Sandwiched between Bel-Air and Santa Monica, the Los Angeles neighborhood of Brentwood has long been home to more than its fair share of industry captains, actors, directors, musicians, media stars and professional athletes.
But despite the tall fences, multimillion-dollar homes and shack names, residents say Brentwood feels like a small town. It’s not uncommon to see a famous face in a coffee shop or supermarket, or strolling along San Vicente Boulevard.
“You might as well be walking around the Country Mart and, hey, there’s Dustin Hoffman. It happens,” said Jeff Hall, founder of the Brentwood News and a Brentwood resident for 35 years.
Now, residents here are reeling from the murder of Hollywood legend Rob Reiner and his photographer wife, Michele. Reiner was a popular figure among the legions of fans, as well as those who called him neighbors. Adding to the pain was the arrest of their son Nick, who lived in the Reiners’ guest house and grew up in the area.
Since the news of the killing of this incident appeared on Sunday, the international media has entered the public. The streets are full of TV trucks broadcasting live and journalists trying to make sense of the violence.
This is also something Brentwood knows. In 1962, Marilyn Monroe’s death brought notoriety. Then, 31 years ago, Brentwood was besieged for months by one of the deadliest murders ever. Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman were found stabbed to death outside Brown’s condo on Bundy Drive. Days later, OJ Simpson was arrested after leading police on a “low-speed chase” from Orange County to the gates of his Brentwood estate on Rockingham Avenue.
The world’s media camped out, and sometimes it seemed like they wouldn’t leave. Mezzaluna, the Italian restaurant where Brown ate his last meal, became a tourist attraction for a time, as did Starbucks where Goldman and Brown hung out with friends. (Simpson’s house was demolished a few years later.)
Residents hope Reiner’s case will not be a repeat of Simpson’s drama.
Larry Watts, 86, a lawyer who has lived in the community for more than 50 years, lamented the stigma Simpson’s killing has brought to the area.
“I remember talking to people from other parts of the country after the OJ thing and, if you say you’re from Brentwood, that’s something they’ll say immediately,” Watts said. “They were asking, ‘Did you see OJ chasing?’
OJ Simpson was followed on the 91 Freeway in Buena Park in June 1994.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
“When the OJ thing happened, people came down to Brentwood with cameras,” Hall told the Brentwood News. “People would stay at LAX for two hours and drive out to Brentwood to check it out. We had traffic jams for months.”
Myles Berkowitz recalled leaving his home and walking several blocks during the chase to see the Bronco pull out onto Sunset Boulevard with his own eyes, and watch it head toward Simpson’s Brentwood home.
Berkowitz said the glitz of the international spotlight is amazing, even if running into an A-lister at a store is an everyday occurrence.
“The thing about Brentwood is that in some ways it’s still a small town,” Berkowitz said. “Obviously, there are many celebrities who live here, but they are all neighbors.”
People and dogs walked past the Reiners’ Brentwood neighborhood on Monday. Neighbors are used to seeing famous people in town, and treat them like locals.
(Caroline Brehman / Associated Press)
Brentwood neighbors are used to seeing famous faces in town, and treat them like locals.
“They know we know who they are, but you don’t do anything about it,” Berkowitz said. “Most of our children go to the same school or play in the same sports league, or compete against each other on school teams.”
Asked which celebrities he usually gets to know in this area, Berkowitz refused to comment on this record, saying “it wouldn’t be neighborly to do that.” However, he said he met “a healthy number of people named in the Adam Sandler song Hanukkah.”
Photographers, reporters and television cameras crowded outside the gates of OJ Simpson’s estate in Brentwood in October 1995.
(Paul Sakuma/Associated Press)
Similar to what happened in 1994, Watts now finds himself explaining to people that Brentwood is a safe community after Reiner’s murder. Violent crime is not uncommon here, but he said he understands why heinous crimes like the murders of Simpson and Goldman, and now Reiner, get so much attention.
“This could have happened in any community,” Watts said. “The only thing that’s different about Brentwood is that the victims were very high-profile, and there are a lot of high-profile people in the entertainment industry who live in Brentwood.”
The Reiners may have been Hollywood’s top figures with wealth, influence and political connections, but the family’s tragic struggle with drug addiction and mental health is affecting people inside and outside of Brentwood, Watts said.
A pedestrian walks past a line of cameras outside the Brentwood home of the Reiners.
(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)
“I think people are very angry, and saddened by these incidents,” he said.
Hall agreed, saying that “the families who are going through this – and there are many – know how hard this is.”
It’s unclear how long the light will remain in Brentwood.
At the Rockingham estate that OJ and Nicole Brown Simpson once called home, traffic is normal. But about a mile and a half from Helena Drive sits the former home of Marilyn Monroe, where she was found dead. Spectators still drive and often park in front of the Hollywood icon’s home.
In August 1962, police and reporters stood at the gate of Marilyn Monroe’s home in Brentwood, where she was found dead.
(Harold Filan/Associated Press)
The community has seen some dramatic moments, but residents say they expect things to return to normal. For neighbors, Reiner’s death means the loss of a community member – a connection that cannot be shown on television cameras or heard by curious onlookers.
“When the news started spreading that Reiners son Nick was mentally ill [and] addiction issues, any shock I felt quickly changed,” Hall said.
