Editing Norman Lear

{{Short description|American screenwriter and producer (1922–2023)}}
{{Use American English|date=December 2023}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Norman Lear
| image              = Norman Lear Jeanne Wolf 1977.jpg
| caption            = Lear in 1977
| birth_name         = Norman Milton Lear
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|1922|7|27}}
| birth_place        = {{nowrap|[[New Haven, Connecticut]], U.S.}}
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|2023|12|5|1922|7|27}}
| death_place        = [[Los Angeles, California]], U.S.
| death_cause        = <!-- should only be included when the cause of death has significance for the subject's notability -->
| education          = [[Emerson College]]
| occupation         = {{hlist|Screenwriter|producer}}
| years_active       = 1946–2023
| known_for          = Sitcoms: {{hlist|class=nowraplinks|''[[All in the Family]]''| ''[[The Jeffersons]]''| ''[[Sanford and Son]]''| ''[[Good Times]]''|''[[Maude (TV series)|Maude]]''|''[[One Day at a Time (1975 TV series)|One Day at a Time]]''|''[[Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman]]''}}
| spouse             = {{ubl|{{marriage|Charlotte Rosen|1943|1956|end=divorced}}|{{marriage|[[Frances Lear|Frances Loeb]]|1956|1985|end=divorced}}|{{marriage|Lyn Davis|1987}}}}
| children           = 6
| website            = {{URL|normanlear.com}}
| other names        = 
| module             = {{Infobox military person
| embed        = yes
| allegiance   = <!-- United States; obvious -->
| branch       = {{tree list}}
*[[United States Army]]
**[[Army Air Forces]]
{{Tree list/end}}
| serviceyears = 1942–1945
| rank         = [[Technical sergeant]]
| unit         = {{ubl|[[463d Operations Group|463rd Bombardment Group]]|[[Fifteenth Air Force]]}}
| battles      = {{Tree list}}
*World War II
** [[European Theater of Operations]]
{{Tree list/end}}}}
| awards             = 
}}

'''Norman Milton Lear''' (July 27, 1922{{snd}}December 5, 2023) was an American screenwriter and producer who produced, wrote, created, or developed over 100 shows.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Lear|first=Norman|title=Even This I Get To Experience|publisher=Penguin|year=2014|pages=preface |isbn=978-0143127963 }}</ref> Lear created and produced numerous popular 1970s [[Sitcoms in the United States|sitcoms]], including ''[[All in the Family]]'' (1971–1979), ''[[Maude (TV series)|Maude]]'' (1972–1978), ''[[Sanford and Son]]'' (1972–1977), ''[[One Day at a Time (1975 TV series)|One Day at a Time]]'' (1975–1984), ''[[The Jeffersons]]'' (1975–1985), and ''[[Good Times]]'' (1974–1979). His works were introducing political and social themes to the sitcom format.<ref name="Morris">{{cite news |url=https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/norman-lear-tv-legend-dies-133220344.html |work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |title=Norman Lear, TV Legend, Dies at 101 |via=[[Yahoo!]] |first1=Chris |last1=Morris |date=December 6, 2023 |access-date=December 6, 2023 |archive-date=December 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231206163324/https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/norman-lear-tv-legend-dies-133220344.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Lear has received many awards, including six [[Primetime Emmy Awards]], 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 a member of the [[Television Academy Hall of Fame]].

Lear was known for his political activism and funding of [[Modern liberalism in the United States|liberal]] and [[Progressivism in the United States|progressive]] causes and politicians. In 1980, he founded the advocacy organization [[People for the American Way]] to counter the influence of the [[Christian right]] in politics, and in the early 2000s, he mounted a tour with a copy of the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]].

