Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal to reunite for Oscars tribute to Rob Reiner: report
Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal are reportedly set to reunite at next week’s Oscars ceremony to honour slain director Rob Reiner.
The co-stars from the hit film When Harry Met Sally are expected to appear in the “In Memoriam” segment with other actors from Reiner’s films, Variety reported.
Reiner, 78, and his wife Michelle Singer Reiner, 70, were found dead at their home in the upmarket Los Angeles suburb of Brentwood on December 14.
Last week, their 32-year-old son, Nick Reiner, pleaded not guilty to their deaths by stabbing.
The 1989 classic When Harry Met Sally, remembered for its deli scene featuring the iconic line, “I’ll have what she’s having”,was a global hit, raking in US$193 million ($325m) at the box office.
Reiner, met his future wife during production of the film, with their romance prompting him to change the movie’s original ending.
Nick Reiner was allegedly seen behaving erratically at a party he attended with his parents at the home of comedian Conan O’Brien the evening before their killings.
A massage therapist reportedly arrived at the Reiners’ home for an appointment the following morning. However, when the couple did not answer the door, the therapist contacted their daughter, Romy, who discovered her father’s body. Paramedics later informed her that her mother had also been killed.
Nick Reiner was arrested that night and faces two counts of first-degree murder.
The couple’s deaths prompted an outpouring of grief across the entertainment industry.
Crystal and a group of Rob Reiner’s frequent collaborators, including Martin Short, Albert Brooks and Larry David, released a joint tribute, calling Reiner a master of his craft.
“Absorbing all he had learned from his father Carl and his mentor Norman Lear, Rob Reiner not only was a great comic actor, he became a master storyteller,” they wrote.
“There is no other director who has his range. From comedy to drama to ‘mockumentary’ to documentary he was always at the top of his game.
“He charmed audiences. They trusted him. They lined up to see his films.”
In addition to the Reiner tribute, Variety reported the Oscars were also in negotiations with Barbra Streisand to sing a tribute to Robert Redford, her The Way We Were co-star who died last year, aged 89.
New Zealand viewers can watch the Academy Awards, hosted by Conan O’Brien, live on Disney+ on Monday, March 16.