Television Pioneer “Norman Lear” has Passed Away
Lear, a political activist, philanthropist, and television pioneer, passed away this week at 101.
Norman Lear was the driving force behind the revolutionary smash television shows All in the Family, Good Times, and One Day at a Time, which transformed the medium in the 1970s.
Lear passed away at his Los Angeles home on Tuesday from natural causes, according to a spokeswoman.
Norman Lear’s Family Recall His Lifetime Achievements on His Demise
Norman’s family uttered in a statement about his life,
“Norman lived a life of creativity, tenacity and empathy,”
“He deeply loved our country and spent a lifetime helping to preserve its founding ideals of justice and equality for all. Knowing and living him has been the greatest of gifts.”
A note from the family reads,
“Norman lived a life in awe of the world around him.
He marveled at his cup of coffee every morning, the shape of the tree outside his window, and the sounds of beautiful music.
But it was people — those he just met and those he knew for years — who kept his mind and heart forever young,”
Lear’s family also emphasized his military service, noting that he flew 52 missions during World War II.
They also shed light on how his early career was devoted to activism and philanthropy.
His services include establishing his People for the American Way organization in 1981, which defended constitutional rights because he feared anti-Semitic remarks.
Norman Lear’s Work in Comedy World
As a liberal activist, Lear created a daring and controversial comedy that audiences who couldn’t wait to see the evening news to learn about current events loved.
His shows produced middle-aged superstars from Carroll O’Connor, Bea Arthur, and Redd Foxx and helped define prime-time comedy in the 1970s.
They also started the careers of Rob Reiner and Valerie Bertinelli. Reiner posted a message 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.”
Based on the British sitcom All in the Family and Till Death Us Do Part, it received four Emmy Awards for Best Comedy Series and was the top-rated program for an unprecedented five years running.
However, it was eventually surpassed by five-time winner Frasier in 1998.
Norman’s Contributing Spectrum in the Entertainment Industry
Lear and Yorkin also produced the film Good Times, which tells the story of a Black working-class family in Chicago.
Sanford & Son features Foxx as junkyard dealer Fred Sanford and One Day at a Time features Bonnie Franklin as a single mother with daughters Bertinelli and Mackenzie Phillips.
Yorkin and Lear produced five top-ten shows in the 1974–1975 season. One of television’s early “golden age” writers, the late Paddy Chayefsky, famously remarked that,
Lear “took 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.”
Lear’s other well-known shows are Mary Hartman Mary Hartman, the All in the Family spin offs The Jeffersons, Maude, Archie Bunker’s Place, and Fernwood 2 Night/America 2 Night. Maude was the parent company of Good Times.
Lear once stated in a 1998 interview,
“Flying across country [one] night, I remember looking down and thinking, ‘Hey, it’s just possible, wherever I see a light, I’ve helped to make somebody laugh.‘”
Accolades That Norman Lear Had Gotten in His Life
As he got closer to turning 100, he continued to work in the entertainment business, receiving Emmy Awards in 2019 and 2020 for his work on Live in Front of a Studio Audience.
These efforts recreated episodes of Good Times, The Jeffersons, and All in the Family with fresh actors.
The Facts of Life and Diff’Rent Strokes were reviewed in Live in Front of a Studio Audience.
Six Primetime Emmys, two Peabodys, the National Medal of Arts in 1999, the Kennedy Center Honors in 2017, and the Golden Globe Carol Burnett Award in 2021 were just a few honors bestowed upon Lear.
He was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Television Academy.
Lear’s Political Insights and Activism
Lear was well-known for his political involvement and support of liberal and progressive candidates and causes.
Lear could share his political solid views outside of the tiny screen because of his commercial success.
He and a colleague paid $8.14 million for a copy of the Declaration of Independence in 2000, and they sent it on a cross-country tour.
He actively supported Democratic candidates with donations and, in 1980, established the liberal nonprofit lobbying group “People for the American Way”, claiming that preachers like Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell were “abusing religion.”
An Impactful Creator Never Dies
In his later years, Lear collaborated with James E. Burke and Warren Buffett to create The Business Enterprise Trust, which recognises companies that consider their long-term impact on the nation.
We know how fortunate we are to have had Norman Lear, even though a century was not long enough for him to fulfill our needs.
Every time we watch a ridiculously funny television sitcom with characters who represent our own anxieties and inadequacies, his influence will be felt.