==Early life and education==
Norman Milton Lear was born on July 27, 1922, in [[New Haven, Connecticut]],<ref name=biography.com>{{cite web| url= http://www.biography.com/people/norman-lear-9376137| title= Norman Lear Biography: Screenwriter, Television Producer, Pilot (1922–)|publisher=[[Biography.com]] ([[FYI (TV network)|FYI]] / [[A&E Networks]])| access-date= July 8, 2016| archive-date= April 30, 2016| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160430084235/http://www.biography.com/people/norman-lear-9376137 }}</ref><ref name=cnnfast/> to Jeanette (''née'' Seicol) and Hyman "Herman" Lear, a traveling salesman.<ref name=cnnfast>{{cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/2016/09/30/us/norman-lear-fast-facts/|title=Norman Lear Fast Facts|publisher=CNN|date=September 30, 2016|access-date=May 30, 2017|archive-date=April 29, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210429005704/https://www.cnn.com/2016/09/30/us/norman-lear-fast-facts|url-status=live}}</ref> Both parents were of Russian-Jewish descent.<ref name=FamilySearch-Census-1930>{{cite web|title=Norman Lear – United States Census, 1930|url=https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XQR5-HR5|website=[[FamilySearch]]|url-access=subscription|access-date=October 16, 2014|archive-date=March 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304103418/https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XQR5-HR5}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref name=WeRelate-HermanJeanette-1921>{{cite web|title=Family:Herman Lear and Jeanette Seicol (1)|url=http://www.werelate.org/wiki/Family:Herman_Lear_and_Jeanette_Seicol_(1)|website=[[WeRelate]]|access-date=October 16, 2014|archive-date=October 23, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141023054130/http://www.werelate.org/wiki/Family:Herman_Lear_and_Jeanette_Seicol_(1)|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=fdnr1>Stated on ''[[Finding Your Roots]]'', January 26, 2016, PBS</ref>
He had a younger sister, Claire Lear Brown (1925–2015).<ref name=Courant-SisterMarriage-2006>{{cite news|last1=Lynch|first1=M.A.C.|title=Their Junior High Romance Has Lasted 60 Happy Years|url=http://articles.courant.com/2006-03-12/features/0603100717_1_yearbook-san-diego-people|access-date=October 16, 2014|work=[[Hartford Courant]]|date=March 12, 2006|archive-date=March 3, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303224238/http://articles.courant.com/2006-03-12/features/0603100717_1_yearbook-san-diego-people|url-status=live}}</ref> Lear grew up in a Jewish household in Connecticut and had a [[bar mitzvah]] ceremony.<ref name=Aish-2001>{{cite web |url=http://www.aish.com/ci/be/48880147.html |title=An Interview with Norman Lear |website=[[Aish HaTorah]] |date=March 6, 2001 |access-date=December 29, 2013 |archive-date=December 31, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131231000535/http://www.aish.com/ci/be/48880147.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

When Lear was nine years old, he was living with his family in [[Chelsea, Massachusetts]],<ref>[https://archive.org/details/WGBH_89_7_FM_20220116_170000?start=562 Radio interview with Norman Lear, January 16 2022] archived from [[WGBH (FM)]] broadcast</ref> his father went to prison for selling fake bonds.<ref name=WNYC-Lopate-2014>{{cite news|last1=Lopate|first1=Leonard|title=Norman Lear's Storytelling, the Brooklyn Museum's Killer Heels|url=http://www.wnyc.org/story/the-leonard-lopate-show-2014-10-15/|access-date=October 16, 2014|work=[[The Leonard Lopate Show]]|publisher=[[WNYC]]|date=October 15, 2014|archive-date=October 16, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141016062357/http://www.wnyc.org/story/the-leonard-lopate-show-2014-10-15/|url-status=live}}</ref> Lear thought of his father as a "rascal" and said that the character of [[Archie Bunker]] (whom Lear depicted as white Protestant on the show) was in part inspired by his father, and the character of [[Edith Bunker]] was in part inspired by his mother.<ref name=WNYC-Lopate-2014 /> However, Lear has said the moment which inspired his lifetime of advocacy was another event which he experienced at the age of nine, when he first heard antisemitic Catholic radio priest Father [[Charles Coughlin]] while tinkering with his crystal radio set.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Schneider |first1=Michael |title=How Norman Lear Devoted Himself to a Lifetime of Advocacy |url=https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/norman-lear-people-for-the-american-way-1203337825/ |website=Variety |date=September 17, 2019 |access-date=August 9, 2020 |archive-date=January 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102195058/https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/norman-lear-people-for-the-american-way-1203337825/ |url-status=live }}</ref> After hearing more of Coughlin's radio sermons, Lear said he found Coughlin would promote antisemitism by targeting people whom Jews considered to be "great heroes", such as US President Franklin Roosevelt.<ref>{{cite web |title=Norman Lear: 'Just Another Version Of You' |date=June 23, 2012 |url=https://www.npr.org/transcripts/155521188 |publisher=NPR |language=en |access-date=August 9, 2020 |archive-date=January 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102195020/https://www.npr.org/transcripts/155521188 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Lear attended [[Samuel J. Tilden High School]] in [[Brooklyn]], New York,<ref>{{cite web|title=TV Legend Norman Lear on the Black Panthers, Nixon's Enemies List & What Gives Him Hope|url=https://www.democracynow.org/2016/10/25/norman_lear_on_nixons_enemies_list|website=Democracy Now|date=October 25, 2016|access-date=February 12, 2023|archive-date=February 12, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230212171905/https://www.democracynow.org/2016/10/25/norman_lear_on_nixons_enemies_list|url-status=live}}</ref> graduated from Weaver High School in [[Hartford, Connecticut]], in 1940 and attended [[Emerson College]] in [[Boston]], but dropped out in 1942 to join the [[United States Army Air Forces]].<ref name=TCM-Bio>{{cite web|title=Overview for Norman Lear|url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/110472%7C118487/Norman-Lear/|website=[[Turner Classic Movies]]|access-date=October 16, 2014|archive-date=November 3, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141103002127/http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/110472%7C118487/Norman-Lear/|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Military career==
Lear enlisted in the [[United States Army Air Forces]] in September 1942.<ref name=FamilySearch-WWIIEnlistment-1942>{{cite web| title=Norman M Lear – United States World War II Army Enlistment Records| url=https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/K8LF-8H6| website=FamilySearch| access-date=October 16, 2014 |url-access=subscription}}{{void|Fabrickator|comment|no working archive links found, example:  https://web.archive.org/web/20231206195121/https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K8LF-8H6 are not working}}{{cbignore}}</ref> He served in the [[Mediterranean and Middle East theatre of World War II|Mediterranean theater]] as a radio operator and gunner on [[Boeing]] [[B-17 Flying Fortress]] bombers with the [[772nd Expeditionary Airlift Squadron|772nd Bomb Squadron]], [[463rd Operations Group|463rd Bomb Group]] of the [[Fifteenth Air Force]]; in a 2014 interview, he talked about bombing Germany.<ref name=WNYC-Lopate-2014 /> He flew 52 combat missions and received the [[Air Medal]] with four oak leaf clusters.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Culture/norman-lear-producer-family-jeffersons-dead-101/story?id=101670832|title=Norman Lear, producer of 'All in the Family,' 'The Jeffersons,' dead at 101|website=ABC News|last=Iervolino|first=Stephen|date=December 6, 2023|access-date=December 6, 2023|archive-date=December 6, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231206195106/https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Culture/norman-lear-producer-family-jeffersons-dead-101/story?id=101670832|url-status=live}}</ref> Lear was discharged from the Army Air Forces in 1945.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://people.com/norman-lear-dead-obituary-7501941|title=Norman Lear, Prolific TV Writer and Producer Who Created 'All in the Family,' Dead at 101|website=People|last=Sands|first=Nicole|date=December 6, 2023|access-date=December 6, 2023|archive-date=December 6, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231206195114/https://people.com/norman-lear-dead-obituary-7501941|url-status=live}}</ref> His World War II crew members are featured in the book ''Crew Umbriago'' by Daniel P. Carroll.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1991/11/06/tail-gunner-we-were-a-crazy-bunch-of-guys/ |url-access=subscription |title=Tail-Gunner: 'We Were a Crazy Bunch of Guys' |date=November 6, 1991 |newspaper=[[Orlando Sentinel]] |access-date=December 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231206195112/https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1991/11/06/tail-gunner-we-were-a-crazy-bunch-of-guys/ |archive-date=December 6, 2023}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

