by Abb Jones
The Reelness

Iconic television producer and screenwriter Norman Lear, the creative mastermind behind such politically and racially groundbreaking 1970s sitcoms as All in the Family, Sanford and Son, Maude, One Day at a Time, The Jeffersons, and Good Times, has died at age 101 at his home in Los Angeles.

Born in New Haven, Connecticut, the Kennedy Center Honors recipient and five-time Emmy winner was inspired to a lifetime of political advocacy at the age of nine after listening to an anti-semitic Catholic priest on the radio in his home. Following a stint in the U.S. Air Force as a radio operator/gunner in which he flew 52 combat missions, Lear moved to California to work in public relations before getting the comedy screenwriting bug during a chance meeting with an aspiring comedy writer.

In addition to his groundbreaking TV sitcoms which addressed such envelope-pushing topics as racism, abortion, divorce, drug use and poverty, Lear was also known for his political activism and funding of liberal and progressive causes, as well as being a collaborative, kind-hearted soul in an industry known for being crazy and ruthless. In 1981, Lear founded the organization People for the American Way, as a counter to Jerry Falwell’s Christian right group, the Moral Majority. Lear continued to work up until his death, producing the 2017 remake of One Day at a Time and the Netflix revival of Good Times in 2022.

Married three times, Lear is survived by his current wife of 36 years, documentary producer Lyn Davis Lear (The Lincoln Project, Fantastic Fungi), and six children.