Norman Milton Lear (July 27, 1922December 5, 2023) was an American screenwriter and producer who produced, wrote, created, or developed over 100 shows. Lear created and produced numerous popular 1970s
sitcoms
A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent setting, such as a home ...
, including ''
All in the Family
''All in the Family'' is an American sitcoms in the United States, sitcom television series that aired on CBS for nine seasons from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979, with a total of 205 episodes. It was later produced as ''Archie Bunker's Pla ...
'' (1971–1979), ''
Maude'' (1972–1978), ''
Sanford and Son'' (1972–1977), ''
One Day at a Time'' (1975–1984), ''
The Jeffersons
''The Jeffersons'' is an American sitcom television series that was broadcast on CBS from January 18, 1975, to July 2, 1985. Lasting 11 seasons and a total of 253 episodes, ''The Jeffersons'' is one of the longest-running sitcoms in history ...
'' (1975–1985), and ''
Good Times'' (1974–1979). His works were introducing political and social themes to the sitcom format.
Lear has received many awards, including six
Primetime Emmy Awards
The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Owned and operated by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the P ...
, two
Peabody Awards
The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Foster Peabody, George Peabody, honor what are described as the most powerful, enlightening, and in ...
, the
National Medal of Arts
The National Medal of Arts is an award and title created by the United States Congress in 1984, for the purpose of honoring artists and Patronage, patrons of the arts. A prestigious American honor, it is the highest honor given to artists and ar ...
in 1999, the
Kennedy Center Honors
The Kennedy Center Honors are annual honors given to those in the performing arts for their lifetime of contributions to Culture of the United States, American culture. They have been presented annually since 1978, culminating each December in ...
in 2017, and the
Golden Globe Carol Burnett Award in 2021. He was a member of the
Television Academy Hall of Fame.
Lear was known for his political activism and funding of
liberal and
progressive causes and politicians. In 1980, he founded the advocacy organization
People for the American Way to counter the influence of the
Christian right in politics, and in the early 2000s, he mounted a tour with a copy of the
Declaration of Independence
A declaration of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another state or failed state, or are breaka ...
.
Early life and education
Norman Milton Lear was born on July 27, 1922, in
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is List ...
,
[ to Jeanette (''née'' Seicol) and Hyman "Herman" Lear, a traveling salesman.] Both parents were of Russian-Jewish descent.[Stated on '']Finding Your Roots
''Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.'' is an American documentary television series hosted by Henry Louis Gates Jr. that premiered on March 25, 2012, on PBS. In each episode, celebrities are presented with a "book of life" that is com ...
'', January 26, 2016, PBS
He had a younger sister, Claire Lear Brown (1925–2015). Lear grew up in a Jewish household in Connecticut and had a bar mitzvah
A ''bar mitzvah'' () or ''bat mitzvah'' () is a coming of age ritual in Judaism. According to Halakha, Jewish law, before children reach a certain age, the parents are responsible for their child's actions. Once Jewish children reach that age ...
ceremony.
When Lear was nine years old, he was living with his family in Chelsea, Massachusetts, his father went to prison for selling fake bonds. Lear thought of his father as a "rascal" and said that the character of Archie Bunker (whom Lear depicted as white Protestant on the show) was in part inspired by his father, and the character of Edith Bunker was in part inspired by his mother. However, Lear has said the moment which inspired his lifetime of advocacy was another event which he experienced at the age of nine, when he first heard antisemitic Catholic radio priest Father Charles Coughlin
Charles Edward Coughlin ( ; October 25, 1891 – October 27, 1979), commonly known as Father Coughlin, was a Canadian-American Catholic Church, Catholic priest based near Detroit. He was the founding priest of the National Shrine of the Lit ...
while tinkering with his crystal radio set. After hearing more of Coughlin's radio sermons, Lear said he found Coughlin would promote antisemitism by targeting people whom Jews considered to be "great heroes", such as US President Franklin Roosevelt.
Lear attended Samuel J. Tilden High School
Samuel J. Tilden High School was a List of high schools in New York City, New York City public high school in the East Flatbush, Brooklyn, East Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York City. It was named for Samuel J. Tilden, the former govern ...
in Brooklyn
Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
, New York, graduated from Weaver High School in Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...
, in 1940 and attended Emerson College
Emerson College is a private college in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It also maintains campuses in Los Angeles and Well, Limburg, Netherlands (Kasteel Well). Founded in 1880 by Charles Wesley Emerson as a "school of Public Speaking, o ...
in Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
, but dropped out in 1942 to join the United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
.
Military career
Lear enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
in September 1942. He served in the Mediterranean theater as a radio operator and gunner on Boeing
The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...
B-17 Flying Fortress
The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is an American four-engined heavy bomber aircraft developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). A fast and high-flying bomber, the B-17 dropped more bombs than any other aircraft during ...
bombers with the 772nd Bomb Squadron, 463rd Bomb Group of the Fifteenth Air Force
The Fifteenth Air Force (15 AF) is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force's Air Combat Command (ACC). It is headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base. It was reactivated on 20 August 2020, merging the previous units of the Ninth Air Forc ...
