"He was funny, he was smart, he was a mensch": Spinal Tap and Paul McCartney pay tribute to murdered film director Rob Reiner

Tributes to Rob Reiner, the film director murdered in Los Angeles on Sunday, and his wife, the actress and photographer Michel Reiner, have been paid by two of the cast members of the Spinal Tap movies.

Posting on Instagram, Harry Shearer, who played bassist Derek Smalls in the movies, said, "Rob was a friend and collaborator through much of my life. He was funny, he was smart, he was a mensch. When he came to see the comedy act I was in, and, later, the musical comedy I had co-written, his laugh was uproarious and audible around the block.

"He was a great collaborator, and when the four of us proposed ideas for the films, he was the one who wrote them on 3x5 cards and organised them into a movie. And Michele was a very good friend to my wife Judith. This is unspeakable, the stuff of Greek tragedy."

Meanwhile, actress Jamie Lee Curtis, who is married to Christopher Guest, the actor who plays Spinal Tap guitarist Nigel Tufnell, released a statement reflecting the couple's distress at the news.

"Christopher and I are numb and sad and shocked about the violent, tragic deaths of our dear friends Rob and Michele Singer Reiner," she wrote. "Our only focus and care right now is for their children and immediate families, and we will offer all support possible to help them."

"There will be plenty of time later to discuss the creative lives we shared and the great political and social impact they both had on the entertainment industry, early childhood development, the fight for gay marriage and their global care for a world in crisis. We have lost great friends. Please give us time to grieve."

Paul McCartney, who appeared in this year's Spinal Tap II: The End Continues, took to Instagram to share a photo of himself and Reiner on set.

"What a tragedy the death of Rob Reiner and his wife Michele is," he wrote. "It is so shocking in many ways, but for me especially so, because over the last year I had been working with him. He directed me in Spinal Tap II: The End Continues. He was such an upbeat, lovable man.

"Life can be so unfair and this tragedy proves it. His father, Carl Reiner, was a great humorist before him, and Rob followed in his dad’s footsteps, doing a terrific job making many great films. I will always have fond memories of Rob and the idea that he and his wife will no longer be in the world with us is heartbreaking."

Meanwhile, Jack White has slammed US President Donald Trump after he shared a widely-condemned post on Truth Social that claimed Reiner suffered from an "incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as Trump Derangement Syndrome" in addition to "obvious paranoia."

"Trump, you disgusting, vile, egomaniac, loser, child," wrote White. "Neither he nor any one of his followers can defend this gross, horrible insult to a beautiful artist who gave the world so much. To use someone's tragic death to promote your own vanity and fascist authoritarian agenda is a corrupt and narcissistic sin.

"Shame on you Trump, and anyone who defends this. God bless you Rob Reiner, and thank you for what you gave the world. I never even met you, and I still stand by you."

Nick Reiner, 32, has been arrested on suspicion of the murder of his father and his mother and is being held in jail in Los Angeles.