Last night, before I went to bed, I learned that a weekend dominated by two stories of murder, the Brown University and the Australian Hannakuh Party mass shootings, had ended on another one: The killing of actor/director/political activist Rob Reiner, and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner.

Not a great weekend, to say the least. To make it worse, as of this writing, his son, who has battled addiction most of his adult life, has been arrested as a suspect. For me personally, as a big fan of the man, it was terrible to hear. Similar to Phil Hartman, John Lennon, and Tupac Shakur, his murder has become part of Reiner’s story. This is tragic.

Enough of that. I want to remember the man and why he was well-liked. First, let’s look at his art.

I am gaining on the title of Officially Old, given I was born the month before the Summer of Love kicked off. So, even as a kid who might not have understood everything the show was about, All in the Family was must-see TV in the FDR/JFK/MLK Dem house I grew up in. My mom was always careful to explain to me that Archie Bunker’s opinions are being laughted AT, and not with. And that The Meathead’s, The Dingbat’s, and The Little Girl’s opinions were closer to what we should hold.

Reiner played Michael, aka The Meathead, as both a parody of the 60s-70s leftie and as a complicated human being with a lot of flaws. He wasn’t always the best husband or father, and wrecked his marriage to Gloria via an affair. But Reiner and Carroll O’Connor as Archie personified the generational and political divide of the time. A great example of this is when Michael meets Archie for the first time.

All in the Family was a cultural behemoth in the 1970s. Reiner was, of course, the son of a TV legend, Carl Reiner. So he came from fame, and the show made him a star. A lot of actors who star in a big show end up having a difficult time moving onto the next project, but not Rob Reiner.

He turned to directing, and his debut became a cult classic: This Is Spinal Tap. He followed that up with an underrated teen comedy, The Sure Thing, which also featured a breakthrough performance by a teenage John Cusack. Then he went on quite a five-film run, starting with Stand By Me. Then he dropped The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally…, Misery, and A Few Good Men.

The first seven films he directed are remarkable in their variety and quality. Spinal Tap’s portrayal of a has-been hard rock band struggling to save their career became a template for later mockumentary comedies, including those directed by Spinal Tap member Christopher Guest. The Sure Thing stood out because it was a smart teen comedy in a time when a lot of teen comedies were dumb and crass, like Porky’s. Stand By Me manages to translate one of Stephen King’s major skills, remembering what it was like to be a kid, into an all-time great coming-of-age movie. The Princess Bride is both very funny and tells an outstanding fantasy story, one of the very best of that genre. When Hally Met Sally… could have been a rather annoying cliched story in less capable hands, but in Reiner’s, it became an all-time classic romcom. Misery, another Stephen King adaptation, is a masterpiece of psychological horror with great performances by Kathy Bates and James Caan. And finally, while at times a bit silly, A Few Good Men is a top 10 all-time courtroom drama.

After this, Reiner had a major misstep with North, and I feel like he never quite recovered to his former greatness, but no matter. Those first seven movies are a career in and of themselves. Just think of the impact on our culture that Reiner has had, just via quotes from his movies. “This goes to 11.” “You guys want to see a body?” “You can’t handle the truth!” I’ll have what she’s having.” “INCONCEIVABLE!” “I’m your number one fan.” These are all cultural totems that get referenced all the time. I mean, the man more or less helped to create the concept of a bucket list as a thing people do.

And I didn’t even touch on his political activism, which was wonderful and perhaps a subject for another time.

What a life. It should have never ended this way.

The last word goes to his former All in the Family costars.