Rob Reiner's life in photos

Rob Reiner, one of the preeminent filmmakers of his generation who directed movies such as “The Princess Bride,” “When Harry Met Sally …” and “This Is Spinal Tap,” died Sunday at 78.

Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer, were found dead at their home in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles and police are investigating.

This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.

FILE - Rob Reiner and Michele Reiner arrive on the red carpet at the State Department for the Kennedy Center Honors gala dinner, Dec. 2, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf, File)

FILE - Honoree Rob Reiner, second left, poses with his wife Michele, left, and children Nick, center, Romy, and Jake at the 41st Annual Chaplin Award Gala at Avery Fisher Hall, April 28, 2014, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

FILE - Director Rob Reiner attends the premiere for "LBJ" on day 8 of the Toronto International Film Festival at Roy Thomson Hall, Thursday, Sept. 15, 2016, in Toronto. (Photo by Arthur Mola/Invision/AP, File)

FILE - Actor and director Rob Reiner, center, poses for photographs while stumping along with actor Martin Sheen, not seen, for Democratic presidential hopeful Howard Dean, Jan. 14, 2004, at the University of Northern Iowa, in Cedar Falls, Iowa. (Rick Chase/The Courier via AP, File)

FILE - Rob Reiner talks on the phone at his office at Castle Rock Enterprises, seeking donations for anti-smoking campaigns, July 29, 1988, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File)

FILE - Former Vice President AL Gore, right, listens as movie director Rob Reiner addresses a Tribeca Film Festival news conference on a series of global warming-themed short films produced by the SOS (Save Our Selves) campaign which opened the festival in a gala hosted by Gore, April 25, 2007, in New York. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

FILE - Rony Reiner, left, Rob Reiner and Michele Reiner attend the Friars Club Entertainment Icon Award ceremony honoring Billy Crystal at the Ziegfeld Ballroom, Nov. 12, 2018, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, File)

FILE - Actor Rob Reiner and his wife, Penny Marshall, waiting to begin a scene for the film "Love Me and I'll Be Your Best Friend," filming on New York's 84th Street, June 20, 1978. (AP Photo/Dan Grossi, File)

FILE - Sally Struthers plants a kiss on the cheek of Rob Reiner, right, Carroll O'Connor and Jean Stapleton hold hands during a reunion of the cast of "All in the Family," at O'Conner restaurant, Feb. 12, 1991, in Beverly Hill, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Martinez, File)

FILE - Carl Reiner, left, and his son Rob Reiner pose together following their hand and footprint ceremony at the TCL Chinese Theatre, April 7, 2017, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File)

FILE - Rob Reiner, left, and Sally Struthers introducing the "In Memoriam" segment with a tribute to Norman Lear during the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards at the Peacock Theater, Jan. 15, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)

FILE - Writer-director Rob Reiner poses for a portrait, May 2, 2016, in New York. (Photo by Brian Ach/Invision/AP, File)

HONG KONG (AP) — To his supporters, former media mogul Jimmy Lai is a fighter for democracy. To his opponents, he's a traitor to his motherland.

Now, he could face life in prison after being convicted of conspiracies to commit sedition and collusion with foreign forces in a landmark trial that began in 2023.

Lai, 78, is an outspoken critic of China’s ruling Communist Party who was arrested in 2020 under a national security law following massive anti-government protests that rocked Hong Kong the year before.

His arrest and the closure of his Apple Daily newspaper, a tabloid-style publication that backed the democracy movement, dealt a blow to free speech in a city that was once a bastion of press freedom in Asia.

Born in mainland China, Lai was just 12 when he arrived in Hong Kong on a fishing boat as a stowaway, hoping for a better life in the then-British colony. He began working as a child laborer in a glove factory, where he was introduced to the garment industry. He later founded the popular casual wear chain Giordano in 1981.

But a pivotal moment for Lai was the Beijing deadly crackdown on the 1989 student-led pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square: His company printed T-shirts in support of the protests and he became interested in media to disseminate information.

He founded Next Magazine in 1990, and five years later, Apple Daily. The news outlet attracted a strong following with its sometimes sensational reports, investigative scoops and short animated video reports. Being openly critical of the Hong Kong and Chinese governments, the newspaper was well-received among pro-democracy readers.

