Carl Reiner, comedys rare untortured genius, dies at 98
(AP Photo/Harold Filan, File)NEW YORK Carl Reiner, who died Monday at 98, was the rare untortured genius of comedy, his career a story of laughter and camaraderie, of innovation and triumph and affection. Reiner died of natural causes at his Beverly Hills, California home, assistant Judy Nagy said. But CBS executives worried that Reiner would make Petrie seem too Jewish, so Van Dyke was cast instead. First lady Michelle Obama once joked that she preferred watching Dick Van Dyke to viewing her husbands debates. Reiner was the father of actor-director Rob Reiner, who starred as Archie Bunkers son-in-law on All in the Family and directed When Harry Met Sally... Rob Reiner said in a tweet Tuesday that his heart is hurting.
Herbert Stempel, TV quiz show whistleblower, dies at 93
Stempel's former wife, Ethel Stempel, told The Associated Press on Sunday, May 31, 2020, that he died at a New York nursing home on April 7. Stempel's former wife, Ethel Stempel, told The Associated Press on Sunday that he died at a New York nursing home on April 7. Interest was revived by the 1994 movie Quiz Show, directed by Robert Redford and starring John Turturro as Stempel and Ralph Fiennes as Van Doren, who died last year. Stempel and Van Doren were an obvious contrast: The fair-haired and handsome Van Doren, and the relatively plain Stempel, a stocky, dark-haired man with glasses and a flat, nasally accent. Van Doren, who had no further comment on the scandal until a 2009 essay in The New Yorker, was among those given suspended sentences for lying to the grand jury.