Legendary TV Producer Norman Lear Dies

The towering TV talent was in the Television Academy’s Hall of Fame, won numerous other awards and also worked on movies like 'The Princess Bride.'

Norman Lear at 'Norman Lear: 100 Years of Music and Laughter.' Photo: ABC/Christopher Willard.

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Producer, writer and director Norman Lear has died.
He had a profound impact on the TV landscape.
Friends and family have been paying tribute.

Norman Lear, a hugely respected, writer, producer and TV show-runner has died.

Lear who was working up until shortly before his death, was 101 and is responsible for some of the most famous TV sitcoms in history. He became one of the most respected talents in the industry and was a well-known activist.

Norman Lear: Early life and Career

Norman Lear at 'Norman Lear: 100 Years of Music and Laughter.' Photo: ABC/Christopher Willard.

Lear was born in New Haven, Connecticut, on July 27th, 1922. He dropped out of Boston’s Emerson College to enlist in the U.S. Air Force in 1942 and served as a radio operator and gunner on B-17 bombers in the European theater, flying 52 missions.

After the war, he pursued a career as a press agent, and moved to Los Angeles to set up shop. But he soon decided that comedy writing was instead the way forward, which proved to be the smartest move he could have made. After partnering with Ed Simmons, his cousin’s husband, their major break came writing for Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, then the country’s hottest comedy act, during a run of 1952-53 appearances on ‘The Colgate Comedy Hour.’ He followed that by becoming an in-demand writer for variety shows.

And it was in producing and writing for TV series where Lear would truly shine, creating the likes of ‘All in the Family, Sanford & Son’ (those two inspired by existing British sitcoms), ‘One Day at a Time’, ‘Diff’rent Strokes’, ‘Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman’, and more.

Norman Lear’s Movie Work

'The Princess Bride' Photo: 20th Century Fox.

His big-screen credits included the scripts for ‘Come Blow Your Horn’, and ‘The Night They Raided Minsky’s’. He wrote and directed the tart 1971 comedy about the tobacco industry ‘Cold Turkey,’ and was a producer/uncredited punch-up writer on movies such as ‘Fried Green Tomatoes’, ‘The Princess Bride’ and ‘Never Too Late’.

In the 1980s, Lear bought Avco Embassy Pictures with partner Jerry Perenchio (they later sold the company to Columbia Pictures for $250 million). He also became a major player in the music business with the 1999 purchase of Concord Music Group, one of the largest independent label operations in the world.

Lear on his work

Norman Lear at 'Norman Lear: 100 Years of Music and Laughter.' Photo: ABC/Christopher Willard.

Norman Lear said this to the A.V. Club in a 2005 interview:

“Originally, with all the shows, we went looking for belly laughs. It crossed our minds early on that the more an audience cared –– we were working before, on average, 240 live people –– if you could get them caring, the more they cared, the harder they laughed.”

Family and Friends Pay Tribute

(L to R) Norman Lear and Kim Fields from 'Live in Front of a Studio Audience.' Photo: ABC/Christopher Willard.

Lear’s family spoke out to thank those who had already offered condolences:

“Thank you for the moving outpouring of love and support in honor of our wonderful husband, father, and grandfather. 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 loving him has been the greatest of gifts. We ask for your understanding as we mourn privately in celebration of this remarkable human being.”

And Rob Reiner, no small talent himself in the comedy world (and a friend/colleague of Lear), took the social media to offer his tribute: