The career-defining role of Annie Wilkes won Bates her first Academy Award.

Kathy Bates ‘absolutely devastated’ over Misery director Rob Reiner’s killing: ‘He changed the course of my life’

The career-defining role of Annie Wilkes won Bates her first Academy Award.

By Shania Russell

Shania Russell

Shania Russell is a news writer at *, *with five years of experience. Her work has previously appeared in SlashFilm and Paste Magazine.

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December 15, 2025 2:49 p.m. ET

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Kathy Bates and director Rob Reiner on the set of 'Misery'. Credit:

Columbia/Courtesy Everett

Kathy Bates, who broke out with her role in Rob Reiner's 1990 horror classic *Misery*, is mourning the director who she credits with changing her life.

Reiner, 78, and his wife, Michele Singer, 68, were found dead at their Brentwood home in Los Angeles on Sunday afternoon in an apparent double homicide. Hours later, their son Nick Reiner was arrested in connection with their deaths.

In a statement provided to **, Bates expressed her shock and grief over the news of the couple's tragic death. "I'’m horrified hearing this terrible news. Absolutely devastated," Bates began. "I loved Rob. He was brilliant and kind, a man who made films of every genre to challenge himself as an artist."

Kathy Bates in Misery.

Merrick Morton/Columbia Pictures

She continued, "He also fought courageously for his political beliefs. He changed the course of my life. Michele was a gifted photographer. She shot my beautiful photos for the *Misery* campaign. My heart breaks for them both. My thoughts are with their family."

Prior to landing her role in *Misery*, Bates was a working actress. She got her start in the '70s with minor theater roles and slowly built her credits with off-Broadway shows and guest stints in prime-time dramas and soap operas. *Misery* marked a seismic shift: a commercial and critical darling, the Reiner-directed film was Bates' Hollywood breakthrough.

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Her portrayal of obsessive nurse Annie Wilkes won Bates an Oscar and a Golden Globe for Best actress. As for Reiner, the film marked his second Stephen King adaptation, after 1986's *Stand by Me. *It also continued a legendary run from the director behind 1984's *This Is Spinal Tap, *1987's *The Princess Bride, *and 1989's* When Harry Met Sally.*

Rob Reiner and Kathy Bates attend the screening of "Misery" during the 2025 TCM Classic Film Festival at TCL Chinese Theatre on April 25, 2025.

Jesse Grant/Getty

Earlier this year, Bates and Reiner reunited at the 16th edition of the TCM Classic Film Festival to celebrate the 35th anniversary of *Misery*. During their conversation, Reiner revealed that he knew he has found his Annie mere seconds into Bates' audition.

"She read like two lines, I think, two or three lines, and I said, 'That’s enough, you can do this,'" he recalled. "She was like, 'What do you mean?' I’m cutting her off. I’m like, 'No, no you can do this, I know you can do it.'"

He continued, "And she went, 'Really?' And as she walked out of the room, she said, 'Can I call my mother?'"

Reiner's loss has been met with an outpouring of love from fans and former collaborators alike. The investigation into Rob and Michele's deaths remains ongoing and is presently being looked into as a homicide. TMZ reported that their deaths were attributed to lacerations consistent with a knife. Their son has been arrested on an alleged felony charge and is being held on $4 million bail.**

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