Carl Reiner is the director and a co-writer of "The Man With Two Brains," a Warner Bros. release, reprising his duties from the last Steve Martin film, "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid." He also directed Martin's first feature "The Jerk."

The son of a watchmaker, Reiner was born in The Bronx, New York. He started work as a machinist's helper when he was 16. About the same time he began studying drama and soon landed the role of a second tenor in a jazz version of "The Merry Widow." These early experiences later provided the basis for his novel Enter Laughin'.

At the start of World War Il, Reiner entered the Signal Corps, was soon transferred to Maurice Evans' Special Services unit and toured the Pacific entertaining in G.I. revues.

After his military discharge, Reiner landed a leading role in a 1946 road company production of "Call Me Mister." Soon afterward, he was hired by Max Liebman to join Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca as a regular on "Your Show of Shows." The 1950s program was a pioneer series in television comedy which subsequently became recognized as a landmark production. Moreover, Reiner's participation in the show evolved into a professional relationship with Mel Brooks. Together the comedic duo produced four popular recordings of "The 2,OOO-Year-Old Man."

In the early 1960s, Reiner conceived, wrote and played the role of variety-show host Alan Brady in "The Dick Van Dyke Show," one of the most beloved situation comedies in the history of television. Both Reiner and "The Dick Van Dyke Show" are the subject of a new book, The Dick Van Dyke Show -Anatomy of a Classic by Weissman and Sanders (St. Martin's Press). Reiner has won 11 Emmy Awards for his work in television including "Your Show of Shows," "The Dick Van Dyke Show" and "The Sid Caesar, Imogene Coca, Howard Morris, Carl Reiner Special."

On film, Carl Reiner's directing credits include, "The Jerk," "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid," "Oh, God," "Where's Poppa?," "The One And Only," "The Comic" and "Enter Laughing," which was based on his autographical novel and the Broadway play written by Joseph Stein.

Reiner, who has appeared in most of the films he directed has also had major roles in "The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming," "It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World," "Happy Anniversary" and "The Gazebo."