Carl Reiner: Biography, Achievements & Lasting Legacy

Carl Reiner (; March 20, 1922 – June 29, 2020) was an American actor, author, comedian, director, and screenwriter whose career spanned seven decades. His awards and honors include 12 Primetime Emmy Awards, a Grammy Award, and the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. He was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1999.

During the early years of television comedy from 1950 to 1957, he appeared in and contributed sketch material for Your Show of Shows and Caesar's Hour (both of which starred Sid Caesar), writing alongside Mel Brooks, Neil Simon, and Woody Allen. Reiner teamed up with Brooks and together they released several iconic comedy albums, beginning with 2000 Years with Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks (1960). Reiner was also the creator of The Dick Van Dyke Show, which ran from 1961 to 1966 and which Reiner also produced, frequently wrote, and appeared in.

Reiner formed a comedy duo with Brooks in "The 2000 Year Old Man" and acted in such films as It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming (1966), and the Ocean's film series (2001–2007). Reiner directed such comedies as Enter Laughing (1966), Where's Poppa? (1970), and Oh, God! (1977). Reiner had a successful collaboration with Steve Martin, directing some of his most successful films, including The Jerk (1979), Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982), The Man with Two Brains (1983), and All of Me (1984).

Reiner wrote more than two dozen books, mostly in his later years. He was the father of the actor-director Rob Reiner, author Annie Reiner, and artist Lucas Reiner, and he was the adoptive grandfather of Tracy Reiner.