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Carl Reiner biography

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Carl Reiner created, wrote and produced The Dick Van Dyke Show. It was based on his experience as a television writer for Your Show of Shows.

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For his work on the show, he received three Emmy Award nominations and won twice, in 1957 and in 1958.

Sitcom Writer

Using his own experiences as a television writer, Reiner began developing a sitcom. Originally he was to be the show's star. A pilot for the series, then known as Head of the Family, was shot. But it was later reworked with Dick Van Dyke as its star. The Dick Van Dyke Show premiered in the fall of 1961 and its popularity grew steadily, developing into a big hit. Van Dyke played Rob Petrie as a writer who works on a sitcom called The Alan Brady Show with fellow comedy writers Sally Rogers (Rose Marie) and Maurice "Buddy" Sorrell (Morey Amsterdam). Only 23 years old when the show began, Mary Tyler Moore played his wife, Laurie. Reiner also appeared as Alan Brady, the cavalier comedy star. Some may have thought that his character was based on Sid Caesar, but Reiner told Daily Variety, "Alan Brady was a composite of Milton Berle, Phil Silvers and Jackie Gleason, who never spoke to [their] writers."

Behind the scenes, Reiner wrote most of the episodes and heavily edited the others. He also served as a producer on the show. All of his efforts paid off, winning three Emmy Awards for Outstanding Writing Achievement in Comedy and Variety consequently from 1962 to 1965. Reiner scored two more Emmy Awards as a producer when the show was recognized as Outstanding Program Achievements in Entertainment in 1965 and as Outstanding Comedy Series in 1966.

Film Career

Looking to go out on a high note, Reiner decided to end the show in 1966. The following year, he made his film directorial debut with Enter Laughing (1967), which was based on his 1958 semi-autobiographical novel by the same title. Already been adapted for the stage by Joseph Stein in the mid-1960s, Stein and Reiner co-wrote the screenplay for the film version. The story revolved around a young actor's start in show business.

In the 1970s, Reiner directed more films, most notably the box office hit as Oh, God! (1977) with comedian George Burns as the title character. He also worked with Steve Martin on several successful projects. Their first film together was the over-the-top comedy The Jerk (1979) in which Martin played a poor, simple-minded cat-juggling man who goes from rags to riches to rags again. Another box office hit for the duo was the supernatural All of Me (1984). In this romantic comedy, Martin played a lawyer with a dying client (Lily Tomlin) who tries to have her soul transferred to another woman. The transfer went wrong and her soul actually ends up in the body of Martin's character.

Later Work

Applying his comic talents to the printed page, Reiner published his second novel, All Kinds of Love in 1993. This was soon followed by Continue Laughing (1995). In 1997, Reiner and Mel Brooks teamed up to revisit their 2000 Year Old Man routine. The result was the book, The 2000 Year Old Man in the Year 2000, and a recording by the same title, which won the 1998 Grammy Award for Best Spoken Comedy Album.

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