Billy Crystal paid an emotional tribute Sunday at the 98th Academy Awards to the late Rob Reiner, who died in December.
“My friend Rob’s movies will last for lifetimes, because they were about what makes us laugh and cry, and what we aspire to be: far better in his eyes, far kinder, far funnier and far more human,” Crystal, 78, said at the start of the Oscars’ In Memoriam segment.
Reiner and Crystal played best friends on “All in the Family,” then reunited for “The Princess Bride” and “When Harry Met Sally.”
“And when Michele Singer entered his life, they were unstoppable,” said Crystal, of the producer and photographer.
“Their loss is immeasurable,” Crystal said. “And for us, who had the privilege of knowing him and working with him and loving him, all we can say is, ‘Buddy, what fun we had storming the castle.”
A screen showing the posters for Reiner’s most notable directorial efforts rose to reveal 18 of those films’ stars.
A number of stars from Reiner’s films then joined Crystal on stage for an emotional moment.
“This Is Spinal Tap” stars Michael McKean and Christopher Guest stood next to “Stand By Me” stars Jerry O’Connell and Wil Wheaton.
“The Princess Bride” stars Fred Savage, Cary Elwes, Mandy Patinkin and Carol Kane joined Crystal stood next to “When Harry Met Sally” co-star Meg Ryan.
“A Few Good Men” stars Kiefer Sutherland, Demi Moore and Kevin Pollak were there as were Kathy Bates of “Misery” and Annette Bening of “The American President.”
John Cusack and Daphne Zuniga were there, representing “The Sure Thing.”
Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, were found fatally stabbed Sunday at their homein the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Police Department arrested the Reiners’ 32-year-old son, Nick Reiner, and booked him on suspicion of killing his parents.
After starting out as a writer for “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour,” Reiner’s breakthrough came when he was, at age 23, cast in Norman Lear’s “All in the Family” as Archie Bunker’s liberal son-in-law, Michael “Meathead” Stivic. But by the 1980s, Reiner began as a feature film director, churning out some of the most beloved films of that, or any, era. His first film, the largely improvised 1984 cult classic “This Is Spinal Tap,” remains the quintessential mockumentary.