Every year at this time the outstanding movie channel, Turner Classic Movies, does a short feature called “TCM Remembers,” in which it sets to music a montage of film clips of actors and actresses who died during the past year. It’s always beautifully done and chokes me up. I’m struck by the names and faces who passed, sometimes without my noticing. This year, the names and faces included actor/filmmaker Rob Reiner.
Reiner, of course, will be remembered as the director of many notable films, from the hilarious fictional “rock documentary” “This is Spinal Tap” to “Stand By Me,” “When Harry Met Sally” and the fabulous “The Princess Bride,” a favorite of my family, my students and, well, pretty much everyone.
But above all, Reiner will be remembered for his portrayal of the loveable “Meathead,” the ’60s liberal son-in-law and foil to “Archie Bunker” in Norman Lear’s epic TV series “All in the Family.” Meathead’s actual character name was the Slavic Michael Stivic, derided by the bigoted Archie as a “dumb Pollock” (among other insults). In turn, the Slavic as well as atheistic Stivic gave it back just as hard to Archie, a working-class white Protestant. Their verbal jousting over religion and politics and culture was amazing to behold, often leaving the audience in stitches laughing at the absurd stereotypes and caricatures played out perfectly by the father-in-law and son-in-law and complementary cast of characters. Every minute was so splendidly acted.
Reiner didn’t need to act much in that role. In real life, he was an outspoken liberal for decades, from the 1970s to the 2020s. Indeed, Reiner repeatedly excoriated Donald Trump in harsh terms. Unfortunately, that fact triggered from Trump an obnoxious, ungracious, unkind, self-serving, shocking and all-around awful statement about Reiner at the time of his murder a few weeks ago. Trump’s statement thoroughly lacked class, even allowing for the fact that Reiner’s words about Trump had been quite cruel.
Trump aside, Michael Stivic was played so well by Reiner because Reiner was the part in real life — an inspired performance. That’s quite the contrast to other cast members of “All in the Family.” For instance, Jean Stapleton was anything but a “dingbat.” Stapleton’s voice, mannerisms and comportment could not have been more different than Edith Bunker. The contrast was astonishing.
Likewise, Sally Struthers bore scant resemblance to the “little girl” Gloria throwing tantrums at her “daddy” “Archie.” Like Mike Stivic, her character husband, Gloria was an atheist in the TV series, but in her actual life after “All in the Family,” Struthers became the face of the Christian Children’s Fund, which did the Lord’s work in helping starving kids in impoverished countries.
As for Carroll O’Connor, he was not a WASP at all. He was a devout Irish Catholic who had moved near the Vatican in the 1960s. He and his wife were living in Rome when Norman Lear tracked him down for the role of Archie.
In all, the acting performances of those four were phenomenal. Still more impressive, the show was filmed before a live studio audience weekly for the entirety of the 1970s.
Alas, it’s thus so bittersweet that Reiner will be remembered for being brutally murdered along with his wife by his own child. What a tragedy. Let us do our best to remember Reiner for more than that, as the brilliant, respected, entertaining actor/director that he was.