==Career==
===1950–1959===
After [[World War II]] Lear had a career in [[public relations]].<ref name=WNYC-Lopate-2014 /> The career choice was inspired by his Uncle Jack: "My dad had a brother, Jack, who flipped me a quarter every time he saw me. He was a press agent so I wanted to be a press agent. That's the only role model I had. So all I wanted was to grow up to be a guy who could flip a quarter to a nephew."<ref name=Aish-2001 /> Lear decided to move to California to restart his career in publicity, driving with his toddler daughter across the country.<ref name=WNYC-Lopate-2014 />

His first night in Los Angeles, Lear stumbled upon a production of [[George Bernard Shaw]]'s ''[[Major Barbara]]'' at the 90-seat [[theater-in-the-round]] Circle Theater off Sunset Boulevard. One of the actors in the play was [[Sydney Chaplin (American actor)|Sydney Chaplin]], the son of actors [[Charlie Chaplin]] and [[Lita Grey]]. Charlie Chaplin, [[Alan Mowbray]], and Dame [[Gladys Cooper]] sat in front of Lear, and after the show was over, Charlie Chaplin performed.<ref name=WNYC-Lopate-2014 />

Lear had a first cousin in Los Angeles, Elaine, who was married to an aspiring comedy writer named [[Ed Simmons (screenwriter)|Ed Simmons]].  Simmons and Lear teamed up to sell home furnishings door-to-door for a company called The Gans Brothers and later sold family photos door-to-door. Throughout the 1950s, Lear and Simmons turned out comedy sketches for television appearances of [[Martin and Lewis]], [[Rowan and Martin]], and others. They frequently wrote for Martin and Lewis when they appeared on the ''Colgate Comedy Hour'', and a 1953 article from ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' magazine stated that Lear and Simmons were guaranteed a record-breaking $52,000 ({{Inflation|US|52000|1953|fmt=eq|r=-4}}) each to write for five additional Martin and Lewis appearances on the ''[[Colgate Comedy Hour]]'' that year.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZgoEAAAAMBAJ&q=%22Martin+and+Lewis%22+radio+intitle%3ABillboard&pg=PA12-IA1|title=52G to Simmons, Lear to Do Five Martin-Lewis TV Shows |magazine=Billboard|date=October 31, 1953|via=Google Books|access-date=October 19, 2020|archive-date=December 6, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231206195112/https://books.google.com/books?id=ZgoEAAAAMBAJ&q=%22Martin+and+Lewis%22+radio+intitle%3ABillboard&pg=PA12-IA1#v=snippet&q=%22Martin%20and%20Lewis%22%20radio%20intitle%3ABillboard&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> In a 2015 interview with ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'', Lear said that [[Jerry Lewis]] had hired him and Simmons as writers for Martin and Lewis three weeks before the comedy duo made their first appearance on the Colgate Comedy Hour in 1950.<ref name="Gray-2015">{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2015/tv/features/norman-lear-recalls-early-days-as-tv-comedy-writer-1201629371/|title=Norman Lear Looks Back on Early Days as TV Comedy Writer|first=Tim|last=Gray|date=October 30, 2015|access-date=December 13, 2017|archive-date=February 6, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180206002704/https://variety.com/2015/tv/features/norman-lear-recalls-early-days-as-tv-comedy-writer-1201629371/|url-status=live}}</ref> Lear also acknowledged in 1986 that he and Simmons were the main writers for ''[[The Martin and Lewis Show]]'' for three years.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.normanlear.com/backstory/interviews/writing-for-early-live-television/|title=Writing for Early Live Television &#124; television, film, political and social activist, philanthropist|work=Norman Lear |access-date=April 27, 2017|archive-date=May 20, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170520050555/http://www.normanlear.com/backstory/interviews/writing-for-early-live-television/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1954, Lear was enlisted as a writer and asked to salvage the new [[CBS]] sitcom starring [[Celeste Holm]], ''[[Honestly, Celeste!]]'', but the program was canceled after eight episodes. During this time he became the producer of [[NBC]]'s short-lived (26 episodes) sitcom ''The Martha Raye Show'', after [[Nat Hiken]] left as the series director. Lear also wrote some of the opening monologs for ''[[The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show]]''<ref name="Gray-2015"/><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kXCjAQAAQBAJ&q=tennessee+ernie+ford+show+norman+lear&pg=PA330|title=100 Entertainers Who Changed America: An Encyclopedia of Pop Culture Luminaries [2 volumes]: An Encyclopedia of Pop Culture Luminaries|first=Robert C.