According to Variety, Jerry Seinfeld (Unfrosted, Letters from a Nut) paid his respect to fellow filmmaker and actor, Rob Reiner (I am Your Child, Comic Relief), with a recent post on Instagram. “Next to Larry David and George Shapiro, Rob Reiner had the biggest influence on my career.”

 

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A post shared by Jerry Seinfeld (@jerryseinfeld)

Even though Reiner made films like This is Spinal Tap, The Princess Bride, and When Harry Met Sally, Variety reports that he still gave Seinfeld the support needed that would make his show the huge hit that it turned out to be on NBC.

Seinfeld stated via Variety, “Our show would have never happened without him. He saw something no one else could. When nobody at the network liked the early episodes, he saved us from cancellation. I was working with Carl Reiner’s son, who happened to be one of the kindest people in show business, seemed unreal. I was naive at the time to how much his passion for us meant.”

The original pilot, “The Seinfeld Chronicles,” was not successful with NBC executives, nor with the test audiences. Reiner and his production company, Castle Rock Entertainment, executive-produced the show. And when it aired on July 5, 1989, the ratings were better than expected. Just then, NBC gave the green light, with a small budget, to film four more episodes. Variety noted that this was known as the smallest order in television history. Reiner accepted the offer from NBC only after he was turned down by other networks.

Variety also mentioned that Seinfeld made his final remarks, “Rob and Michele married right as our show was starting and they became an imprint for me of how it’s supposed to work, watch one broadening the other. Their death, together, is impossibly sad.”

Reiner, 78, and his wife, Michele, 68, were found dead in their Brentwood home Sunday afternoon. Their son, Nick Reiner, 32, has been charged with alleged first-degree murder in their deaths.