; in a 2014 interview, he talked about bombing Germany. He flew 52 combat missions and received the Air Medal
The Air Medal (AM) is a military decoration of the United States Armed Forces. It was created in 1942 and is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight.
Criteria
The Air Medal was establi ...
with four oak leaf clusters. Lear was discharged from the Army Air Forces in 1945. His World War II crew members are featured in the book ''Crew Umbriago'' by Daniel P. Carroll.
Career
1950–1959
After World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
Lear had a career in public relations
Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...
. The career choice was inspired by his Uncle Jack: "My dad had a brother, Jack, who flipped me a quarter every time he saw me. He was a press agent so I wanted to be a press agent. That's the only role model I had. So all I wanted was to grow up to be a guy who could flip a quarter to a nephew." Lear decided to move to California to restart his career in publicity, driving with his toddler daughter across the country.
His first night in Los Angeles, Lear stumbled upon a production of George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from the 188 ...
's ''Major Barbara
''Major Barbara'' is a three-act English play by George Bernard Shaw, written and premiered in 1905 and first published in 1907. The story concerns an idealistic young woman, Barbara Undershaft, who is engaged in helping the poor as a Major in ...
'' at the 90-seat theater-in-the-round Circle Theater off Sunset Boulevard. One of the actors in the play was Sydney Chaplin, the son of actors Charlie Chaplin
Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is considered o ...
and Lita Grey. Charlie Chaplin, Alan Mowbray, and Dame Gladys Cooper sat in front of Lear, and after the show was over, Charlie Chaplin performed.
Lear had a first cousin in Los Angeles, Elaine, who was married to an aspiring comedy writer named Ed Simmons. Simmons and Lear teamed up to sell home furnishings door-to-door for a company called The Gans Brothers and later sold family photos door-to-door. Throughout the 1950s, Lear and Simmons turned out comedy sketches for television appearances of Martin and Lewis, Rowan and Martin, and others. They frequently wrote for Martin and Lewis when they appeared on the ''Colgate Comedy Hour'', and a 1953 article from ''Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
'' magazine stated that Lear and Simmons were guaranteed a record-breaking $52,000 () each to write for five additional Martin and Lewis appearances on the '' Colgate Comedy Hour'' that year. In a 2015 interview with '' Variety'', Lear said that Jerry Lewis
Jerry Lewis (born Joseph Levitch; March 16, 1926 – August 20, 2017) was an American comedian, actor, singer, filmmaker and humanitarian, with a career spanning seven decades in film, stage, television and radio. Famously nicknamed as "Th ...
had hired him and Simmons as writers for Martin and Lewis three weeks before the comedy duo made their first appearance on the Colgate Comedy Hour in 1950. Lear also acknowledged in 1986 that he and Simmons were the main writers for '' The Martin and Lewis Show'' for three years.
In 1954, Lear was enlisted as a writer and asked to salvage the new CBS sitcom starring Celeste Holm
Celeste Holm (April 29, 1917 – July 15, 2012) was an American actress. Holm won an Academy Award for her performance in Elia Kazan's '' Gentleman's Agreement'' (1947), and was nominated for her roles in '' Come to the Stable'' (1949) and ''A ...
, ''Honestly, Celeste!
''Honestly, Celeste!'' is an American television sitcom that was broadcast on CBS from October 10, 1954, to December 5, 1954. It starred Celeste Holm in her first regular TV series.
Premise, cast and characters
Celeste Anders left her position a ...
'', but the program was canceled after eight episodes. During this time he became the producer of NBC's short-lived (26 episodes) sitcom ''The Martha Raye Show'', after Nat Hiken left as the series director. Lear also wrote some of the opening monologs for '' The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show'' which aired from 1956 to 1961. In 1959, Lear created his first television series, a half-hour western for Revue Studios called '' The Deputy'', starring Henry Fonda.
1967–1977
Starting out as a comedy writer, then a film director (he wrote and produced the 1967 film '' Divorce American Style'' and directed the 1971 film '' Cold Turkey'', both starring Dick Van Dyke
Richard Wayne Van Dyke (born December 13, 1925) is an American actor, entertainer and comedian. Dick Van Dyke on screen and stage, His work spans screen and stage, and List of awards and nominations received by Dick Van Dyke, his awards includ ...
), Lear tried to sell a concept for a sitcom about a blue-collar American family to ABC. They rejected the show after two pilots were taped: "Justice for All" in 1968 and "Those Were the Days" in 1969. After a third pilot was taped, CBS picked up the show, known as ''All in the Family
''All in the Family'' is an American sitcoms in the United States, sitcom television series that aired on CBS for nine seasons from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979, with a total of 205 episodes. It was later produced as ''Archie Bunker's Pla ...
