Mel Brooks said the murders of Rob Reiner and wife Michele Singer would have devastated Carl Reiner, the director’s late father and Brooks’ longtime close friend and comedy partner.
During a Q&A with Judd Apatow at the premiere of documentary “Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man!,” Brooks said he was relieved Carl Reiner — who died in July 2020 at the age of 98 — wasn’t alive to experience the murder, which grandson Nick Reiner, 36, is accused of committing on Dec. 14 at their Los Angeles home.
“Anyway, with Carl, with what’s happened, I’m glad that he passed away when he did,” comedy legend said. “He never could have survived this terrible, terrible thing.”
“I loved him. I loved Carl…the sweetest man that ever lived.”
Rob Reiner, 78, posthumously appears in the documentary, remarking on the duo’s relationship after first working together on Sid Caesar’s “Your Show of Shows” in 1950.
“I always thought that, even though Mel was only like four years younger than my dad, he looked to my dad as a father figure,” Rob Reiner says in the documentary.
“My father was like a second banana. He never felt like he needed to be the star,” he continues. “He would push Mel into a corner that would make Mel explode with creativity and humor.”
“Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man!” will air in two parts on HBO this Thursday and Friday and will be available on HBO Max.
