Norman Lear, who produced an array of hit comedies that frequently touched on key social issues, died at home in Los Angeles December 5. He was 101 and his wife Lyn survives him.
Lear’s shows included All in the Family, The Jeffersons, Good Times, Maude and Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman.
Lear was born in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1922 and was raised in Hartford. He attended Emerson College in Boston, then enlisted in the Army Air Forces after the U.S. entered World War II.
After his military service, he got a job doing publicity, often focusing on theater clients. He was fired after a year for planting untrue stories.
Lear moved to Los Angeles in 1949 and worked as a door-to-door salesman with Ed Simmons, before the duo began writing comedy routines. They sold a skit to Danny Thomas, and soon began writing for The Colgate Comedy Hour, The Martha Raye Show and The George Gobel Show.
In 1958, Lear and Bud Yorkin formed Tandem Productions and produced singer Andy Williams’s variety show, television specials and movies.
Lear wrote the screenplay for the Tandem film Come Blow Your Horn, reported the NY Times, and Yorkin directed. He also wrote the script for Divorce, American Style, and Yorkin again directed.
Lear then adapted a BBC show called Till Death Us Do Part, about a working-class white man named Alf with a racist mindset, and All in the Family was born. Carroll O’Connor played Archie Bunker. The show debuted on CBS in 1971 and ran for nine seasons.
Maude and The Jeffersons both featured characters who initially appeared in All in the Family. Maude ran from 1972 to 1978 and The Jeffersons from 1975 to 1985.
Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman premiered in 1976 and the spinoff talk show parody Fernwood 2-Night followed.
Other Lear shows included Sanford and Son, One Day at a Time, Good Times and All in the Family spinoff Archie Bunker’s Place.
In 1982, Lear, Yorkin and Jerry Perenchio bought Avco Embassy Pictures, and released This Is Spinal Tap (1984), among other feature films. Spinal Tap was directed by Rob Reiner, who was in the cast of All in the Family. After selling the business to Coca-Cola, Lear founded Act III Communications. Act III productions included the Rob Reiner films Stand By Me and The Princess Bride.
Reiner shared on X, “I loved Norman Lear with all my heart. He was my second father. Sending my love to Lyn and the whole Lear family.”
I loved Norman Lear with all my heart. He was my second father. Sending my love to Lyn and the whole Lear family.December 6, 2023
Lear entered the music business in 1999, acquiring Concord Music Group with a partner.
Dedicated to social and political activism, Lear founded the Business Enterprise Trust in 1989 to promote socially responsible corporate behavior, and was among the founders of the Environmental Media Association. In 2003, he founded Declare Yourself, which encourages young people to vote. Among his many honors, he was in the founding class of the Broadcasting+Cable Hall of Fame in 1991.
Lear gave $5 million to the University of Southern California, which set up the Norman Lear Center at the Annenberg School for Communication.
He published his autobiography, Even This I Get to Experience, in 2014. Former President Bill Clinton wrote, “That Norman Lear can find humor in life’s darkest moments is no surprise. It’s the reason why he’s been so successful throughout his more than nine decades on earth, and why Americans have relied on his wit and wisdom for more than six.”
Still working in recent years, Lear wrote a few episodes of South Park, and was executive producer on a new version of One Day at a Time, which debuted on Netflix in 2017.
Lear and Jimmy Kimmel hosted Live in Front of a Studio Audience specials on ABC that saw episodes of classic Lear sitcoms, including All in the Family, The Jeffersons, Good Times and Diff’rent Strokes, performed live by a modern-day cast. Woody Harrelson played Archie and Jamie Foxx portrayed George Jefferson. Lear and Kimmel executive produced the specials as well.
Live in Front of a Studio Audience got Lear an Emmy at age 97, an Emmy record.
In 2022, ABC ran the special Norman Lear: 100 Years of Music and Laughter.
CBS, ABC, NBC, Fox and The CW will simulcast an In Memoriam salute to Lear at 8 p.m. ET/PT December 6.
Lear summed up his philosophy to B+C in 2016. “A day does not go by where I don’t learn something — something about myself, about the world, about life,” he said. “That’s the most exciting thing. It doesn’t stop.”
“Norman Lear’s commitment to storytelling and social justice made him a pioneer in television. His ability to use humor to combat racism and prejudices showed his sense of decency,” the Writers Guild of America, East said in a statement. “[H]is charitable work exemplified what it means to use your influence to make the world a better place.
“Upon being honored at the 2015 Writers Guild Awards for bringing honor and dignity to writers, Lear said, “Nobody enjoyed a greater, larger, longer collaboration than I with dozens of brilliant writers.’ ”
