Geary played a friend of Reiner’s Mike “Meathead” Stivic in a season 1 episode.

Rob Reiner and Anthony Geary shared scene in classic All in the Family episode decades before dying on same day

Geary played a friend of Reiner's Mike "Meathead" Stivic in a season 1 episode.

By Raechal Shewfelt

Raechal Shewfelt

Raechal Shewfelt is a writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2024. Her work has previously appeared on Yahoo and in American *Journalism Review* and *The Shreveport Times*.

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December 16, 2025 12:52 a.m. ET

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Anthony Geary and Rob Reiner on 'All in the Family' in 1971. Credit:

Rob Reiner and Anthony Geary — two figures who will continue to loom large in pop culture history — have much more than a date of death in common.

The men — both 78 — were part of the 1971 *All in the Family* episode titled "Judging Books by Covers." It was just the fifth ever episode of the iconic sitcom.

In it, Reiner played his regular role of Michael Stivic, who was known as "Meathead," on the groundbreaking Norman Lear series that addressed topics such as race, gender, and politics that were controversial and ignored by other shows.

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But while Reiner was part of the show long-term — he stayed through eight of the sitcom's nine seasons — Geary would only appear in that one half-hour of television with him. He would become best known for his work in daytime TV.

Beginning in 1978, he played Luke Spencer on *General Hospital*, one half of that show's beloved couple, Luke and Laura. Their wedding was a must-watch event and was seen by an estimated 30 million viewers.

Seven years earlier, Geary portrayed Meathead's friend Roger, who baffled star Carroll O'Connor's character, infamous bigot Archie Bunker. Archie suspected that Roger was gay because of the way he acts, but he ends up finding out that one of his own friends is.

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In 2010, Reiner, who won two Emmys for his work, told *CBS Sunday Morning* that people still called him Meathead on "almost a daily basis."

"I love that, because I had such a great experience with the show," Reiner said. "I'm so proud of it. And I've often said, no matter what I do in life, I could win the Nobel Prize, the headline would read, Meathead wins Nobel.'"

Reiner and wife Michele were found dead Sunday in their Los Angeles home. Their son Nick was arrested in connection with their deaths, and he is being held without bail.**

Anthony Geary and Rob Reiner in their later years.

Donna Svennevik/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty; John Nacion/Variety via Getty

Geary, who won eight Daytime Emmys for his portrayal of Luke, died Sunday in the Netherlands. He had undergone an operation three days before, his husband, Claudio Gama, confirmed to TV Insider.

In addition to his extensive work on *General Hospital*, which he left in 2015, Geary appeared on shows including *The Young and the Restless*, *Hotel*, and *Murder, She Wrote*.

* All in the Family* is available to stream on Tubi and Pluto TV.**

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