Before Hollywood Fame, Rob Reiner Got His Start in Plymouth

PLYMOUTH (WBSM) — As the entertainment world mourns the loss of iconic actor, director and producer Rob Reiner and his wife Michele, remembrances have been pouring in from all over the world, including right from our own area in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

As it turns out, Reiner honed his acting craft at the age of 18 in Manomet, a seaside village of Plymouth, at the legendary Priscilla Beach Theatre.

Reiner, who was murdered along with his wife, allegedly by their son Nick, began his acting career right in our own backyard before going on to become “Meathead” on All in the Family and the man behind such classic films as This Is Spinal Tap, Stand By Me, When Harry Met Sally, Misery, A Few Good Men and so many others.

Early Acting Days in Plymouth

The year was 1965, and Reiner arrived in Plymouth along with his best friend Albert Brooks, who like Reiner would go on to become a famous actor and director in his own right. Back in those days, Brooks was still using his real name, Albert Einstein, and Reiner himself went by “Bob” instead of Rob.

Carl Reiner’s Role Behind the Scenes

The two came to the Priscilla Beach Theatre at the request of Reiner’s father, the legendary Carl Reiner.

“His father Carl had mailed the owner at the time, Jim Lonigro, saying his son wanted to get in the business and asked if he could spend a summer at Plymouth's Priscilla Beach Theatre for training,” said Bob Malone, current owner of PBT.

“He spent the summer in various shows, but the highlight of the season was him playing the lead part of David Kolowitz in a play called Enter Laughing. This play is based on a semi-autobiographical novel by Carl Reiner,” Malone said.

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Brooks was also cast in the show as "Mr. Foreman," giving the two best friends a chance to officially break into acting together. It must have been a proud moment for Carl Reiner to have his own son playing the character based on his life as his very first acting opportunity.

"Carl even came to Plymouth to see his son in the show," Malone said.

Enter Laughing was first published in 1958, and became a stage play in 1963. In 1967, it was turned into a feature film. Rob Reiner got his first movie role in that film, playing the character "Clark Baxter."

Life at the Plymouth Theatre Was Far From Glamorous

Back in 2016, Rob Reiner was a guest on the podcast WTF with Marc Maron, and he discussed his time in Plymouth.

“My first year out of college, I went and started acting in a company called the Priscilla Beach Theatre in Plymouth, Massachusetts, and Albert came with me,” Reiner told Maron.

Maron asked if the theatre was a prestigious gig.

“It was nothing prestigious at all,” Reiner said. “We lived up in a loft in a barn area, a loft and there was no toilet paper. One of the guys said, ‘It’s terrible, I have to wipe my ass with old (Variety magazines), so it was not luxury at all.”

Other Hollywood Stars Who Passed Through PBT

Reiner isn’t the only major Hollywood name to get his start at Priscilla Beach Theatre, which opened in 1937 and is one of America’s original “barn theatres.” Paul Newman, Estelle Parsons (who played Roseanne’s mother Beverly on Roseanne and The Connors), Peter Gallagher, Jennifer Coolidge and even Guardian Angels founder and recent New York City mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa performed there early in their careers.