Carl Reiner was the friendliest, most talented person in show business. Or if he wasn't, he was tied with a couple of other contenders for the title. He was a guy I admired not just for his fine work as a writer, producer, director and performer but for just the way he was as a person. Every time I was around him, he was an absolute delight…funny, engaging, willing to talk with anyone about anything. He was just what you'd want an idol to be.
He was a role model for how to be truly successful and sane in show business. He didn't care about stardom…just doing good work. When he created a sitcom to star himself and they told him they wanted someone else to star in it, he said, "Fine. I'll just write and produce it." And we got The Dick Van Dyke Show and he got all the rewards and accolades and offers. When he interviewed Mel Brooks as The Two-Thousand Year Old Man, Carl knew that he was the straight man and he should act like a straight man and not, as most comics would do in that situation, say or do something to remind the audience, "Hey, I can be funny, too!"
And he was a role model for how to get old without getting inactive and useless. He mastered the Internet and wrote books and he was on Twitter often with witty and wise observations about current events. When I heard this morning that he'd died at the age of 98, my first thought was, "Aw…Carl won't get to see Donald Trump go totally down in flames."
He was involved in a lot of stuff I love like the various Sid Caesar shows, the Van Dyke program, the records with Mel, some great movies (I just happened to watch The Thrill of it All the other night)…he was one of the best talk show guests ever…he was in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World and so what if he didn't like it very much? He was in it.
I just liked Carl Reiner. I liked not just what he did but who he was. My condolences to Rob and Mel and all of us.