If you grew up in the late 90s, you probably remember Heelys and color-changing Hypercolor shirts. If so, you likely would have loved watching the Brentwood Bunch!
Because they were truly living the dream.
The children of Hollywood’s wealthy elite lived a privileged life, filled with lavish parties, sleepovers, and barbecues. They grew up on sprawling estates, primarily in the upscale Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, enjoying complete privacy thanks to high hedges and a dedicated staff including butlers, housekeepers, and private chefs.
Demi Moore and Bruce Willis, who were married at the time, often brought their three daughters to playdates with the three children of director Rob Reiner. The families lived close by in Beverly Hills, and all six children eventually went to the same high school. As Moore has explained, their kids essentially grew up together.
Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver often visited Rob Reiner and his family with their four children. The Reiner’s home on Sunset Boulevard became a popular spot for gatherings with friends, including couples like Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise, Catherine O’Hara and Martin Short, and Steve Martin and Billy Crystal.
Rob was known for being welcoming and always having friends around. ‘You could always count on him for anything,’ said someone familiar with the group to the Daily Mail.
They share house keys with each other, so it’s like they can come and go as they please. You could easily stop by Rob’s and say hello to his dog, or even just see him relaxing with the newspaper.
This group goes beyond just being friends – they’ve created a close-knit world of their own. Having all achieved success in Hollywood, they uniquely understand each other, the pressures of fame, and the challenges of raising kids in the public eye. They function like a supportive system, helping each other navigate the often-difficult landscape of the entertainment industry, and in Rob’s family, they’ve done so for many generations.
But that blissful bubble has now exploded, in devastating fashion.
Filmmaker Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele, were discovered dead at their home in Brentwood on December 14th. Their 32-year-old son, Nick, who has a history of drug use, has been charged with their murders, but has entered a plea of not guilty.
The next month, they lost another cast member, Catherine O’Hara, who unexpectedly passed away at age 71 due to a blood clot caused by cancer.
This week, on Monday, Short’s daughter Katherine, age 42, tragically died by suicide. Katherine was close to O’Hara and had been a childhood friend of Nick Reiner.
Now, the reeling remnants of this tight-knit group are left asking: What on Earth is going on?
According to a source, the sheer scale of the terrible things that happened to these people in such a short period is difficult to comprehend. They expressed feeling lost, repeatedly asking why this occurred.
What really connects the group known as the ‘Brentwood Bunch’ – like many close adult friendships – is their kids. Their children went to school together and practically grew up as one big extended family, spending a lot of time at each other’s houses.
But of course, this being Hollywood, the film industry was another uniting factor.
Martin Short and Rob Reiner were extremely close friends, part of each other’s tight-knit group, and lived nearby, according to a source.
We shared many happy times together – holidays, birthday celebrations, and dinner parties. The children were always close, constantly enjoying each other’s company.
While most of the gang members were originally from West LA, several – including their leader, Short – actually came from Canada. However, their criminal activities eventually led them to operate in the West LA area.
Born in Hamilton, near Toronto, 75-year-old Short developed strong, lasting friendships with people from his hometown. Several of these friends later joined him in Los Angeles, forming a close-knit group.
Chief among them was Eugene Levy, who studied alongside Short at McMaster University.
They began acting together in college shows, and after graduating, they both played leading roles in a well-known 1972 production of Godspell in Toronto. Nancy Dolman, who would later become Short’s wife, was also part of the cast.
Both Danny Levy and Howard Short purchased homes in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, near Brentwood. Short bought his in 1986 and raised his three adopted children there, while Levy’s purchase was in 2006.
Levy’s two children – actor and actress Dan, now 42, and Sarah, 39 – were both raised in Canada.
In 1994, Catherine O’Hara, a friend of Short’s from their teenage years and a successful actress, purchased a house in Brentwood.
Martin Short and Eugene Levy first connected when Short was 18 and later worked together on the popular Canadian comedy show Second City Television, which aired from 1976 to 1984.
The children of Levy, Short, and O’Hara all grew up around the same time. O’Hara’s sons, Luke and Matthew, actually worked behind the scenes on the sitcom Schitt’s Creek, where they helped with set design. Their mother starred in the show with Eugene and Dan Levy.
Matthew, now 31, was in Nick Reiner’s class at Wildwood School.
And then there was Ottawa-born Dan Aykroyd.
I met Danny Aykroyd at Gilda Radner’s birthday party,” Short recalled. Radner, a comedian from Detroit, was one of the first seven cast members on Saturday Night Live.
It was June 28th, 1972, and we were practicing for the musical Godspell. Danny Aykroyd and his comedy partner at the time, Valri Bromfield, played the roles of Gilda’s parents, who were from Detroit, and they stayed in character all night long.
I remember thinking, ‘Who are these people?’ I was dating Gilda, and Danny and Valri would often ride with us in her white Volvo. I’d even intentionally get lost just to spend more time with them – they were so hilarious, I didn’t want the ride to end.
Dan Aykroyd’s three daughters, Belle (32) and Stella (27), both attended Wildwood School. Belle was in the same class as Nick Reiner, and Stella grew up with Nick’s sister, Romy Reiner, who is now 28.
Stella and Romy remain close friends, and it’s not surprising given they grew up alongside the children of famous actors like Steven Spielberg and Meryl Streep. They’re often seen together even now.
Nick went to school with both Josh Brolin’s daughter, Eden, age 32, and her stepsister, Eleanor Lambert. Eleanor’s mother, Diane Lane, was once married to Josh Brolin.
Barbra Streisand, who is Josh Brolin’s stepmother, had a strong connection with Rob Reiner. She explained they both started out in the entertainment industry around the same time and praised him as both a talented actor and director, as well as a dedicated and caring person.