''. It premiered on January 12, 1971, to disappointing ratings, but it took home several Emmy Awards
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...
that year, including Outstanding Comedy Series. The show did very well in summer reruns, and it flourished in the 1971–72 season, becoming the top-rated show on TV for the next five years. After falling from the 1 spot, ''All in the Family'' still remained in the top ten, with the exception of the 1976-1977 television season where it ranked No. 12, and eventually became '' Archie Bunker's Place''. The show was based loosely on the British sitcom '' Till Death Us Do Part'', about an irascible working-class Tory
A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...
and his socialist
Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...
son-in-law.
Lear's second big TV sitcom, '' Sanford and Son'', was also based on a British sitcom, '' Steptoe and Son'', about a west London junk dealer and his son. Lear changed the setting to the Watts
Watts is plural for ''watt'', the unit of power.
Watts may also refer to:
People
*Watts (surname), a list of people with the surname Watts
Fictional characters
*Albie Watts, a fictional character in the British soap opera ''EastEnders''
*Angie ...
section of Los Angeles and the characters to African Americans, and the NBC show ''Sanford and Son'' was an instant hit. Numerous hit shows followed thereafter, including '' Maude'', ''The Jeffersons
''The Jeffersons'' is an American sitcom television series that was broadcast on CBS from January 18, 1975, to July 2, 1985. Lasting 11 seasons and a total of 253 episodes, ''The Jeffersons'' is one of the longest-running sitcoms in history ...
'' (both spin-offs of ''All in the Family''), '' One Day at a Time'', and '' Good Times'' (which is a spinoff of ''Maude'').
Most of these Lear sitcoms share three features: they were shot on videotape
Videotape is magnetic tape used for storing video and usually Sound recording and reproduction, sound in addition. Information stored can be in the form of either an analog signal, analog or Digital signal (signal processing), digital signal. V ...
in place of film
A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...
, used a live studio audience, and dealt with current social and political issues. ''Maude'' is generally considered to be based on Lear's wife Frances, which she confirmed, with Charlie Hauck serving as main producer and writer.
Lear's longtime producing partner was Bud Yorkin, who also produced ''All in the Family'', ''Sanford and Son'', '' What's Happening!!'', ''Maude'', and ''The Jeffersons
''The Jeffersons'' is an American sitcom television series that was broadcast on CBS from January 18, 1975, to July 2, 1985. Lasting 11 seasons and a total of 253 episodes, ''The Jeffersons'' is one of the longest-running sitcoms in history ...
''. Yorkin split with Lear in 1975. He started a production company with writers and producers Saul Turteltaub
Saul Turteltaub (May 5, 1932 – April 9, 2020) was an American comedy writer and producer. He was nominated for Emmy Awards in 1964 and 1965 as part of the writing team for ''That Was the Week that Was'', and in 1968 for ''The Carol Burnett Show' ...
and Bernie Orenstein; however, only two of their shows lasted longer than a year: ''What's Happening!!'' and '' Carter Country''. The Lear/Yorkin company was known as Tandem Productions and was founded in 1958. Lear and talent agent Jerry Perenchio founded T.A.T. Communications ("T.A.T." stood for the Yiddish phrase ''tuchus affen tisch'', "putting one's ass on the line".) in 1974, which co-existed with Tandem Productions and was often referred to in periodicals as Tandem/T.A.T. The Lear organization was one of the most successful independent TV producers of the 1970s. TAT produced the influential and award-winning 1981 film '' The Wave'' about Ron Jones' social experiment.
Lear also developed the cult favorite TV series '' Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman'' (''MH MH'') which was turned down by the networks as "too controversial" and placed it into first run syndication with 128 stations in January 1976. A year later, he added another program into first-run syndication along with ''MH MH'', '' All That Glitters''. He planned in 1977 to offer three hours of prime-time Saturday programming directly having stations place his production company in the position of an occasional network.
In 1977, African-American screenwriter Eric Monte filed a lawsuit accusing ABC and CBS producers Norman Lear, Bud Yorkin, and others of stealing his ideas for ''Good Times'', ''The Jeffersons'', and '' What's Happening!!'' Monte received a $1-million settlement and a small percentage of the residuals from ''Good Times'' and one percent ownership of the show. Monte, due to his lack of business knowledge and experience as well as legal representation, would not receive royalties for other shows that he created. However, Lear and other Hollywood producers, outraged over the lawsuit, blacklisted Monte and labeled him too difficult to work with.[Dunn, Katia (July 29, 2006)]
"Classic TV Producer, Good Times No Longer"
NPR.com. Retrieved September 6, 2021. .
