Good Times Star Jimmie Walker on Norman Lear’s Lasting Legacy and Their ‘Creative Differences’ (Exclusive)

Good times star Jimmie Walker recalls the enormous contributions of the late Norman Lear — and the occasional push and pull of their working relationship.

“He had 11 hit shows on the air at once, which, I hate to say, is impossible because someone did it, but I don’t think you’ll see that from [anyone else],” Walker, 76, exclusively tells PEOPLE of Lear, who died Tuesday at the age of 101. “And even though Norman Lear was an extremely flamboyant liberal — he made Al Sharpton look like Donald Trump — he always expressed both sides .”

The two worked together on the sitcom from 1974-1979 Good times, which centered around a black family living in the Chicago projects. Lear produced the series, and Walker played JJ Evans, an aspiring artist who became the main character of the series.

Although he began to regard Lear with immense respect, their relationship was not exactly love at first sight.

“The first time I met him was in Los Angeles when I was sitting next to him at the table and I was looking for jokes and things like that,” Walker recalls preparing for the show’s pilot episode. “So he’s sitting next to me, I don’t know who he is. I said, ‘Boy, who wrote this? This is bullshit, man.’ And he looked at me. So I said, ‘This needs to be completely rewritten. This is terrible.'”

Norman Lear, the prolific TV writer and producer who created Everyone in the familyDied at 101

Lear was known for tackling serious issues through comedy in shows like Everyone in the family and Maudeand Walker was a stand-up comedian whose priority was punch.”We always had creative differences because I was very funny and he wasn’t a funny guy, even though he wrote for [Dean] Martin i [Jerry] Lewis, which was a joke,” says Walker. “So I would sneak around [jokes] And Norman sometimes didn’t understand that I was getting things. But I mean, we got along as people. Creatively, I think we were diametrically opposed.”

Jimmy Walker.

David Livingston/Getty

Now, however, Walker is quick to admit that Lear knew what he was doing—and he did it well. “Obviously he’s Norman Lear; I am whatever I am,” he says with a laugh. “And he was a guy who proved his point, in hit shows and movies, as you know.” “So he proved his point, I don’t consider myself a loser in it, but I wasn’t a real winner in it. And he’d laugh at me in terms of throwing stuff in. He’d say, ‘Man, you gotta slow down with this stuff. You always want to make jokes . Take it easy.'”

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The friction and combined talent between the two resulted in classic ’70s television, with JJ’s catchphrase — “Dyn-O-mite!” — becomes a cultural phenomenon.

But here’s the twist, according to Walker: “Norman just hated it,” he remembers. “He hated it from day one. And we always had a disagreement about it. It didn’t matter to me because it would get a laugh and that’s all that mattered to me.”

Despite their differing opinions on comedy, Walker recognizes the strides Lear made in sitcoms and putting black shows on the TV map. “He would drop jokes that make a point, and he did that all the time,” Walker says. “He was always arguing with people in terms of network programming and things like that, but he went in with his guns and obviously we’re getting somewhere now. So that’s his legacy.”

Norman Lear.

Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post via Getty

On Tuesday, December 5, Lear died at his home in Los Angeles of natural causes, according to a statement from his representatives. He was 101.

The news of his death was confirmed on his official Instagram profile with a black and white photo of a smiling Lear. In a statement, his team said he died “surrounded by his family as we told stories and sang songs until the very end.”

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“Norman lived a life in awe of the world around him. He admired his cup of coffee every morning, the shape of the tree outside his window and the sounds of beautiful music. But it was the people—those he had just met and those he had known for decades—that kept him his mind and heart forever young,” read the headline. “As we celebrate his legacy and think about the next chapter of life without him, we’d like to thank everyone for all the love and support.”

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