Wednesday, May 01, 2013 6:00 PM
The Los Angeles Press Club is thrilled to announce this year’s honoree for the President’s Award is a Hollywood legend. Carl Reiner is a director-actor- writer-producer-recording artist-comedian and tweeter who hasundefinedso farundefinedgarnered twelve Emmy Awards and one Grammy Award.
The President’s Award ”for impact on media” will be presented at the press club’s upcoming 100th year celebration on June 23rd at the Biltmore Hotel, Downtown Los Angeles. The award recognizes those whose energy and effort had an impact on media and our society.
“We are utterly delighted that Carl Reiner, whose career has spanned seven decades, is our honoree during the Press Club’s special Centennial Anniversary year. Mr. Reiner has seen it all, acting as an inspiration to people who care about what makes us laugh, what makes us think and what makes us human,” says LAPC President Jill Stewart.
Born in the Bronx, Reiner is the son of a watchmaker. At age 16, he was interested in baseball but took a job as a machinist’s helper while enrolling in drama school at the same time, landing a part as a second tenor in The Merry Widow. Reiner then served in World War II, training for numerous jobs, including as a comedian and actor with Maurice Evans’ Special Services Entertainment Unit. After the war he acted in various Broadway musicals, including “Call Me Mister,” and “Inside U.S.A.,” before joining Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca on Your Show of Shows.
In 1961, Reiner conceived, wrote and co-starred as the toupee-wearing producer in the The Dick Van Dyke Show, one of the most famous and best loved sitcoms in TV history. That same year, he wrote his first feature film, The Thrill of It All.
Reiner also has directed or acted in numerous films, including The Russians Are Coming,
The Russians Are Coming, It’s A Man, Mad, Mad, Mad World, Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid andThe Jerk. One of his most recent, memorable acting roles was as Saul Bloom in the remake ofOcean’s Eleven and its sequels Ocean’s Twelve and Ocean’s Thirteen.
His many other TV acting credits include roles in The Bernie Mack Show, Crossing Jordan andBoston Legal. He appears regularly now on Betty White’s show Hot in Cleveland, as well as The Cleveland Show. He is the only guest to appear on the Tonight Show with each of its five hosts.
Reiner also has written many books, including his first novel, Enter Laughing, in 1958; numerous children’s books; and his latest, his memoir, I Remember Me, released this year.
In 1999 he won a Grammy Award with Mel Brooks for Best Spoken Word/Comedy Album, forThe Two Thousand Year Old Man. In the same year, he was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame, and then in 2001 received the Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize in Comedy.
Reiner was married for 64 years to Estelle, who died in 2008. They have three children together: Rob Reiner, a director actor-producer; Dr. Annie Reiner, a psycho-analyst-poet-painter-playwright,; and Lucas Reiner, a painter-screenwriter-director. They are the proud grandparents of five grandchildren. He calls all three of his children “terribly civilized, wonderful human beings.”