1980–1999
In 1980, Lear founded the organization People for the American Way for the purpose of counteracting the Christian right group Moral Majority which had been founded in 1979. In the fall of 1981, Lear began a 14-month run as the host of a revival of the classic game show '' Quiz Kids'' for the CBS Cable Network. In January 1982, Lear and Jerry Perenchio bought Avco Embassy Pictures from Avco Financial Corporation. In January 1982, after merging with company with T.A.T. Communications, the Avco was dropped, and the combined entity was renamed as Embassy Communications, Inc. Embassy Pictures was led by Alan Horn and Martin Schaeffer, later co-founders of Castle Rock Entertainment with Rob Reiner
Robert Reiner (born March 6, 1947) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and liberal activist. As an actor, Reiner first came to national prominence with the role of Michael Stivic, Mike "Meathead" Stivic on the CBS sitc ...
.
In March 1982, Lear produced an ABC television special titled '' I Love Liberty'', as a counterbalance to groups like the Moral Majority. Among the many guests who appeared on the special was conservative icon and the 1964 U.S. presidential election's Republican nominee Barry Goldwater
Barry Morris Goldwater (January 2, 1909 – May 29, 1998) was an American politician and major general in the United States Air Force, Air Force Reserve who served as a United States senator from 1953 to 1965 and 1969 to 1987, and was the Re ...
.
On June 18, 1985, Lear and Perenchio sold Embassy Communications to Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...
(then owned by The Coca-Cola Company
The Coca-Cola Company is an American multinational corporation founded in 1892. It manufactures, sells and markets soft drinks including Coca-Cola, other non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups, and alcoholic beverages. Its stock is lis ...
), which acquired Embassy's film and television division (including Embassy's in-house television productions and the television rights to the Embassy theatrical library) for $485 million of shares of The Coca-Cola Company. The brand Tandem Productions was abandoned in 1986 with the cancellation of ''Diff'rent Strokes
''Diff'rent Strokes'' is an American television sitcom, which originally aired on NBC from November 3, 1978, to May 4, 1985, and on ABC from September 27, 1985, to March 7, 1986. The series stars Gary Coleman and Todd Bridges as Arnold and ...
'', and Embassy ceased to exist as a single entity in late 1986, having been split into different components owned by different entities. Coca-Cola sold the film division to Dino De Laurentiis and the home video arm to Nelson Holdings (led by Barry Spikings). The TV properties continued under the Columbia Pictures Television banner.
Lear's Act III Communications was founded in 1986 and in the following year, Thomas B. McGrath was named president and chief operating officer of ACT III Communications Inc after previously serving as senior vice president. On February 2, 1989, Norman Lear's Act III Communications formed a joint venture with Columbia Pictures Television called ''Act III Television'' to produce television series instead of managing.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Act III Communications purchased several business journals, including ''Channels'' magazine that had been founded by Les Brown, former ''New York Times'' TV correspondent. ''Channels'' closed in 1990, by which time Act III and Brown published and edited ''Television Business International'' (''TBI'').
In 1997, Lear and Jim George produced the Kids' WB
Kids' WB (stylized as Kids' WB!) was an American children's programming block that originally aired on The WB from September 9, 1995, to September 16, 2006, and later on The CW from September 23, 2006, to May 17, 2008. Initially launched as a co ...
series '' Channel Umptee-3''. The cartoon was notable for being the first television show to meet the Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...
's then-new educational programming requirements.
2000–2023
In 2003, Lear appeared on ''South Park
''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boysStan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand the ...
'' during the " I'm a Little Bit Country" episode, providing the voice of Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...
. He also served as a consultant on the episodes "I'm a Little Bit Country" and " Cancelled". He attended a ''South Park'' writers' retreat, with some of his ideas making it onto ''South Park'', and was the officiant at co-creator Trey Parker's wedding. ''South Park'' served as a bond between Lear and his son Benjamin, who was not familiar with his more known work from the 1970s.
In 2014, Lear published ''Even This I Get to Experience'', a memoir.
Lear is spotlighted in the 2016 documentary ''Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You''. In 2017, he served as executive producer for '' One Day at a Time'', the reboot of his 1975–1984 show of the same name that premiered on Netflix
Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
starring Justina Machado and Rita Moreno as a Cuban-American family. He hosted a podcast, ''All of the Above with Norman Lear'', since May 1, 2017. On July 29, 2019, it was announced that Lear had teamed with Lin-Manuel Miranda and Steven Kunes to make an American Masters documentary about Moreno's life, tentatively titled '' Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It''.
In 2020, it was announced that Lear and Act III Productions would executive produce a revival of '' Who's the Boss?'' At the time of his death in 2023, he was overseeing multiple shows in development, including a planned reboot of '' Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman''. His last finished project to came out was the Amazon series Clean Slate, which came out in February 2025, and was in the editing process after finishing filming when he passed away.
Awards and honors
Lear has been honored for his influence on American television and culture. Before ''All in the Family'', television sitcoms in the 1950s and 1960s generally portrayed white American family life as comfortable and avoided raising issues such as racial discrimination and patriarchy. Beginning in 1971, ''All in the Family'' openly discussed current social and political topics and became the country's most popular show for five straight years. Lear's subsequent shows widened television's representation of racial and gender diversity, such as ''Good Times'', the first television show centered on an African-American nuclear family; Television screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky said that Lear "put the American people n screen... he took the audience and put them on the set". However, it has been acknowledged that James L. Brooks TV series ''Room 222
''Room 222'' is an American comedy-drama television series produced by 20th Century Fox Television that aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC for 112 episodes, from September 17, 1969, until January 11, 1974. The show was broadcast on 1969 ...
