Norman Lear, the writer, director and producer who revolutionized prime time television with B次元官网网址淎ll in the FamilyB次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址淢aude,B次元官网网址� propelling political and social turmoil into the once-insulated world of sitcoms, has died. He was 101.
Lear died Tuesday night in his sleep, surrounded by family at his home in Los Angeles, said Lara Bergthold, a spokesperson for his family.
A liberal activist, Lear fashioned bold and controversial comedies that were embraced by viewers who had to watch the evening news to find out what was going on in the world. His shows helped define prime time comedy in the 1970s, launched the careers of Rob Reiner and Valerie Bertinelli and made middle-aged superstars of Carroll OB次元官网网址機onnor, Bea Arthur and Redd Foxx.
B次元官网网址淎ll in the FamilyB次元官网网址� was immersed in the headlines of the day, while also drawing upon LearB次元官网网址檚 childhood memories of his tempestuous father. Racism, feminism, and the Vietnam War were flashpoints as blue collar conservative Archie Bunker, played by OB次元官网网址機onnor, clashed with liberal son-in-law Mike Stivic (Reiner). Jean Stapleton co-starred as ArchieB次元官网网址檚 befuddled but good-hearted wife, Edith, and Sally Struthers played the BunkersB次元官网网址� daughter, Gloria, who defended her husband in arguments with Archie.
LearB次元官网网址檚 work transformed television at a time when old-fashioned programs as B次元官网网址淗ereB次元官网网址檚 Lucy,B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淚ronsideB次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址淕unsmokeB次元官网网址� still dominated. CBS, LearB次元官网网址檚 primary network, would soon enact its B次元官网网址渞ural purgeB次元官网网址� and cancel such standbys as B次元官网网址淭he Beverly HillbilliesB次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址淕reen Acres.B次元官网网址� The groundbreaking sitcom B次元官网网址淭he Mary Tyler Moore Show,B次元官网网址� about a single career woman in Minneapolis, debuted on CBS in Sept. 1970, just months before B次元官网网址淎ll in the FamilyB次元官网网址� started.
But ABC passed on B次元官网网址淎ll in the FamilyB次元官网网址� twice and CBS was initially reluctant to take on the daring series, Lear would say. When the network finally aired B次元官网网址淎ll in the Family,B次元官网网址� it began with a disclaimer: B次元官网网址淭he program you are about to see is B次元官网网址楢ll in the Family.B次元官网网址� It seeks to throw a humorous spotlight on our frailties, prejudices, and concerns. By making them a source of laughter we hope to show, in a mature fashion, just how absurd they are.B次元官网网址�
By the end of 1971, B次元官网网址淎ll In the FamilyB次元官网网址� was No. 1 in the ratings and Archie Bunker was a pop culture fixture, with President Richard Nixon among his fans. Some of his putdowns became catchphrases. He called his son-in-law B次元官网网址淢eatheadB次元官网网址� and his wife B次元官网网址淒ingbat,B次元官网网址� and would also snap at anyone who dared occupy his faded orange-yellow wing chair. It was the centerpiece of the Bunkers rowhouse in the New York City borough of Queens and eventually an artifact in the SmithsonianB次元官网网址檚 National Museum of American History.
Even the showB次元官网网址檚 opening segment was innovative: Instead of an off-screen theme song, Archie and Edith are seated at the piano in their living room, belting out a nostalgic number, B次元官网网址淭hose Were the Days,B次元官网网址� with Edith screeching off-key and Archie crooning such lines B次元官网网址淒idnB次元官网网址檛 need no welfare stateB次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址淕irls were girls and men were men.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淎ll in the Family,B次元官网网址� based on the British sitcom, B次元官网网址淭il Death Us Do Part,B次元官网网址� was the No. 1-rated series for an unprecedented five years in a row and earned four Emmy Awards as best comedy series, finally eclipsed by five-time winner B次元官网网址淔rasierB次元官网网址� in 1998.