|last=Sickels|date=August 8, 2013|publisher=ABC-CLIO|via=Google Books|isbn=9781598848311|access-date=October 19, 2020|archive-date=December 6, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231206195159/https://books.google.com/books?id=kXCjAQAAQBAJ&q=tennessee+ernie+ford+show+norman+lear&pg=PA330|url-status=live}}</ref> which aired from 1956 to 1961. In 1959, Lear created his first television series, a half-hour western for [[Universal Media Studios|Revue Studios]] called ''[[The Deputy (TV series)|The Deputy]]'', starring [[Henry Fonda]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/alton-evening-telegraph-john-n-jones/131200627/|first=John N.|last=Jones|title=TV digest|date=June 4, 1959|work=Alton (Illinois) Evening Telegraph|access-date=September 4, 2023|page=35|via=Newspapers.com|archive-date=September 4, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230904152622/https://www.newspapers.com/article/alton-evening-telegraph-john-n-jones/131200627/|url-status=live}}</ref>

===1967–1977===
[[File:Norman Lear standing before bank of camera monitors, 1975.jpg|thumb|left|Lear standing before a bank of camera monitors in 1975]]
Starting out as a comedy writer, then a film director (he wrote and produced the 1967 film ''[[Divorce American Style]]'' and directed the 1971 film ''[[Cold Turkey (1971 film)|Cold Turkey]]'', both starring [[Dick Van Dyke]]), Lear tried to sell a concept for a sitcom about a [[blue-collar]] American family to [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]. They rejected the show after two pilots were taped: "Justice for All" in 1968<ref name="All In the Family before it was aired">{{cite web |title=Justice For All |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OzG4qnpTvI&t=108s | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211107/5OzG4qnpTvI| archive-date=November 7, 2021 | url-status=live|via=YouTube | date=September 6, 2018 |access-date=September 6, 2018}}{{cbignore}}</ref> and "Those Were the Days" in 1969.<ref>{{cite web |title=Those Were The Days |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7QTS8ARMNg&t=145s | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211107/F7QTS8ARMNg| archive-date=November 7, 2021 | url-status=live|via=YouTube | date=October 8, 2018 |access-date=October 8, 2018}}{{cbignore}}</ref> After a third pilot was taped, CBS picked up the show, known as ''[[All in the Family]]''. It premiered on January 12, 1971, to disappointing ratings, but it took home several [[Emmy Awards]] that year, including Outstanding Comedy Series. The show did very well in summer reruns,<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0ONKnx6JA0IC&q=all+in+the+family+1971+summer+reruns&pg=PA29|title=See No Evil|first=Geoffrey|last=Cowan|date=March 28, 1980|publisher=Simon and Schuster|via=Google Books|isbn=9780671254117|access-date=October 19, 2020|archive-date=December 6, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231206195156/https://books.google.com/books?id=0ONKnx6JA0IC&q=all+in+the+family+1971+summer+reruns&pg=PA29#v=snippet&q=all%20in%20the%20family%201971%20summer%20reruns&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> and it flourished in the 1971–72 season, becoming the top-rated show on TV for the next five years.<ref>{{Cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oarWAQAAQBAJ&q=all+in+the+family+nielsen+ratings+five+years+1971-1976&pg=PA45| title=African Americans on Television: Race-ing for Ratings| isbn=9780275995157| last1=Leonard| first1=David J| last2=Guerrero| first2=Lisa| date=April 23, 2013| publisher=Abc-Clio| access-date=October 19, 2020| archive-date=December 6, 2023| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231206195155/https://books.google.com/books?id=oarWAQAAQBAJ&q=all+in+the+family+nielsen+ratings+five+years+1971-1976&pg=PA45| url-status=live}}</ref> After falling from the {{abbr|No.|Number}} 1 spot, ''All in the Family'' still remained in the top ten, with the exception of the [[Top-rated United States television programs of 1976–77|1976-1977 television season]] where it ranked No. 12,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Brooks |first1=Tim |last2=Marsh |first2=Earle |date=2007 |title=The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946-Present |publisher=Ballantine Books |page=1688 |edition=Ninth |isbn=978-0-345-49773-4 }}</ref> and eventually became ''[[Archie Bunker's Place]]''. The show was based loosely on the British sitcom ''[[Till Death Us Do Part]]'', about an irascible working-class [[Conservative Party (UK)|Tory]] and his [[socialist]] son-in-law.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Prial |first=Frank J. |author-link=Frank J. Prial |date=May 12, 1983 |title=CBS-TV is Dropping Archie Bunker |language=en-US |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/05/12/arts/cbs-tv-is-dropping-archie-bunker.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=September 25, 2021 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150524140239/https://www.nytimes.com/1983/05/12/arts/cbs-tv-is-dropping-archie-bunker.html |archive-date=May 24, 2015}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