'', which was not made by Lear and which debuted before Lear's shows debuted, was also among the first shows to not only feature an African American lead character in a less stereotypical role, a high school teacher, but also invoke serious contemporary issues, with the Television Academy Foundation stating that "A season and a half before Norman Lear made "relevant" programming a dominant genre with the introduction of programs like All in the Family and Maude, Room 222 was using the form of the half-hour comedy to discuss serious contemporary issues. During its five seasons on the air, the show included episodes that dealt with such topics as racism, sexism, homophobia, dropping out of school, shoplifting, drug use among both teachers and students, illiteracy, cops in school, guns in school, Vietnam war veterans, venereal disease, and teenage pregnancy".
In 1999, President Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...
awarded Lear the National Medal of Arts
The National Medal of Arts is an award and title created by the United States Congress in 1984, for the purpose of honoring artists and Patronage, patrons of the arts. A prestigious American honor, it is the highest honor given to artists and ar ...
, noting: "Norman Lear has held up a mirror to American society and changed the way we look at it." That year, he and Bud Yorkin received the Women in Film Lucy Award in recognition of excellence and innovation in creative works that have enhanced the perception of women through the medium of television. The Producers Guild of America
The Producers Guild of America (PGA) is a 501(c)(6) trade association representing the interests Television producer, television producers, Film producer, film producers and emerging media producers in the United States. The PGA's membership inclu ...
awarded Lear its Achievement Award in Television in 2006; by the next year, the honor was named the Norman Lear Achievement Award in Television. In 2017, he was awarded the fourth annual Woody Guthrie Prize presented by the Woody Guthrie Center, recognizing an artist whose work represents the spirit of Woody Guthrie "as a positive force for social change". He became the oldest recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors
The Kennedy Center Honors are annual honors given to those in the performing arts for their lifetime of contributions to Culture of the United States, American culture. They have been presented annually since 1978, culminating each December in ...
later that year at the age of 95.
Lear's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a landmark which consists of 2,813 five-pointed terrazzo-and-brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in the Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood dist ...
is located at 6615 Hollywood Boulevard
Hollywood Boulevard is a major east–west street in Los Angeles, California. It runs through the Hollywood, East Hollywood, Little Armenia, Thai Town, and Los Feliz districts. Its western terminus is at Sunset Plaza Drive in the Hollyw ...
. He received other numerous honorary accolades, including:
* 1977: Peabody Awards
The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Foster Peabody, George Peabody, honor what are described as the most powerful, enlightening, and in ...
: Lifetime achievement
* 1977: American Humanist Association
The American Humanist Association (AHA) is a 501(c) organization, non-profit organization in the United States that advances secular humanism.
The American Humanist Association was founded in 1941 and currently provides legal assistance to defe ...
: Humanist Arts Award
* 1980: Academy of Achievement Golden Plate Award
* 1984: Television Academy: Hall of Fame
* 2007: Britannia Awards Excellence in Television
* 2017: National Hispanic Media Coalition Media Icon
* 2017: Peabody Awards
The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Foster Peabody, George Peabody, honor what are described as the most powerful, enlightening, and in ...
: Lifetime achievement
Political and cultural activities
Lear was an outspoken supporter of First Amendment and liberal causes. The only time that he did not support the Democratic candidate for president was in 1980
Events January
* January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission.
* January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...
when he supported John Anderson over Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...
because he considered the Carter administration
Jimmy Carter's tenure as the List of presidents of the United States, 39th president of the United States began with Inauguration of Jimmy Carter, his inauguration on January 20, 1977, and ended on January 20, 1981. Carter, a Democratic Party ...
to be "a complete disaster".
Lear was one of the wealthy Jewish Angelenos known as the Malibu Mafia. In the 1970s and 1980s, the group discussed progressive and liberal political issues, and worked together to fund them. They helped to fund the legal defense of Daniel Ellsberg
Daniel Ellsberg (April 7, 1931June 16, 2023) was an American political activist, economist, and United States military analyst. While employed by the RAND Corporation, he precipitated a national political controversy in 1971 when he released th ...
who had released the ''Pentagon Papers
The ''Pentagon Papers'', officially titled ''Report of the Office of the Secretary of Defense Vietnam Task Force'', is a United States Department of Defense history of the United States in the Vietnam War, United States' political and militar ...
'', and they backed the struggling progressive magazine ''The Nation
''The Nation'' is a progressive American monthly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper ...
'' to keep it afloat. In 1975, they formed the Energy Action Committee to oppose Big Oil
Big Oil is a name sometimes used to describe the world's six or seven largest List of corporations by market capitalization#Publicly traded companies, publicly traded and investor-owned list of oil companies, oil and gas companies, also known ...
