Editing Carl Reiner (section)

==Early life==
Reiner was born in [[The Bronx, New York]], on March 20, 1922, to Irving and Bessie Reiner (''née'' Mathias). He was Jewish.<ref>{{cite news| last=Brown| first=Hannah| date=July 1, 2020| publisher=The Jerusalem Post| title=Carl Reiner, American Jewish comedy legend dies at 98| url=https://m.jpost.com/israel-news/culture/carl-reiner-jewish-american-comedy-great-dead-at-98-633324| access-date=August 27, 2024}}</ref> His father was a watchmaker<ref>{{EmmyTVLegends name|carl-reiner}}</ref><ref name=james>''St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture'', St. James Press, (2000)</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.filmreference.com/film/78/Carl-Reiner.html|title=Carl Reiner Biography (1922–2020)|work=Film Reference|year=2020}}</ref> from [[First Austrian Republic|Austria]], and his mother was from [[Kingdom of Romania|Romania]].<ref name="jta">{{cite news|first=Tugend |last=Tom |date=June 15, 2008 |url=http://www.jta.org/news/article/2008/06/15/108983/carlrobreiner06152008 |publisher=The Jewish Telegraphic Agency |title=Reiners honored by Israeli film fest |access-date=July 21, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120924102500/http://www.jta.org/news/article/2008/06/15/108983/carlrobreiner06152008 |archive-date=September 24, 2012 }}</ref> He had an older brother, Charles, who served in the 9th Division in World War II; his ashes are buried at [[Arlington National Cemetery]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2001/film/news/ed-mcmahon-heads-for-times-square-1117797777/|title=Ed McMahon heads for Times Square|date=April 25, 2001|access-date=July 23, 2013|magazine=Variety}}</ref>

When Reiner was 16, working as a machinist repairing sewing machines, Charles read about a free drama workshop sponsored by the [[Works Progress Administration]] and told him about it. Carl later credited Charles with his decision to change careers.<ref>{{cite news|first=Susan|last= King| newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date= February 27, 2001|page=F5 |title=He Chucked a Future in Sewing Machines to Keep Us in Stitches |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-feb-27-ca-30634-story.html}}</ref><ref name=walk/> His uncle Harry Mathias was the first entertainer in his family.<ref>{{cite magazine|first= Lynda |last=Gorov|date= May 1, 2013|url=http://www.momentmag.com/funnyman-carl-reiner/ |title=Funnyman Carl Reiner|magazine=[[Moment (magazine)|Moment]]| archive-date=October 10, 2017 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20171010073745/https://momentmag.com/funnyman-carl-reiner/|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Military service===
Reiner was drafted into the [[United States Army Air Forces]] on October 27, 1942,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KMJZ-JPV|title=United States World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938–1946|publisher=[[FamilySearch]]|year=2020|access-date=July 1, 2020}}</ref> and served during World War II, eventually achieving the rank of [[corporal]] by the end of the war.<ref name=army/> He initially trained to be a radio operator. After spending three months in the hospital recovering from [[pneumonia]], he was sent to [[Georgetown University]] for ten months of training as a French interpreter. There, he had his first experience as a director, putting on a [[Molière]] play entirely in French. After completing language training in 1944, he was sent to Hawaii to work as a [[teleprinter]] operator. The night before he was scheduled to ship out for an unknown assignment, he attended a production of ''[[Hamlet]]'' by the [[Special Services (entertainment)|Special Services]] entertainment unit. Following an audition before actor Major [[Maurice Evans (actor)|Maurice Evans]] and Captain [[Allen Ludden]], he was transferred to Special Services.<ref name=MilitaryTimes>{{cite web |url=https://www.militarytimes.com/military-honor/salute-veterans/2016/11/30/book-excerpt-an-army-tale-by-carl-reiner/ |title=Book excerpt: An Army tale by Carl Reiner |date=November 30, 2016 |website=[[Sightline Media Group|Military Times]] |access-date=January 22, 2022}}</ref> Over the following two years, Reiner performed around the Pacific theater, entertaining troops in Hawaii, [[Guam]], [[Saipan]], [[Tinian]], and [[Iwo Jima]] until he was honorably discharged in 1946.<ref name=army>{{cite interview |url=https://memory.loc.gov/diglib/vhp/bib/loc.natlib.afc2001001.76156 |last=Reiner |first=Carl |subject-link=Carl Reiner |interviewer=Bernie Cook |title=Carl Reiner Collection (AFC/2001/001/76156), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress|date=October 26, 2011 |access-date=April 19, 2016}}</ref>