Lear's second big TV sitcom, ''[[Sanford and Son]]'', was also based on a British sitcom, ''[[Steptoe and Son]]'',<ref>{{Cite web|title=''Sanford And Son'' may have copied other shows, but Redd Foxx was an original|url=https://www.avclub.com/sanford-and-son-may-have-copied-other-shows-but-redd-f-1798249550|first=Noel|last=Murray|access-date=September 25, 2021|website=The A.V. Club|date=July 19, 2016|language=en-us|archive-date=September 25, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210925030238/https://www.avclub.com/sanford-and-son-may-have-copied-other-shows-but-redd-f-1798249550|url-status=live}}</ref> about a west London junk dealer and his son. Lear changed the setting to the [[Watts, Los Angeles|Watts]] section of Los Angeles and the characters to African Americans, and the [[NBC]] show ''Sanford and Son'' was an instant hit.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.emmys.com/news/features/significance-sanford-and-son|title=The Significance of ''Sanford and Son''|last=Deggans|first=Eric|date=February 11, 2022|publisher=[[Academy of Television Arts & Sciences|Television Academy]]|access-date=December 6, 2023|archive-date=July 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230724122306/https://www.emmys.com/news/features/significance-sanford-and-son|url-status=live}}</ref> Numerous hit shows followed thereafter, including ''[[Maude (TV series)|Maude]]'', ''[[The Jeffersons]]'' (both [[spin-off (media)|spin-offs]] of ''All in the Family''), ''[[One Day at a Time (1975 TV series)|One Day at a Time]]'', and ''[[Good Times]]'' (which is a spinoff of ''Maude'').<ref>{{Cite web|last=Gray|first=Tim|date=January 12, 2021|title=How 'All in the Family' Spawned the Most Spinoffs of Any Sitcom|url=https://variety.com/2021/tv/spotlight/all-in-the-family-spinoffs-the-jeffersons-good-times-1234878187/|access-date=September 25, 2021|website=Variety|language=en-US|archive-date=January 18, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220118160315/https://variety.com/2021/tv/spotlight/all-in-the-family-spinoffs-the-jeffersons-good-times-1234878187/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Most of these Lear sitcoms share three features: they were shot on [[videotape]] in place of [[film stock|film]], used a live studio audience, and dealt with current social and political issues.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Weinman|first=Jaime|date=September 30, 2008|title=Is It Time For Sitcoms To Go Back to Videotape?|url=https://www.macleans.ca/uncategorized/is-it-time-for-sitcoms-to-go-back-to-videotape/|access-date=September 25, 2021|website=Maclean's|language=en|archive-date=September 25, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210925032515/https://www.macleans.ca/uncategorized/is-it-time-for-sitcoms-to-go-back-to-videotape/|url-status=live}}</ref> ''Maude'' is generally considered to be based on Lear's wife Frances, which she confirmed, with [[Charlie Hauck]] serving as main producer and writer.<ref name="NYTimes-FrancesObit-1996">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/10/01/us/frances-lear-a-mercurial-figure-of-the-media-and-a-magazine-founder-dead-at-73.html |url-access=subscription |title=Frances Lear, a Mercurial Figure of the Media and a Magazine Founder, Dead at 73 |first=Enid |last=Nemy |author-link=Enid Nemy |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=October 1, 1996 |access-date=December 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160204164803/http://www.nytimes.com/1996/10/01/us/frances-lear-a-mercurial-figure-of-the-media-and-a-magazine-founder-dead-at-73.html?pagewanted=all |archive-date=February 4, 2016}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Lee|first=Janet W.|date=November 20, 2020|title=Charlie Hauck, Writer-Producer of 'Maude' and 'Frasier,' Dies at 79|url=https://variety.com/2020/tv/obituaries-people-news/charlie-hauck-dead-maude-frasier-writer-1234836972/|access-date=September 25, 2021|website=Variety|language=en-US|archive-date=September 25, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210925032515/https://variety.com/2020/tv/obituaries-people-news/charlie-hauck-dead-maude-frasier-writer-1234836972/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Lear's longtime producing partner was [[Bud Yorkin]], who also produced ''All in the Family'', ''Sanford and Son'', ''[[What's Happening!!]]'', ''Maude'', and ''[[The Jeffersons]]''.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Roberts|first=Sam|date=August 19, 2015|title=Bud Yorkin, Writer and Producer of 'All in the Family,' Dies at 89|language=en-US|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/19/arts/television/bud-yorkin-writer-and-producer-of-all-in-the-family-dies-at-89.html|access-date=September 25, 2021|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=September 25, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210925032708/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/19/arts/television/bud-yorkin-writer-and-producer-of-all-in-the-family-dies-at-89.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Yorkin split with Lear in 1975. He started a production company with writers and producers [[Saul Turteltaub]] and [[Bernie Orenstein]]; however, only two of their shows lasted longer than a year: ''What's Happening!!'' and ''[[Carter Country]]''. The Lear/Yorkin company was known as [[Tandem Productions]] and was founded in 1958. Lear and talent agent [[Jerry Perenchio]] founded [[T.A.T. Communications]] ("T.A.T." stood for the Yiddish phrase ''tuchus affen tisch'', "putting one's ass on the line".<ref>{{cite thesis |last=Miller |first=Taylor Cole |year=2017 |title=Syndicated Queerness: Television Talk Shows, Rerun Syndication, and the Serials of Norman Lear |type=PhD |chapter=Chapter 2: Rewriting Genesis: Queering Genre in Norman Lear's First-Run Syndicated Serials |publisher=University of Wisconsin–Madison}}</ref>) in 1974, which co-existed with Tandem Productions and was often referred to in periodicals as Tandem/T.A.T. The Lear organization was one of the most successful independent TV producers of the 1970s.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/writers/|title=The Writers|last=Banks|first=Miranda|date=March 4, 2015|magazine=[[Los Angeles Review of Books]]|access-date=December 6, 2023|archive-date=August 16, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220816131416/https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/writers/|url-status=live}}, excerpted from {{cite book|title=The Writers: A History of American Screenwriters and Their Guild|last=Banks|first=Miranda J.|publisher=[[Rutgers University Press]]|date=January 14, 2015|isbn=9780813571409}}</ref> TAT produced the influential and award-winning 1981 film ''[[The Wave (1981 film)|The Wave]]'' about [[Ron Jones (teacher)|Ron Jones]]' social experiment.<ref>{{cite book|title=Snitch Culture: How Citizens are Turned Into the Eyes and Ears of the State|last=Redden|first=Jim|date=2000|publisher=[[Feral House]]|page=190|isbn=9780922915637}}</ref>

