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CNN Live At Daybreak

Rob Reiner Discusses Carroll O'Connor Upon His Death

Aired June 22, 2001 - 07:17   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Back in 1971, years before becoming a celebrated director, Rob Reiner was known more for being comedian Carl Reiner's son. Well, Reiner told our crew yesterday what he learned from working with Carroll O'Connor in "All in the Family."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROB REINER, DIRECTOR: He didn't ever go for the easy laugh. It was always important to him to maintain the integrity of the characters, the honesty, the reality of the characters, and that the humor would come out of that. He used to say all the time if you have a good story, and you have good writing, you don't have to act -- the story will support you. And he taught me that you don't have to do any kind of theatrical gymnastics in order to make something work, if you did your work as writers and playwrights.

He encouraged all of us to participate in the process of creating the shows. We weren't just actors who showed up to do our work. He created an atmosphere that allowed us all to contribute. And we looked into our own feeling about social and political issues of the day, and those feelings informed every show that we did. I think that's one of the reasons that the show was as good as it is. Aside from how brilliant an actor he was, it was the tone that he helped set, along with Norman Lear, that allowed the shows to be as good as they were.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rob, where were you when you heard?

REINER: I had just come back from San Francisco. I had a commission meeting today in San Francisco, and my plane just landed, and I was driving over here to Dodger Stadium in the car; somebody called and told me that he had died.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And when was the last time you saw him or talked to him?

REINER: I believe I saw him in a restaurant out in Malibu. We ran into each other.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Recently?

REINER: Fairly recently. I wasn't close to him over the last few years, but whenever we did see each other and whenever we ran into each other, it was always a tremendous amount of affection and fondness, and I will always have that for him.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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