Norman Lear, Prolific TV Writer and Producer Who Created All in the Family, Dead at 101

Norman Lear — award-winning American television writer, film producer and activist — has died at the age of 101.

The Hollywood icon died Tuesday, December 5, at his home in Los Angeles of natural causes, according to a statement from his representatives. His family has also requested privacy at this time and will hold a private service for next of kin, they said.

A native of New Haven, Connecticut, Lear is best known for creating the groundbreaking comedy series, Everyone in the familywho took up social and political issues that were considered controversial at the time.

Before a successful career in the entertainment industry, Lear joined the United States Air Force in 1942, where he fought during World War II. He was discharged from the service in 1945 and became a publicist, eventually moving his career and family to California.

After moving into producing, Lear — who was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1984 — went on to create a number of iconic TV series that established the social realist genre and explored its democratic values, including Everyone in the family, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman and The Jeffersons.

Norman Lear. Jean Baptiste Lacroix/WireImage Norman Lear’s career in photographs

All in The Family — his sitcom that covered a host of topics, including prejudice, menopause, rape, homosexuality, sexual dysfunction and religion — earned 55 Emmy nominations and ended up winning 22 of them.

Lear’s other notable shows include Maude, Good times, Sanford and Son and Fernwood 2 night.

Later in his career, Lear wanted to find another platform to express his political views, and in 1981 he founded People for the American Way, a liberal coalition to defend the fundamental freedoms of the First Amendment. In 1991, he founded the Business Enterprise Trust, a nonprofit organization that celebrated acts of integrity, courage and social vision in corporate America.

A caring husband and father of six, Lear is survived by his wife Lyn and children Ellen (with ex-wife Charlotte Rosen), Kate and Maggie (with ex-wife Frances Loeb), and Benjamin, Madelaine and Brianna (with Lyn).

Norman Lear. Jesse Grant/WireImage Celebrities who died in 2023

Lear’s death comes after he celebrated his 101st birthday in July. The revered TV creator marked his centenary plus one on Thursday with a reflective yet playful video posted to his Instagram.

“Good morning and good afternoon, good evening, depending on where you are, who you are,” Lear began before bursting into laughter.

“Here’s Norman Lear, dribbling a bit as he enters his second childhood,” Day by day the creator joked. “I just turned 101 years old and that, they tell me, is my second childhood.”

He added: “It feels that way because of the kind of care I’m getting. At this age, I get the kind of care I see children, young children, get. And so now I’m a 101-year-old kid.”

Norman Lear with his wife Lyn Lear. Jean Baptiste Lacroix/WireImage Norman Lear on his long career at 98 — ‘Laughter added time to my life’

Lear also marked his birthday by writing an impassioned author’s text The Washington Postin which he called for better protection of voting rights and talked about his military service.

“To the legislators who stand between the people and the ballot box, and to the senators who stand in the dishonorable tradition of those who have broken civil rights laws, I say this: You can pass some unjust laws. You can win elections by preventing or discouraging people from voting,” he wrote. in the text. “But you will not ultimately defeat the democratic spirit, the spirit that animated the Tuskegee Airmen to whom I owe my life, the spirit that empowers millions of Americans who do their best to defend voting rights, protect our environment, preserve peaceful pluralism, defeat discrimination and expand educational and economic opportunities.”

“The right to vote is the basis for solving all these issues. It is at the heart of everything I have fought for in war and in peace,” he added. “The protection of voting rights should not be today’s fight. But it is. And that means it is our fight, yours and mine, as long as we have breath and strength.”

In lieu of flowers or gifts, Lear’s representatives say he asked for contributions to People For the American Way.

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education