Nick Reiner, the son of film director Rob Reiner, has been arrested in connection with his parents’ deaths, according to two law enforcement officials with direct knowledge of the investigation.
Rob Reiner and Michelle Singer Reiner were found dead of stab wounds Sunday, a source close to the family told NBC News.
It was not immediately known whether Nick Reiner had legal representation.
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Rob Reiner’s death shocked Hollywood stars and his fans around the world. He built a huge reputation by starring in, producing, and directing a series of hit films in the 1980s and 1990s.
Nick Reiner, 32, has a long history of drug addiction that began as a teenager. He told People magazine in a 2016 interview that he slept rough on the streets for weeks and was in and out of rehab for addiction treatment, which he began at age 15.
These experiences inspired the 2016 film Being Charlie, directed by Rob Reiner and co-written by Nick Reiner, starring Cary Elwes, best known for his role in Reiner’s classic The Princess Bride, as the main character’s father. The plot focuses on a young man struggling with addiction who is in and out of rehab facilities.
“Right now, I’ve been home for a really long time and I’m kind of getting used to being back in Los Angeles and being with my family,” Nick told People at the time.
Reiner reflected on his real-life difficulties and how they influenced the film in a 2015 interview with the LA Times.
“My first experience was very, very difficult, with painful and difficult ups and downs,” Rob Reiner said. “And making the movie brought it all back together again.”
The main character of “Being Charlie” struggles to find meaning or practical help through a rehabilitation program, and Reiner and Singer told the LA Times that this was directly inspired by how ineffective such treatment was for their son.
“When Nick told us it wasn’t working, we didn’t listen. We were desperate and people had diplomas posted on the walls, so we listened to our son when we should have listened to him,” Rob Reiner said.