's powerful lobby in Washington.[
]
People for the American Way
In 1981, Lear founded People for the American Way (PFAW), a progressive advocacy organization formed in reaction to the politics of the Christian right.[ PFAW ran several advertising campaigns opposing the interjection of religion in politics. PFAW and other like-minded groups succeeded in their efforts to block Reagan's 1987 nomination of Robert Bork to the Supreme Court. Lear, a longtime critic of the Religious Right, was an advocate for the advancement of ]secularism
Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on naturalistic considerations, uninvolved with religion. It is most commonly thought of as the separation of religion from civil affairs and the state and may be broadened ...
.[Interview: Anti-Christian-Right Crusader Norman Lear on Becoming a 'Born-Again American']
US News, Dan Gilgoff, February 10, 2009. Retrieved February 26, 2013
Prominent right-wing Christians including Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell
Jerry Laymon Falwell Sr. (August 11, 1933 – May 15, 2007) was an American Baptist pastor, televangelist, and conservatism in the United States, conservative activist. He was the founding pastor of the Thomas Road Baptist Church, a megachurch ...
, and Jimmy Swaggart have accused Lear of being an atheist and holding an anti-Christian bias.[A Profile of Norman Lear: Another Pilgrim's Progress]
Norman Lear.com, Martin E Marty. Retrieved February 26, 2013 In the January 21, 1987, issue of '' The Christian Century'', Lear associate Martin E. Marty (a Lutheran
Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...
professor of church history at the University of Chicago Divinity School between 1963 and 1998) rejected those allegations, stating the television producer honored religious moral values and complimenting Lear's understanding of Christianity. Marty noted that while Lear and his family had never practiced Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Torah, Written and Oral Torah, Oral, as literally revelation, revealed by God in Ju ...
, the television producer was a follower of Judaism.
In a 2009 interview with '' US News'' journalist Dan Gilgoff, Lear rejected claims by right-wing Christian nationalists that he was an atheist and prejudiced against Christianity. Lear held religious beliefs and integrated some evangelical Christian language into his Born Again American campaign. He believed that religion should be kept separate from politics and policymaking. In a 2014 interview with ''The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles
''The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles'', known simply as the ''Jewish Journal'', is an independent, nonprofit community weekly newspaper serving the Jewish community of greater Los Angeles, published by the nonprofit TRIBE Media Corp. I ...
'' journalist Rob Eshman, Lear described himself as a "total Jew" but said he was never a practicing one.
In 1989, Lear founded the Business Enterprise Trust, an educational program that used annual awards, business school case studies, and videos to spotlight exemplary social innovations in American business until it ended in 1998. He announced in 1992 that he was reducing his political activism. In 2000, he provided an endowment for a multidisciplinary research and public policy center, the Norman Lear Center, that explored the convergence of entertainment, commerce, and society at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.
Lear served on the National Advisory Board of the Young Storytellers Foundation. He wrote articles for ''The Huffington Post
''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...
''. He was a trustee of The Paley Center for Media.
Declaration of Independence
In 2001, Lear and his wife, Lyn, purchased a Dunlap broadside—one of the first published copies of the United States Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence, formally The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen States of America in the original printing, is the founding document of the United States. On July 4, 1776, it was adopted unanimously by the Second Continen ...
—for $8.1 million. John Dunlap printed about 200 copies of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. Twenty-five copies survive today and only four of those are in private hands.
Lear said in a press release and on the '' Today'' show that his intent was to tour the document around the United States so that the country could experience its "birth certificate" firsthand. Through the end of 2004, the document traveled throughout the United States on the Declaration of Independence
A declaration of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another state or failed state, or are breaka ...
Road Trip, which Lear organized, visiting several presidential libraries, dozens of museums, as well as the 2002 Olympics, Super Bowl XXXVI, and the Live 8
Live 8 was a string of benefit concerts that took place on 2 July 2005, in the G8 states and South Africa. They were timed to precede the G8 conference and summit held at the Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder, Scotland, from 6–8 July 2005 ...
concert in Philadelphia. Lear and Rob Reiner
Robert Reiner (born March 6, 1947) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and liberal activist. As an actor, Reiner first came to national prominence with the role of Michael Stivic, Mike "Meathead" Stivic on the CBS sitc ...
produced a filmed, dramatic reading of the Declaration of Independence—the last project filmed by famed cinematographer
The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the recording of a film, television production, music video or other live-action piece. The cinematographer is the chief of the camera ...
Conrad Hall—on July 4, 2001, at Independence Hall
Independence Hall is a historic civic building in Philadelphia, where both the United States Declaration of Independence, Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States were debated and adopted by the Founding Fathers of ...
in Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
. The film is introduced by Morgan Freeman and Kathy Bates
Kathleen Doyle Bates (born June 28, 1948) is an American actress. Kathy Bates filmography, Her work spans over five decades, and List of awards and nominations received by Kathy Bates, her accolades include an Academy Awards, Academy Award, t ...
