Carl Reiner’s comedic instincts, appreciation for collective talent and abilities in a writers’ room made him a legend, says Gene Seymour, and Reiner never stopped showing up to live what he described as the « best life possible. »
Gene Seymour is a film critic who has written about music, movies and culture for The New York Times, Newsday, Entertainment Weekly and The Washington Post. Follow him on Twitter @GeneSeymour. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author. View more opinion at CNN.
Ninety-eight?
Too soon.
Way too soon.
Gene Seymour
Come on, now. You know that’s funny. Carl Reiner would have known that was funny. He’d back me up on it — except that he’s the one who died at age 98.
He’d also know why it’s funny. « The absolute truth, » Reiner said, « is the thing that makes people laugh. »
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And Reiner, even though he was at the age when, to paraphrase Casey Stengel, most other people are dead, was still an active, sharp-witted presence on the pop-cultural scene along with his lifelong pal and frequent foil Mel Brooks. Both of them, just this past weekend, were photographed celebrating Brooks’ 94th (!) birthday wearing « Black Lives Matter » shirts.
And now he’s dead? Already? The way Reiner was going, we all thought he’d have 98 more years. At least.
Carl Reiner, left, with star Dick Van Dyke appear in a scene from « The Dick Van Dyke Show. »
It’s also funny, just as an aside, because Reiner appreciated funny numbers. And 98 happens to be one of those numbers that, for whatever mysterious reason, is a funny number. Like 32. or 63.