In 1994, he insulted then-Chinese Premier Li Peng, calling him “the son of a turtle egg,” an offensive slur in Chinese culture, after Li justified the Tiananmen crackdown. China pressured the Giordano brand and Lai had to sell his stake in the company.

His long-time friend Lee Wing-tat, also an activist, said Lai was a firm believer in democracy, freedom and the “small government, big market” economic principle, which emphasizes minimal state intervention and free trade. This was shaped by his childhood experience in mainland China, where his family suffered under the Communist Party's rule, and his rags-to-riches journey in the city, Lee said.

Lai organized informal gatherings for pro-democracy lawmakers and scholars to discuss policies over meals in the 1990s, in the hopes of influencing politicians, Lee said.

He also took to the streets, including massive pro-democracy protests in 2014, known as the Umbrella Movement, and made donations to pro-democracy parties, including one that Lee used to chair. His newspaper often urged readers to join protests.

Lai was among the demonstrators in the leaderless anti-government protests in 2019. He met with then-U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at the time to discuss the developments linked to a now-withdrawn bill that sparked the unrest, angering Beijing.

In 2020, China's national security law for Hong Kong, meant to quell the protests, loomed. In response, Apple Daily launched a campaign encouraging readers to petition U.S. President Donald Trump, during his first term, to “save Hong Kong.”

During his trial, Lai’s Apple Daily executives said he had influenced the newspaper’s coverage, with one saying objections to the petition campaign were brushed aside. Prosecutors accused him of asking staff not to target Trump, and Lai later testified he hoped the American president could help stop the national security law.

After the law took effect in June 2020, Lai told The Associated Press that “Hong Kong is dead.”

More than a month later, Lai was arrested under the law as police raided Apple Daily's building. The operation sent shockwaves through the local press scene. In 2021, arrests of the newspaper’s top executives and freezing of some of its assets forced the publication to cease operation.

Since December 2020, Lai has been in custody, during which he was sentenced to five years and nine months for fraud allegations in a case unrelated to the security law.

During his current trial, prosecutors alleged he had conspired with others to collude with foreign forces and publish seditious materials, saying he had clearly betrayed national interests. They pointed to Lai's articles, text messages, social posts and livestream shows. Lai admitted he had advocated for foreign sanctions against China earlier, but stopped once the law kicked in. He argued in court that he wrote without seditious intent.

“For truth prevails in God’s kingdom, and that’s good enough for me,” he said.

The court rejected these arguments, writing in an 855-page verdict that Lai's campaign against the People's Republic of China carried on for much of his adult life and continued “in a less explicit way” after the law's passage.

“There is no doubt that (Lai) had harbored his resentment and hatred of the PRC for many of his adult years,” Juder Esther Toh said, reading from the verdict.

The food lover, who is nicknamed “Fatty Lai,” has shrunk in size while in prison. His lawyer in August said he had experienced heart palpitations, though the government said a medical examination found no abnormalities.

Lai, a Roman Catholic, drew multiple crucifixions behind bars, and his friend Robert Sirico, a U.S.-based priest, received one of the pictures.

Beijing has called Lai “an agent and pawn of the anti-China forces." But Sirico said Lai had told him he wanted China to be better and the priest visited mainland China after Lai encouraged him to.

“He had a great love of China,” Sirico said, pointing to Lai's art at home and the meals they shared.

In the AP interview in 2020, Lai appeared undaunted.

“If I have to go to prison, I don’t mind. I don’t care,” he said. “It won’t be something I can worry about, I’ll just relax and do what I have to do.”

FILE - A protester holds an umbrella up during a rally on a main road in the occupied areas outside government headquarters in Hong Kong's Admiralty, Oct. 9, 2014. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)

FILE - Protesters march on the streets against an extradition bill in Hong Kong, June 16, 2019. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu, File)

FILE - Media mogul Jimmy Lai, center, wearing a pair of goggles, appears outside the government headquarters to join a protest in Hong Kong, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2014. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu, File)

FILE - Tiananmen Square is filled with thousands during a pro-democracy rally in Beijing, China, May 17, 1989. (AP Photo/Sadayuki Mikami, File)

FILE - Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai, then owner of the Hong Kong and Taiwan newspaper Apple Daily, attends the Seminar on Tenth Anniversary of Hong Kong's Handover organized by the Democratic Party in Hong Kong, June 9, 2007. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)