, Benicio del Toro
Benicio Monserrate Rafael del Toro Sánchez (; born February 19, 1967) is a Puerto Rico, Puerto Rican actor. List of awards and nominations received by Benicio del Toro, His accolades include an Academy Awards, Academy Award, a British Academy ...
, Michael Douglas, Mel Gibson, Whoopi Goldberg, Graham Greene
Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading novelists of the 20th century.
Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquired a re ...
, Ming-Na Wen, Edward Norton, Winona Ryder
Winona Laura Horowitz (born ), known professionally as Winona Ryder, is an American actress. Having come to attention playing quirky characters in the late 1980s, she achieved success with her more dramatic performances in the 1990s. Ryder's L ...
, Kevin Spacey
Kevin Spacey Fowler (born July 26, 1959) is an American actor. Known for Kevin Spacey on screen and stage, his work on stage and screen, he List of awards and nominations received by Kevin Spacey, has received numerous accolades, including two ...
, and Renée Zellweger appear as readers. It was directed by Arvin Brown and scored by John Williams
John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (November 15, 2022)Classic Connection review, ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who w ...
.
In 2004, Lear established Declare Yourself which is a national nonpartisan, nonprofit campaign created to empower and encourage eligible 18- to 29-year-olds in America to register and vote. It has registered almost 4 million young people.
Lear was one of 98 "prominent members of Los Angeles' Jewish community" who signed an open letter supporting the proposed nuclear agreement between Iran and six world powers led by the United States. The letter called for the passage of the bill and warned that the ending of the agreement by Congress would be a "tragic mistake".
Personal life and death
Lear was married three times. His first marriage was to Charlotte Rosen in 1943. They divorced in 1956.
He was married to Frances Loeb, from 1956 to 1985. They separated in 1983, with Loeb eventually receiving $112 million from Lear in their divorce settlement, part of which she used to found '' Lear's'' magazine.
In 1987, he married Lyn Davis, who survived him. When she met Lear in 1984, Lyn was in the process of earning a doctorate in clinical psychology
Clinical psychology is an integration of human science, behavioral science, theory, and clinical knowledge for the purpose of understanding, preventing, and relieving psychologically-based distress or dysfunction and to promote subjective well ...
. She later became a documentary filmmaker through her production company Lyn Lear Productions.
From his three marriages, he had six children. He was a godparent to actress and singer Katey Sagal.["Katey Sagal on Wise Guys, Lost and More!"](_blank)
December 9, 2005. TV Guide.com. Retrieved December 30, 2015. .
Lear died at his Los Angeles home on December 5, 2023, from cardiac arrest, as a complication of heart failure. He was 101. His body was cremated.
Numerous celebrities paid tribute to Lear, including Jimmy Kimmel, Bill Maher
William MaherStated on ''Finding Your Roots'', January 12, 2016, PBS; on a series that lists "Jr." and "Sr." distinctions, Bill Maher's birth name was listed simply as William Maher, while his father was William Aloysius Maher Jr., and his pa ...
, Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...
, Tyler Perry
Tyler Perry (born Emmitt Perry Jr., September 13, 1969) is an American actor, filmmaker, and playwright. He is the creator and performer of Madea, Mabel "Madea" Simmons, a tough elderly woman, and also portrays her brother Joe Simmons and her ...
, George Clooney, John Leguizamo
John Alberto Leguizamo Peláez (, ; ; born July 22, 1960 or 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and film producer. He has appeared in more than 100 films, produced more than 20 films and documentaries, made more than 30 televisio ...
, Jon Stewart, Valerie Bertinelli
Valerie Anne Bertinelli (born April 23, 1960) is an American actress and television personality. She began acting as a child actor, child and made her screen debut in a 1974 episode of Apple's Way, ''Apple's Way''. She gained wide recognition f ...
, Bob Iger
Robert Alan Iger (; born February 10, 1951) is an American media executive who is chief executive officer (CEO) of the Walt Disney Company. He previously was the president of the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) between 1994 and 1995 and p ...
, Rob Reiner
Robert Reiner (born March 6, 1947) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and liberal activist. As an actor, Reiner first came to national prominence with the role of Michael Stivic, Mike "Meathead" Stivic on the CBS sitc ...
, John Amos, Billy Crystal, Quinta Brunson, Rita Moreno, Mark Hamill, Ben Stiller, Albert Brooks and more. The Simpsons' episode 9 from the 35th season ends with the words "In memory of Norman Lear" and a picture of Lear where he is depicted as a character from the Simpsons.
