprint Ceremony at the TCL Chinese Theatre. And while cementing their legacies in Hollywood that April, Rob gushed about how much he’s looked up to his father throughout his life and career.
“My father was my idol,” he explained alongside his father, who died in 2020 of natural causes. “I looked up to him. He stood for everything I wanted to be in life, and when I was a little boy, 8 years old, and this is something they told me when I got older, I went to my mother and I said to her, ‘I want to change my name.’ ”
“She went to my father and said, ‘You know, Robbie said he wants to change his name,’ ” he continued. “And my dad was so upset because, ‘Oh my God, this poor kid, he has to live up to the shadow of Carl Reiner’s son.’ So he came to me and he said, ‘Robbie, what do you want to change your name to?’ And I said, ‘Carl.’ ”
Even just a few months before his and his wife Michele Singer Reiner’s tragic deaths, Rob emphasized that he would often look to his dad for “validation” — especially when Carl was set to direct the 1967 comedy drama Enter Laughing.
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Director Rob Reiner (L) and Master of Ceremonies Carl Reiner attend the 63rd Annual Directors Guild Of America Awards
"I auditioned for him and he said, 'No,' and I thought, 'Oh my goodness,' ” Rob recalled while speaking with Ted Danson during a September episode of his Where Everybody Knows Your Name podcast. “There's no bigger rejection from your father to say, 'You can't do it.' "
The Princess Bride director went on to recount directing a production of No Exit, which starred Richard Dreyfuss at the time, when he was 19 years old in a Los Angeles theater.
“My father came to it, and he came backstage afterwards and he looked me in the eye and he said, 'That was good. No bulls---,' just like that,” Rob explained. "It's the first time I ever heard validation like that."
"And then I went and visited him the next day at his house, and we're sitting in the backyard, and he says, 'I'm not worried about you. You're going to be okay. Whatever you decide to do, you're going to do it good,' " he added. "That was a big deal."
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