Lear also developed the cult favorite TV series ''[[Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman]]'' (''MH MH'') which was turned down by the networks as "too controversial" and placed it into first run syndication with 128 stations in January 1976. A year later, he added another program into first-run syndication along with ''MH MH'', ''[[All That Glitters (American TV series)|All That Glitters]]''. He planned in 1977 to offer three hours of prime-time Saturday programming directly having stations place his production company in the position of an [[Fourth television network|occasional network]].<ref name="Gray-2015"/><ref name="Nadel">{{cite news |last=Nadel |first=Gerry |date=May 30, 1977 |title=Who Owns Prime Time? The Threat of the 'Occasional' Networks |work=New York |pages=34–35 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YeMCAAAAMBAJ&q=%22MetroNet%22%2B%22Metromedia%22&pg=PA35 |access-date=October 4, 2009 |archive-date=December 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231206195622/https://books.google.com/books?id=YeMCAAAAMBAJ&q=%22MetroNet%22%2B%22Metromedia%22&pg=PA35#v=onepage&q=%22MetroNet%22%2B%22Metromedia%22&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1977, African-American screenwriter [[Eric Monte]] filed a lawsuit accusing [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] and [[CBS]] producers Norman Lear, [[Bud Yorkin]], and others of stealing his ideas for ''Good Times'', ''The Jeffersons'', and ''[[What's Happening!!]]'' Monte received a $1-million settlement and a small percentage of the residuals from ''Good Times'' and one percent ownership of the show. Monte, due to his lack of business knowledge and experience as well as legal representation, would not receive royalties for other shows that he created. However, Lear and other Hollywood producers, outraged over the lawsuit, blacklisted Monte and labeled him too difficult to work with.<ref name="npr.com">Dunn, Katia (July 29, 2006), [https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5591655/ "Classic TV Producer, Good Times No Longer"], NPR.com. Retrieved September 6, 2021. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210907010117/https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5591655/ |date=September 7, 2021 }}.</ref>