TV productions
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bar:Deputy from:09/12/1959 till:07/01/1961 color:revue text: The Deputy
bar:All from:01/12/1971 till:04/08/1979 color:tandem text:All in the Family
''All in the Family'' is an American sitcoms in the United States, sitcom television series that aired on CBS for nine seasons from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979, with a total of 205 episodes. It was later produced as ''Archie Bunker's Pla ...
bar:Sanford from:01/14/1972 till:03/25/1977 color:tandem text: Sanford and Son
bar:Maude from:09/12/1972 till:04/22/1978 color:tandem text: Maude
bar:Good from:02/08/1974 till:08/01/1979 color:tandem text: Good Times
bar:Jeffersons from:01/19/1975 till:06/25/1985 color:tat text:The Jeffersons
''The Jeffersons'' is an American sitcom television series that was broadcast on CBS from January 18, 1975, to July 2, 1985. Lasting 11 seasons and a total of 253 episodes, ''The Jeffersons'' is one of the longest-running sitcoms in history ...
bar:Hot from:01/24/1975 till:04/25/1975 color:tat text: Hot L Baltimore
bar:One from:12/16/1975 till:05/28/1984 color:tat text: One Day at a Time
bar:Mary from:01/06/1976 till:05/10/1977 color:tat text: Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman
bar:Dumplings from:01/28/1976 till:03/31/1976 color:tat text: The Dumplings
bar:Alls from:09/20/1976 till:04/30/1977 color:tat text: All's Fair
bar:Nancy from:09/30/1976 till:12/23/1976 color:tat text: The Nancy Walker Show
bar:Glitters from:04/18/1977 till:07/15/1977 color:tat text: All That Glitters
bar:Fernwood from:07/04/1977 till:09/08/1977 color:tat text: Fernwood 2 Night
bar:Year from:08/05/1977 till:09/02/1977 color:tat text: A Year at the Top
bar:America from:04/10/1978 till:07/07/1978 color:tat text: America 2-Night
bar:Diff'rent from:11/03/1978 till:03/07/1986 color:tandem text:Diff'rent Strokes
''Diff'rent Strokes'' is an American television sitcom, which originally aired on NBC from November 3, 1978, to May 4, 1985, and on ABC from September 27, 1985, to March 7, 1986. The series stars Gary Coleman and Todd Bridges as Arnold and ...
bar:Hanging from:08/08/1979 till:08/29/1979 color:tat text: Hanging In
bar:Baxters from:09/01/1979 till:08/01/1981 color:tat text: The Baxters
bar:Palmerstown from:03/20/1980 till:06/09/1981 color:tat text: Palmerstown, U.S.A.
bar:Pablo from:03/06/1984 till:04/17/1984 color:tat text: a.k.a. Pablo
bar:Sunday from:06/02/1991 till:07/07/1991 color:actiii text: Sunday Dinner
bar:Powers from:03/07/1992 till:01/16/1993 color:actiii text:The Powers That Be
In idiomatic English, "the powers that be" is a phrase used to refer to those individuals or groups who collectively hold authority over a particular domain. Within this phrase, the word ''be'' is an archaic variant of ''are'' rather than a subj ...
bar:Hauser from:04/11/1994 till:05/16/1994 color:actiii text: 704 Hauser
bar:Channel from:10/25/1997 till:09/04/1998 color:actiii text: Channel Umptee-3
bar:One17 from:01/06/2017 till:06/16/2020 color:actiii text: One Day at a Time
Legend = orientation:vertical position:right
The chart does not include the made-for-television movies '' The Wave'', which aired on October 4, 1981, or '' Heartsounds'', which aired on September 30, 1984.
Bibliography
* Lear, Norman.
Liberty and Its Responsibilities
. ''Broadcast Journalism, 1979–1981''. The Eighth Alfred I. DuPont Columbia University Survey, Ed. By Marvin Barrett. New York: Everest House, 1982. . .
* Lear, Norman.
, ''USA Today
''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...
'', August 17, 1984.
* Lear, Norman and Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...
.
A Debate on Religious Freedom
, ''Harper's Magazine
''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the United States. ''Harper's Magazine'' has ...
'', October 1984.
* Lear, Norman.
Our Fragile Tower of Greed and Debt
, ''The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'', April 5, 1987.
* Lear, Norman. ''Even This I Get to Experience''. New York: The Penguin Press, 2014. . .
References
Sources
* '' CBS News Sunday Morning'' interview with Norman Lear on January 10, 2021
"What makes Norman Lear, at 98, still tick?"
Further reading
* Campbell, Sean.
The Sitcoms of Norman Lear.
' Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co, 2007. .
* Carroll, Daniel P., and Albert K. Brown. ''Crew Umbriago''. .l. D.P. Carroll, 1986. .
* Miller, Taylor Cole. ''Syndicated Queerness: Television Talk Shows, Rerun Syndication, and the Serials of Norman Lear''. Ph.D. thesis, University of Wisconsin–Madison, 2017. .
*
Just Another Version of You
'. '' American Masters'' documentary. PBS. 2016.
* Turner Publishing Co. ''772nd Bomb Squadron: The Men – the Memories of the 463rd Bomb Group (The Swoose Group)''. Paducah, KY: Turner Pub. Co, 1996. . .
External links
*
*
*
*
*
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