Hits continued for Lear and then-partner Bud Yorkin, including B次元官网网址淢audeB次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址淭he Jeffersons,B次元官网网址� both spinoffs from B次元官网网址淎ll in the FamilyB次元官网网址� and both the same winning combination of one-liners and social conflict. In a 1972 two-part episode of B次元官网网址淢aude,B次元官网网址� the title character (played by Arthur) became the first on television to have an abortion, drawing a surge of protests along with the showB次元官网网址檚 high ratings. Nixon himself objected to an B次元官网网址淎ll in the FamilyB次元官网网址� episode about a close friend of ArchieB次元官网网址檚 who turns out to be gay, privately fuming to White House aides that the show B次元官网网址済lorifiedB次元官网网址� same-sex relationships.
B次元官网网址淐ontroversy suggests people are thinking about something. But thereB次元官网网址檇 better be laughing first and foremost or itB次元官网网址檚 a dog,B次元官网网址� Lear said in a 1994 interview with The Associated Press.
Lear and Yorkin also created B次元官网网址淕ood Times,B次元官网网址� about a working class Black family in Chicago; B次元官网网址淪anford & Son,B次元官网网址� a showcase for Foxx as junkyard dealer Fred Sanford; and B次元官网网址淥ne Day at a Time,B次元官网网址� starring Bonnie Franklin as a single mother and Bertinelli and Mackenzie Phillips as her daughters. In the 1974-75 season, Lear and Yorkin produced five of the top 10 shows.
The late Paddy Chayefsky, a leading writer of televisionB次元官网网址檚 early B次元官网网址済olden age,B次元官网网址� once said that Lear B次元官网网址渢ook television away from dopey wives and dumb fathers, from the pimps, hookers, hustlers, private eyes, junkies, cowboys and rustlers that constituted television chaos, and in their place he put the American people.B次元官网网址�
LearB次元官网网址檚 business success enabled him to express his ardent political beliefs beyond the small screen. In 2000, he and a partner bought a copy of the Declaration of Independence for $8.14 million and sent it on a cross-country tour.
He was an active donor to Democratic candidates and founded the nonprofit liberal advocacy group People for the American Way in 1980, he said, because people such as evangelists Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson were B次元官网网址渁busing religion.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淚 started to say, This is not my America. You donB次元官网网址檛 mix politics and religion this way,B次元官网网址� Lear said in a 1992 interview with Commonweal magazine.
The nonprofitB次元官网网址檚 president, Svante Myrick, said B次元官网网址渨e are heartbrokenB次元官网网址� by LearB次元官网网址檚 death. B次元官网网址淲e extend our deepest sympathies to NormanB次元官网网址檚 wife Lyn and their entire family, and to the many people whoB次元官网网址�, like us,B次元官网网址� loved Norman.B次元官网网址�
With this wry smile and impish boat hat, the youthful Lear created television well into his 90s, rebooting B次元官网网址淥ne Day at a TimeB次元官网网址� for Netflix in 2017 and exploring income inequality for the documentary series B次元官网网址淎merica DividedB次元官网网址� in 2016. Documentarians featured him in 2016B次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淣orman Lear: Just Another Version of You,B次元官网网址� and 2017B次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淚f YouB次元官网网址檙e Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast,B次元官网网址� a look at active nonagenarians such as Lear and Rob ReinerB次元官网网址檚 father, Carl Reiner.
In 1984, he was lauded as the B次元官网网址渋nnovative writer who brought realism to televisionB次元官网网址� when he became one of the first seven people inducted into the National Academy of Television Arts and SciencesB次元官网网址� Hall of Fame. He later received a National Medal of Arts and was honored at the Kennedy Center. In 2020, he won an Emmy as executive producer of B次元官网网址淟ive In Front of a Studio Audience: B次元官网网址楢ll In the FamilyB次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址楪ood TimesB次元官网网址�.B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址�
Lear beat the tough TV odds to an astounding degree: At least one of his shows placed in prime-timeB次元官网网址檚 top 10 for 11 consecutive years (1971-82). But Lear had flops as well.
