Carl Reiner, American comedian known for co-writing and acting on Caesar’s Hour and Your Show of Shows, starring Sid Caesar is dead at a ripe age of 98.
The prolific writer, comedian, director and actor also directed several films including Steve Martin vehicles The Jerk (1979) and All of Me (1984).
He was in 2001’s Ocean’s Eleven and its two sequels as conman Saul Bloom, and had a double act with Mel Brooks.
He died of natural causes on Monday at his home in Beverly Hills, his assistant Judy Nagy confirmed.
MY HEROS CARL REINER ANNIE REINER & MEL BROOKS pic.twitter.com/yimJbwoqCU
— George Shapiro (@georgeshapiro) June 28, 2020
In his 90s, virtually every day in Beverly Hills, Reiner met with Brooks, after they both lost their wives, and they would sit on Reiner’s sofa watching movies, telling jokes and recalling a lifetime of comedy.
Reiner started acting in the US army during World War Two. In the 1950s, fellow writers on Your Show of Shows included Brooks and Neil Simon, creating a combination of silliness and satire.
He won several Emmys writing and producing the Dick Van Dyke Show, in which he played temperamental variety show host Alan Brady, the boss of Van Dyke’s character, Rob Petrie.
