The 2026 Oscars In Memoriam Featured A Star-Studded Rob Reiner Tribute

The Oscars are honoring all of the cinematic greats that the industry lost in the past year, starting with Rob Reiner. At the 2026 Academy Awards, Billy Crystal paid tribute to his When Harry Met Sally director and Reiner’s wife, Michele, before joining many of the stars Reiner worked with across his indelible career.

Kicking off the In Memoriam segment, Crystal gave a speech honoring his friendship with Reiner, mentioning his most significant films from This Is Spinal Tap to Misery, and acknowledging his philanthropic efforts with Michele. Afterwards, the curtain opened up to reveal many of the actors that Reiner directed, including a reunion with his When Harry Met Sally co-star Meg Ryan.

“I met Mr. Rob Reiner when I was cast as his best friend in an episode of All in the Family,” Crystal recalled. “It went so well that Rob said, ‘It was fun playing your best friend. Why don’t we keep it going?’”

Other stars who stood in honor of Reiner included Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, Jerry O'Connell, Wil Wheaton, Fred Savage, Cary Elwes, Mandy Patinkin, Carol Kane, Kiefer Sutherland, Demi Moore, Kevin Pollak, Kathy Bates, Annette Bening, John Cusack, and Daphne Zuniga.

Rachel McAdams’ Tribute To Diane Keaton

Afterwards, Rachel McAdams paid tribute to two late icons. First, she acknowledged her “fellow Canadian” Catherine O’Hara, before honoring her Family Stone co-star Diane Keaton, nodding to her iconic hats. “She wore so many hats, literally and figuratively, actress, artist, author, activist, but no hat more important to her than being a mother to her two children,” she said.

McAdams went on to share a special memory of Keaton. “I remember she used to sing this old Girl Scout song she used to sing on set, which is just so her,” she recalled. “‘Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver, and the other is gold. A circle is round; it has no end. That’s how long I’ll be your friend.’ And so to our friend, Diane Keaton, celebrating a life in silver and gold, a legend with no end.”

Barbra Streisand Honors Robert Redford

Last but not least, the legendary Barbra Streisand stepped onstage to honor Robert Redford, her late co-star in The Way We Were, in both speech and song. First, Streisand spoke about Redford’s “backbone on and off the screen,” acknowledging how their 1973 film’s social impact is still felt today, before sharing a sweet anecdote about their longtime friendship.

“He’d call me Babs, and I’d say, ‘Bob, you know, do I look like a Babs? I’m not a Babs, you know.’ But the way he said it made me laugh,” she recalled. “And many years later, we were chatting on the phone about the usual — politics, art, our favorites, and as we were hanging up, he said, ‘Babs, I love you dearly and I always will.’ And in the last note I ever wrote to Bob, I ended it with, ‘I love you, too, and I signed it ‘Babs.’”

To conclude the segment, Streisand performed a stanza of their film’s iconic theme song, bringing the audience to their feet. “The Way We Were” won the Oscar for Best Original Song in 1974 and also took home the Grammy Award for Song of the Year.