Carl Reiner, the ingenious and versatile writer, actor and director who broke through as a "second banana" to Sid Caesar and rose to comedy's front ranks as creator of "The Dick Van Dyke Show" and straight man to Mel Brooks' "2000 Year Old Man," has died. He was 98.

Reiner's assistant Judy Nagy said he died Monday night of natural causes at his home in Beverly Hills, California.

He was one of show business' best liked men, the tall, bald Reiner was a welcome face on the small and silver screens, in Caesar's 1950s troupe, as the snarling, toupee-wearing Alan Brady of "The Dick Van Dyke Show" and in such films as "The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming" and "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World."

When "The Dick Van Dyke Show" ended its run, Reiner found success as a director, with films including "Oh, God!" starring George Burns and John Denver; "All of Me," with Steve Martin and Lily Tomlin; and the 1970 comedy "Where's Poppa?" He was especially proud of his books, including "Enter Laughing," an autobiographical novel later adapted into a film and Broadway show; and "My Anecdotal Life," a memoir published in 2003. He recounted his childhood and creative journey in the 2013 book, "I Remember Me."

View this post on Instagram

Carl Reiner, 'The Dick Van Dyke Show' creator and legendary entertainment icon, has died at 98. Head to link in bio for more on the 12-time Emmy Award winner's iconic career. (Photo: @gettyentertainment)

A post shared by Hollywood Reporter (@hollywoodreporter) on Jun 30, 2020 at 8:10am PDT

"The Van Dyke show is probably the most thrilling of my accomplishments because that was very, very personal," Reiner once said. "It was about me and my wife, living in New Rochelle and working on the Sid Caesar show."