Shows including B次元官网网址淗ot L Baltimore,B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淧almerstownB次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址渁.k.a. Pablo,B次元官网网址� a rare Hispanic series, drew critical favor but couldnB次元官网网址檛 find an audience; others, such as B次元官网网址淎ll That GlittersB次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址淭he Nancy Walker Show,B次元官网网址� earned neither. He also faced resistance from cast members, including B次元官网网址淕ood TimesB次元官网网址� stars John Amos and Esther Rolle, who often objected to the scripts as racially insensitive, and endured a mid-season walkout by Foxx, who missed eight episodes in 1973-74 because of a contract dispute.
In the 1990s, the comedy B次元官网网址�704 Hauser,B次元官网网址� which returned to the Bunker house with a new family, and the political satire B次元官网网址淭he Powers that BeB次元官网网址� were both short-lived.
LearB次元官网网址檚 business moves, meanwhile, were almost consistently fruitful.
Lear started T.A.T. Communications in 1974 to be B次元官网网址渟ole creative captain of his ship,B次元官网网址� his former business partner Jerry Perenchio told the Los Angeles Times in 1990. The company became a major TV producer with shows including B次元官网网址淥ne Day at a TimeB次元官网网址� and the soap-opera spoof B次元官网网址淢ary Hartman Mary Hartman,B次元官网网址� which Lear distributed himself after it was rejected by the networks.
In 1982, Lear and Perenchio bought Avco-Embassy Pictures and formed Embassy Communications as T.A.T.B次元官网网址檚 successor, becoming successfully involved in movies, home video, pay TV and cable ownership. In 1985, Lear and Perenchio sold Embassy to Coca-Cola for $485 million. They had sold their cable holdings the year before, reportedly for a hefty profit.
By 1986, Lear was on Forbes magazineB次元官网网址檚 list of the 400 richest people in America, with an estimated net worth of $225 million. He didnB次元官网网址檛 make the cut the next year after a $112 million divorce settlement for his second wife, Frances. They had been married 29 years and had two daughters.
He married his third wife, psychologist Lyn Davis, in 1987 and the couple had three children. (Frances Lear, who went on to found the now-defunct LearB次元官网网址檚 magazine with her settlement, died in 1996 at age 73.)
Lear was born in New Haven, Conn. on July 27, 1922, to Herman Lear, a securities broker who served time in prison for selling fake bonds, and Jeanette, a homemaker who helped inspire Edith Bunker. Norman Lear would remember family life as a kind of sitcom, full of quirks and grudges, B次元官网网址渁 group of people living at the ends of their nerves and the tops of their lungs,B次元官网网址� he explained during a 2004 appearance at the John F. Kennedy Presidential LIbrary in Boston.
His political activism had deep roots. In a 1984 interview with The New York Times, Lear recalled how, at age 10, he would mail letters for his Russian immigrant grandfather, Shia Seicol, which began B次元官网网址淢y dearest darling Mr. President,B次元官网网址� to Franklin D. Roosevelt. Sometimes a reply came.
B次元官网网址淭hat my grandfather mattered made me feel every citizen mattered,B次元官网网址� said Lear, who at 15 was sending his own messages to Congress via Western Union.
He dropped out of Emerson College 1942 to enlist in the Air Force, was awarded a Decorated Air Medal, and then worked in public relations.
Lear began writing in the early 1950s on shows including B次元官网网址淭he Colgate Comedy HourB次元官网网址� and working for such comedians as Martha Raye and George Gobel. In 1959, he and Yorkin founded Tandem Productions, which produced films including B次元官网网址淐ome Blow Your Horn,B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淪tart the Revolution Without MeB次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址淒ivorce American Style.B次元官网网址� Lear also directed the 1971 satire B次元官网网址淐old Turkey,B次元官网网址� starring Dick Van Dyke about a small town that takes on a tobacco companyB次元官网网址檚 offer of $25 million to quit smoking for 30 days.
In his later years, Lear joined with Warren Buffett and James E. Burke to establish The Business Enterprise Trust, honoring businesses that take a long-term view of their effect on the country. He also founded the Norman Lear Center at the University of Southern CaliforniaB次元官网网址檚 Annenberg School for Communication, exploring entertainment, commerce and society. In 2014, he published the memoir B次元官网网址淓ven This I Get to Experience.B次元官网网址�
READ ALSO:
