Rob Reiner Reflects on the Surprising History of His Brentwood Home

Resurfaced footage from 2010 showing Rob Reiner giving a tour of his beloved Brentwood home has taken on a haunting significance in light of recent events. The once-peaceful sanctuary he shared with his wife, Michelle, later became the scene of a tragic crime.

In the CBS Sunday Morning segment, Reiner proudly walks viewers through the house, noting its remarkable Hollywood history. “The person who first owned this house was Henry Fonda,” Reiner says, adding that the legendary actor even planted many of the roses still growing on the property.

One room Reiner affectionately calls the “ego room” displays memorabilia from his long career, including one of the two Emmy Awards he won for his iconic role as Archie Bunker’s son-in-law, “Meathead,” on Norman Lear’s groundbreaking sitcom All in the Family. Long before becoming a celebrated film director, that role helped define his early career.

Reiner often described Norman Lear as a second father. Their bond was so close that when Lear lived in the Brentwood home, Reiner would play tennis there as a young man. “I used to say, if I ever had enough money to buy a house, this is the kind of house I’d want,” Reiner recalled, admiring its New England charm.

Fate eventually brought the home back into his life. After Reiner married Michelle in 1989, she went house hunting while he was working and unknowingly came across the very same property. As Reiner later explained in a 2015 PBS interview, Michelle initially hesitated to tell him the house once belonged to Norman Lear, thinking it might seem strange. When she finally did, Reiner realized it was exactly the home he had always dreamed of owning.

Beyond Lear, the house’s legacy includes other icons of Hollywood’s golden age. Lear had purchased it from actor Paul Henreid, best known for Casablanca and Now, Voyager. The original owner was Henry Fonda, famed for 12 Angry Men, The Grapes of Wrath, and On Golden Pond. Jane Fonda and Peter Fonda were both born in the house.

Jane Fonda, a close friend of Rob and Michelle, later shared a deeply emotional message, revealing she had seen the couple just days earlier at Conan O’Brien’s Christmas party. “They looked healthy and happy,” she wrote, expressing her shock and grief at their sudden loss.