Results: Carl Reiner Dead At 98 -- A Life Spent Making People Laugh
Published on 07/03/2020
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1.
1.
Carl Reiner was responsible for some of the best comedy on the big and small screen, in his over 70 year career. Although he was a gifted comic actor, he spent most of his career slightly out of the spotlight — writing, directing and letting others get the laughs. Were you a fan of Carl Reiner?
Yes
50%
1159 votes
Not really
23%
525 votes
No
10%
244 votes
Do not know who he is
17%
400 votes
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To sum up his career would probably take twenty surveys, as the list of shows and movies he had a part in, is that long. He has won numerous awards for directing, writing, acting and screenwriting. So, with complete knowledge that I have missed many, here is a short list of some of his best work -- which on here are your favourites?
Your Show of Shows
6%
150 votes
The Dick Van Dyke Show
51%
1178 votes
The 2000 Year Old Man
8%
184 votes
Oh, God!
20%
473 votes
The Jerk
22%
515 votes
Enter Laughing
3%
67 votes
The Comic
4%
86 votes
Where's Poppa?
2%
48 votes
The Man With Two Brains
7%
155 votes
Ocean's Twelve
23%
546 votes
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
12%
282 votes
Toy Story 4
22%
509 votes
All of Me
7%
160 votes
Hot In Cleveland
16%
369 votes
All of them
5%
117 votes
None
13%
311 votes
Do not know who he is
13%
307 votes
Other (please specify)
1%
14 votes
The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming
14%
337 votes
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Besides his tremendous contributions to film and television, his legacy is so much more than just to entertain and keep us laughing. He was a devoted family man, and his pride and joy were his three children -- Rob Reiner, who was a gifted comedian and director in his own right (This Is Spinal Tap, All In The Family, When Harry Met Sally), author Annie Reiner, and artist Lucas Reiner. He married singer Estelle Lebost and they were married for 65 years until her death in October 2008. Estelle delivered the line "I'll have what she's having" in the deli scene of their son Rob's 1989 film When Harry Met Sally. Here are a few more interesting facts about Carl Reiner's life -- how many did you already know?
Reiner described himself as a Jewish atheist. He said, "I have a very different take on who God is. Man invented God because he needed him. God is us."
8%
191 votes
The workplace scenes in "The Dick Van Dyke Show" were inspired by Reiner's time with Sid Caesar (although Reiner insisted that his character, Alan Brady was only partly based on Caesar). The domestic scenes were set in New Rochelle, N.Y., where Reiner lived at the time, and Mary Tyler Moore's character was modelled on his wife, Estelle.
16%
371 votes
Reiner served in the Army from 1942 to 1946. He was assigned to a Special Entertainment Unit on his way to Iwo Jima, and went on to tour the Pacific as a comedic performer.
7%
172 votes
Reiner received an Emmy in 1995 for his role as Alan Brady on "Mad About You," a character he originated on "The Dick Van Dyke Show"
9%
206 votes
In 1999, Reiner received the Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.
6%
134 votes
Reiner is also a published author-–he wrote more than two dozen books, including the children's book "Tell Me a Scary Story… But Not Too Scary!" in 2003
5%
120 votes
In 2017 he was prominently featured in "If You're Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast," a documentary about people who remained active into their 90s.
4%
95 votes
In his last years he maintained an active Twitter account, which he used primarily for political commentary.
4%
93 votes
Knew all of these
6%
130 votes
None
50%
1160 votes
Do not know who he is
13%
291 votes
His close friendship with comic Mel Brooks goes back over 70 years, and both men considered themselves "best friends"
19%
437 votes
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Finally, here are some quotes of his, on comedy and life in general. Which of these do you like?
Everybody wants to laugh - you know that. They need to laugh... people need to laugh.
19%
439 votes
Even failures can turn into something positive if you just keep going. I wrote a television pilot called 'Head of the Family.' CBS didn't want it. It was considered a failure. But we reworked it. A year later, it became 'The Dick Van Dyke Show.'
14%
321 votes
Comedians are really writers who don't have pens and pencils about them, but they riff.
8%
181 votes
If you write, write about what you do and who you are, and you can't be wrong. Don't lie about anything. You are very similar to everybody else in the world. You love, you hate, you have friends, you have enemies. Be who you are.
13%
307 votes
The key to longevity is to interact with other people.
13%
312 votes
I think that comedy really tells you how it is. The other thing about comedy is that - you don't even know if you're failing in drama, but you do know when you're failing in comedy. When you go to a comedy and you don't hear anybody laughing, you know that you've failed.
9%
212 votes
The absolute truth is the thing that makes people laugh.
13%
303 votes
All
9%
221 votes
None
53%
1226 votes
I'm a charming coward; I fight with words.
7%
164 votes
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