Mel Brooks has expressed relief that his longtime friend and collaborator Carl Reiner passed away before the murder of his son, Rob Reiner. Speaking at the premiere of the new HBO documentary Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man!, Brooks told director Judd Apatow: 'Anyway, Carl, with what's happened, I'm glad that he passed away when he did. I mean, he never could have survived this terrible, terrible thing.'
Carl Reiner died of natural causes in June 2020 at age 98. Five years later, in December 2024, Rob Reiner and his wife Michele Singer Reiner were found dead at their home in Brentwood, Los Angeles. Their son Nick Reiner is set to stand trial for their murder.
In the documentary, which was filmed before the tragedy, Rob Reiner recalls Brooks being present when his father died. 'Mel was there when my dad died,' Rob says. 'He just collapsed in the bathroom, and Mel came back and realised: ‘Uh oh, something’s wrong.’' Brooks himself remembers urging ambulance workers to keep trying to revive his friend: 'I kept yelling at them, ‘Keep it up, keep it up,’ and they thought I was crazy after an hour of yelling. I just didn’t want him to go.'
Earlier this month, Nick Reiner’s lawyer Alan Jackson withdrew from the case, stating that 'circumstances beyond our control' made it impossible to continue representation. LA County District Attorney Nathan Hochman expressed confidence in a conviction, saying: 'We are fully confident that a jury will convict Nick Reiner beyond a reasonable doubt of the brutal murder of his parents.'
Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man! airs on HBO on January 22 and 23.