===1980–1999===
In 1980, Lear founded the organization [[People for the American Way]] for the purpose of counteracting the [[Christian right]] group [[Moral Majority]] which had been founded in 1979.<ref>{{Cite news |date=June 25, 1981 |title=Lear TV Ads to Oppose The Moral Majority |language=en-US|newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/06/25/arts/lear-tv-ads-to-oppose-the-moral-majority.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=January 7, 2024|issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 24, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150524083526/https://www.nytimes.com/1981/06/25/arts/lear-tv-ads-to-oppose-the-moral-majority.html}}{{cbignore}}</ref> In the fall of 1981, Lear began a 14-month run as the host of a revival of the classic game show ''[[Quiz Kids]]'' for the CBS Cable Network. In January 1982, Lear and Jerry Perenchio bought [[Avco Embassy Pictures]] from Avco Financial Corporation. In January 1982,  after merging  with company with T.A.T. Communications, the Avco was dropped, and the combined entity  was renamed as Embassy Communications, Inc.<ref>{{Cite news|date=January 5, 1982|title=Avco Embassy|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/01/05/business/avco-embassy.html|access-date=September 25, 2021|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=September 25, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210925033401/https://www.nytimes.com/1982/01/05/business/avco-embassy.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Embassy Pictures was led by [[Alan Horn]] and Martin Schaeffer, later co-founders of [[Castle Rock Entertainment]] with [[Rob Reiner]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://variety.com/2016/film/news/alan-horn-disney-chairman-1201749971/|title=Disney's Alan Horn Uses Low-Key Approach, Keen Creative Vision to Find Hits of the Future|last=Rainey|first=James|date=April 11, 2016|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|access-date=December 6, 2023|archive-date=December 20, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220182244/http://variety.com/2016/film/news/alan-horn-disney-chairman-1201749971/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In March 1982, Lear produced an ABC television special titled ''[[I Love Liberty]]'',  as a counterbalance to groups like the [[Moral Majority]].<ref name=liberty82>{{cite web |last1=O'Connor |first1=John J. |title=TV Weekend; LEAR'S 'I LOVE LIBERTY' LEADS SPECIALS (Published 1982) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/03/19/arts/tv-weekend-lear-s-i-love-liberty-leads-specials.html?mcubz=3 |website=The New York Times |date=March 19, 1982 |access-date=September 6, 2017 |archive-date=August 30, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170830194334/http://www.nytimes.com/1982/03/19/arts/tv-weekend-lear-s-i-love-liberty-leads-specials.html?mcubz=3 |url-status=live }}</ref> Among the many guests who appeared on the special was conservative icon and the 1964 U.S. presidential election's Republican nominee [[Barry Goldwater]].<ref name=liberty82 />

