Legendary TV Producer Norman Lear Dies at 101

Lear created several of the most iconic comedies of the 1970s and remained an active executive producer in recent years.

Legendary TV writer and producer Norman Lear - whose advocacy for including topical political and social issues changed the possibilities of comedic storytelling in the 1970s - has passed away today. He died of natural causes at his home in Los Angeles. He was 101.

Lear served as the creator of some of the most influential television series of an entire decade. He helmed CBS’ All in the Family which ran for 9 seasons between 1971 and 1979; CBS’ Maude which produced 6 seasons between 1972 and 1978; NBC’s Sanford and Son which aired 6 seasons between 1972 and 1977; CBS’ One Day at a Time which ran for 9 seasons between 1975 and 1984; CBS’ The Jeffersons which produced 11 seasons between 1975 and 1985; CBS’ Good Times which aired 6 seasons between 1974 and 1979; and Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman which had a two-season syndicated run from 1976 to 1977.

In recent years, he executive produced the reboot of One Day at a Time, which aired for four seasons on Netflix and later Pop. His career was spotlighted in the 2016 documentary Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You. Since May 2019, three specials have been produced for Live in Front of a Studio Audience which recreate several iconic episodes of Lear’s former sitcoms featuring new performers. In 2021, he produced and appeared in the documentary Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It.

At the time of his death, Lear was executive producing the upcoming Freevee comedy Clean Slate starring George Wallace and Laverne Cox as well as the upcoming Netflix dramedy The Corps starring Miles Heizer and Vera Farmiga. He was also developing a new animated take on Good Times set up at Netflix and an update on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman with Emily Hampshire attached to star but no network.

Lear enlisted in the U.S. Army in September 1942 and was stationed in the Mediterranean theater during World War II. He served as a radio operator/gunner on Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers with the 772nd Bomb Squadron, 463rd Bomb Group of the Fifteenth Air Force. He flew 52 combat missions and was discharged from the Army in 1945.

Throughout his career, Lear received six Emmy Awards out of seventeen nominations. In 2020, Lear became the oldest person to ever win a competitive Emmy. He won in the Outstanding Variety Special (Live) category as part of the producing team for ABC’s Live in Front of a Studio Audience: All in the Family and Good Times. Furthermore, he won two Peabody Awards, the National Medal of Arts in 1999, the Kennedy Center Honors in 2017, and the Golden Globe Carol Burnett Award in 2021. He was also a member of the Television Academy Hall of Fame.

Lear was married three times: to Charlotte Rosen from 1943 to 1956, to Frances Loeb from 1956 to 1985; and to Lyn Davis since 1987. He has six children and four grandchildren.