Michele Singer Reiner, photographer who inspired 1980s rom-com’s happy end, dies

Michele Singer Reiner, a multifaceted talent known for her work as a photographer, film producer, and LGBTQ+ rights advocate, has died in a tragic incident that has shocked Hollywood and beyond.

Michele and her husband, acclaimed director Rob Reiner, were found stabbed to death Sunday at their Brentwood home in Los Angeles. In a devastating development, their 32-year-old son, Nick Reiner, was arrested on suspicion of murder and held without bail Monday in connection with their deaths.

The couple’s love story began on the set of the iconic romantic comedy “When Harry Met Sally…” where Michele was working as a still photographer while Rob directed the film. Their whirlwind romance led to marriage within seven months, and they went on to raise three children: Nick, Jake, and Romy.

Their relationship didn’t just change their personal lives—it transformed cinema history. Rob Reiner revealed in a 2018 interview with The Guardian that meeting Michele influenced his decision to change the film’s ending, allowing the characters Harry and Sally to find lasting love together. “Originally, Harry and Sally didn’t get together,” he explained. “But then I met Michele and I thought: OK, I see how this works.”

Michele’s professional accomplishments extended far beyond her connection to the beloved film. As a photographer, she captured the cover image for Donald Trump’s 1987 bestseller “The Art of the Deal” and worked as a special photographer on the 1990 horror classic “Misery.” She later evolved her career into producing, with credits including “Spinal Tap II: The End Continues,” “God & Country,” “Albert Brooks: Defending My Life,” and the political drama “Shock and Awe.”

Actor and producer Rita Wilson paid tribute to Michele’s creative vision and social conscience: “Michele was an enormously talented photographer whose eye applied not only to what she captured on film but also to her own personal esthetic. Her work as a producer focused on social justice and creating awareness of our world. She was wry, funny, opinionated but also reasonable and self-reflective.”

In a controversial response to the tragedy, former President Trump posted unsubstantiated claims linking the killings to Rob Reiner’s outspoken political opposition to him—comments that drew criticism from across the political spectrum. Trump did not acknowledge his personal connection to Michele through her work on his book cover.

The Reiners were known for more than their entertainment industry accomplishments. They were passionate advocates for social justice causes, particularly LGBTQ+ rights. Both served as board members of the American Foundation for Equal Rights, which spearheaded federal court challenges to California’s 2008 same-sex marriage ban, Proposition 8.

Fellow board member Dustin Lance Black, who collaborated with Rob Reiner on the play “8” about the landmark trial that overturned the proposition, expressed his grief: “The world has lost two of its greatest champions of justice, love and equality. I have lost two of the most spectacular human beings I will ever know.”

Michele’s commitment to justice was deeply personal, inspired in part by her mother’s experience as a Holocaust survivor. Her drive to address injustice was frequently cited by Rob, who once noted, “There’s just too much injustice in the world, and she wants to fix it all.”

Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, highlighted the couple’s crucial role in advancing LGBTQ+ rights: “So many in our movement remember how Rob and Michele organized their peers, brought strategists and lawyers together and helped power landmark Supreme Court decisions that made marriage equality the law of the land—and they remained committed to the cause until their final days.”

The couple’s love story had a cinematic quality from the beginning. Rob Reiner recalled to The New York Times in 1989 that when Michele first visited the “When Harry Met Sally…” set, cinematographer Barry Sonnenfeld immediately predicted their marriage. “I look over and I see this girl, and whoo! I was attracted immediately,” Rob recounted. “I wormed my way into their lunch. But that’s what he said to me: ‘You’re going to marry her.’ And one thing led to another and here we are.”

Their deaths mark not only the loss of two influential entertainment industry figures but also passionate advocates whose work helped reshape both American cinema and the landscape of civil rights.