Norman Lear, the Emmy-winning US screenwriter and TV producer behind more than 100 shows, has died aged 101.
The leading TV industry figure, responsible for hit sitcoms such as All in the Family and One Day at a Time, died on Tuesday (5 December) at his home in Los Angeles.
In a statement shared with Variety, his family confirmed that Lear had died of natural causes. “Thank you for the moving outpouring of love and support in honor of our wonderful husband, father, and grandfather,” they said.
“Norman lived a life of creativity, tenacity, and empathy. He deeply loved our country and spent a lifetime helping to preserve its founding ideals of justice and equality for all. Knowing and loving him has been the greatest of gifts. We ask for your understanding as we mourn privately in celebration of this remarkable human being.”
A private funeral service will be held for Lear’s immediate family in the coming days.
Lear was best known for creating and producing many of the biggest sitcoms of the Seventies. In addition to All in the Family, he worked on Sanford and Son, Maude, The Jeffersons and Good Times.
Lear, pictured in 2009— (REUTERS)
After creating family comedy One Day at a Time in the Seventies, with the show going on to air for nine years, he returned to produce the rebooted series of the same name in 2017. He gave the same treatment to Netflix’s revival of Good Times in 2022.
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