Key to many of this group’s careers – and connections – was the seminal 1992 film, A Few Good Men.
I remember when ‘A Few Good Men’ came out – it was amazing! Rob Reiner did such a fantastic job directing it, and the cast was incredible. Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, and Demi Moore all starred in it, and it really resonated with audiences. It even got nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture, which I thought it deserved!
When the movie was filmed, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman had been married for under a year. Cruise had also recently purchased a large house with five bedrooms in the Palisades, located just a short distance from director Rob Reiner’s home.
The couples would become close.
According to Heat World, Tom and Nicole used to be very close with Rob and Michele Reiner, often going on double dates with them. A source described the two couples as remarkably well-matched.
Tom and Nicole started dating around the same time as Rob and Michele, and their relationships progressed in similar ways, even down to when they each had children.
Nicole and Tom were big supporters of Rob and his wife, and Tom especially admired Rob both as a person and for his work as a director.
In 1994, at the American Cinematheque’s yearly gala honoring Rob, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman were in attendance to show their support.
As their children grew, the Brentwood Bunch’s friendships solidified.
Billy Crystal was the energetic center of their group of friends, even though his daughters, Jennifer, 53, and Lindsay, 48, were actually older than Rob Reiner’s children.
Steve Martin, a frequent comedic partner of Martin Short, also lived nearby, even though his daughter Mary, who is now thirteen, is a completely different age.
Cazzie David, Larry David’s 31-year-old daughter, grew up with the children of Rob Reiner and Martin Short. Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn were often part of the same social circle.
But for some of the Brentwood Bunch kids, the challenges of fame became too intense.
Nick Reiner and Katherine Short, despite being ten years apart in age and attending different high schools—Katherine went to Marymount—became especially close to each other among all their siblings.
According to a source who spoke with the Daily Mail, Katherine and Nick connected because they both grew up in the shadow of famous parents. They bonded over the shared struggle of forging their own identities and finding their own paths, which proved to be very difficult for both of them.
It’s surprisingly common for children of celebrities to struggle with unhappiness. Many of them simply want to be known as themselves, rather than just as the children of famous people.
That might explain why, in 2012, Katherine legally changed her name to Katherine Hartley.
She explained her decision by saying her father is well-known, and as a psychiatric social worker, she worried that patients might harass her because of their connection to him.
Perhaps this experience explains why Katherine, as a teenager, decided to go to college at New York University on the East Coast, rather than stay in her hometown of Los Angeles. She eventually moved back, choosing to live in the Hollywood Hills, just a short 30-minute drive from her family.
By contrast, her two brothers chose to remain in the Palisades as adults.
Tallulah Willis, the 32-year-old daughter of Demi Moore and Bruce Willis, faced her own difficulties, similar to those experienced by Nick Reiner, whom she knew from Wildwood school.
In 2023, she shared her experiences in Vogue, detailing her journey with mental health and sobriety. She discussed seeking treatment for substance use starting at age 20, followed by rehab for depression and ADHD at 25, and a four-year battle with anorexia prior to that.
Growing up with famous parents was really tough. I always felt like I was searching for my own identity, trying to step out from under their incredibly large shadows. It was a constant struggle to find my own place in the spotlight, or even just a little bit of space to be myself.
Nick Reiner would certainly sympathize.
According to a source who spoke with Page Six, Nick felt a lot of resentment towards his father. This was happening while his sister, Romy, was building a thriving acting career and his brother, Jake, was writing his own movie scripts. Nick reportedly felt eclipsed by his father and grandfather, both of whom were very successful in creative fields.
Carl Reiner was a Hollywood icon, best known for creating the classic sitcom The Dick Van Dyke Show, helping launch the career of Steve Martin, and appearing in the popular Ocean’s Eleven films.
You know, I’ve worked with a lot of people struggling with family legacies, and it’s surprisingly common. In Nick’s case, it wasn’t admiration he felt for his talented father and grandfather, but something much more painful. A source told me he actually hated himself for not measuring up to their success and popularity. It’s a tough spot to be in – feeling overshadowed by those you should be celebrating – and it really highlights how damaging comparisons can be.
Their famous families tried to be understanding.
In 2015, Rob and Nick Reiner collaborated on the film Being Charlie. Rob directed, and Nick co-wrote this personal story about a famous actor who’s running for office and struggling with his son’s drug addiction.
In interviews to promote the project, they described the process as painful, but cathartic.
Yet Nick was already stressing how he wanted to stand on his own two feet.
When asked about working with his father again, he said he currently prefers to be independent.
When Nick was arrested in December, he was still living with his family. He had previously been to rehab at least 18 times.
To celebrate Katherine Short’s 40th birthday in October 2023, her father hosted a dinner with close family friends, including actress Catherine O’Hara, Goldie Hawn, and singer Joni Mitchell.
Just before Christmas last year, Nick was going through a difficult time again. His parents, wanting to cheer him up, brought him to a holiday party hosted by their friend, Conan O’Brien, at his large home in the Palisades – it was only a short drive from where they lived.
According to a Daily Mail source, Rob Reiner was in high spirits while surrounded by friends. The source mentioned he was having a lively conversation with Larry David and Sarah Silverman, and he and his wife, Michele, were among the last to leave, staying until around midnight to chat with guests.
Hours later, they would be dead.
‘People say why them?’ our source said of the Brentwood Bunch’s recent misfortune.
These are genuinely good people who take pride in their jobs and beliefs. There’s nothing scandalous about them – they’ve raised their children well and always strived to make good choices, especially considering the challenges of living and working in Hollywood.
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2026-02-28 03:51