On June 18, 1985, Lear and Perenchio sold Embassy Communications to [[Columbia Pictures]] (then owned by [[The Coca-Cola Company]]), which acquired Embassy's film and television division (including Embassy's in-house television productions and the television rights to the Embassy theatrical library) for $485&nbsp;million of shares of The Coca-Cola Company.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://normanlear.com/backstory_press.html |title=Coke Buys Embassy & Tandem |author=Michael Schrage |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=June 18, 1985 |access-date=January 25, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130502052811/http://www.normanlear.com/backstory_press.html |archive-date=May 2, 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://normanlear.com/backstory_press_2.html|title=Lear, Perenchio Sell Embassy Properties|author=Al Delugach|date=June 18, 1985|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|access-date=January 25, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518112723/http://www.normanlear.com/backstory_press_2.html|archive-date=May 18, 2013|author2=Kathryn Harris}}</ref> The brand [[Tandem Productions]] was abandoned in 1986 with the cancellation of ''[[Diff'rent Strokes]]'', and Embassy ceased to exist as a single entity in late 1986, having been split into different components owned by different entities.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Ryan|first=Joal|title=Former Child Stars: The Story of America's Least Wanted|location=United Kingdom|publisher=[[ECW Press]]|year=2000|isbn=9781550224283|page=150|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=11AdAQAAIAAJ|access-date=June 22, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220622152728/https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Former_Child_Stars/11AdAQAAIAAJ|archive-date=June 22, 2022|url-status=live}}</ref> Coca-Cola sold the film division to Dino De Laurentiis and the home video arm to Nelson Holdings (led by Barry Spikings).<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-11-16-ca-2810-story.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20230419052301/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-11-16-ca-2810-story.html|archive-date=April 19, 2023|title=De Laurentiis Rejoins the Ranks – at Embassy|last=Friendly|first=David T.|date=November 16, 1985|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-08-06-fi-1406-story.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20210630052156/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-08-06-fi-1406-story.html|archive-date=June 30, 2021|title=Coke Will Sell Embassy Unit for $85 Million: Nelson Entertainment Gets Co-Production Deal|last=Harris|first=Kathryn|date=August 6, 1986|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref> The TV properties continued under the [[Columbia Pictures Television]] banner.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-10-14-fi-3719-story.html|title=Columbia TV on a Spending Binge for Talent|last=Lippman|first=John|date=October 14, 1990|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=December 6, 2023|url-access=limited|archive-date=December 6, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231206195622/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-10-14-fi-3719-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Lear's [[Act III Communications]] was founded in 1986 and in the following year, [[Thomas B. McGrath]] was named president and chief operating officer of ACT III Communications Inc after previously serving as senior vice president.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Los Angeles County|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-12-12-fi-6601-story.html|date=December 12, 1987|website=[[Los Angeles Times]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220419000322/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-12-12-fi-6601-story.html|archive-date=April 19, 2022|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Executive Changes|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/12/14/business/executive-changes-913987.html|date=December 14, 1987|website=[[The New York Times]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220426215224/https://www.nytimes.com/1987/12/14/business/executive-changes-913987.html|archive-date=April 26, 2022|url-access=subscription|url-status=live}}</ref> On February 2, 1989, Norman Lear's Act III Communications formed a joint venture with Columbia Pictures Television called ''Act III Television'' to produce television series instead of managing.<ref name="Knoedelseder">{{Cite web|title=Norman Lear, Columbia Form Joint TV Venture|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-02-02-fi-2616-story.html|date=February 2, 1989|website=[[Los Angeles Times]]|first=William K. Jr.|last=Knoedelseder|author-link=William Knoedelseder|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210123021020/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-02-02-fi-2616-story.html|archive-date=January 23, 2021|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Lear Joins With Columbia To Produce TV, Not Manage|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/02/02/business/lear-joins-with-columbia-to-produce-tv-not-manage.html|date=February 2, 1989|website=[[The New York Times]]|first=Richard W.|last=Stevenson|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308122206/https://www.nytimes.com/1989/02/02/business/lear-joins-with-columbia-to-produce-tv-not-manage.html|archive-date=March 8, 2021|url-access=subscription|url-status=live}}</ref>

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Act III Communications purchased several business journals, including ''Channels'' magazine that had been founded by [[Les Brown (journalist)|Les Brown]], former ''New York Times'' TV correspondent. ''Channels'' closed in 1990, by which time Act III and Brown published and edited ''Television Business International'' (''TBI'').<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/12/08/business/channels-magazine-to-publish-final-issue.html|title=Channels Magazine to Publish Final Issue|last=Carmody|first=Dierdre|date=December 8, 1990|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=December 6, 2023|archive-date=March 31, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230331154535/https://www.nytimes.com/1990/12/08/business/channels-magazine-to-publish-final-issue.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://newspapers.com/article/daily-news-channels/136379638/|title=Scrambled Channels|newspaper=[[Daily News (New York)|Daily News]]|location=New York|page=6|date=December 11, 1990|via=[[Newspapers.com]]|access-date=December 6, 2023|archive-date=December 6, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231206195631/https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-channels/136379638/|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Norman lear 2014.jpg|thumb|Norman Lear was at the [[Texas Book Festival]] in 2014.]]
In 1997, Lear and Jim George produced the [[Kids' WB]] series ''[[Channel Umptee-3]]''. The cartoon was notable for being the first television show to meet the [[Federal Communications Commission]]'s then-new educational programming requirements.<ref name="Variety 1997">{{cite news|title=WB's 'Umptee-3' has Norman Lear's signature|url=https://variety.com/1997/tv/news/wb-s-umptee-3-has-norman-lear-s-signature-1116677702/|access-date=May 28, 2011|newspaper=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=September 15, 1997|archive-date=April 20, 2019|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190420032642/https://variety.com/1997/tv/news/wb-s-umptee-3-has-norman-lear-s-signature-1116677702/}}</ref>

===2000–2023===
In 2003, Lear appeared on ''[[South Park]]'' during the "[[I'm a Little Bit Country]]" episode, providing the voice of [[Benjamin Franklin]]. He also served as a consultant on the episodes "I'm a Little Bit Country" and "[[Cancelled (South Park)|Cancelled]]". He attended a ''South Park'' writers' retreat,<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Dan|last=Snierson|url=https://ew.com/article/2003/03/14/all-familys-creator-joins-south-park/|title=All in the Family's creator joins South Park|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|date=March 14, 2003|access-date=December 29, 2013|archive-date=November 7, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151107102404/http://www.ew.com/article/2003/03/14/all-familys-creator-joins-south-park|url-status=live}}</ref> with some of his ideas making it onto ''South Park'',<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.eonline.com/news/1347325/norman-lear-says-theres-nobody-in-our-business-hes-admired-more-than-this-surprising-comedy-duo|title=Norman Lear Says There's 'Nobody In Our Business' He's Admired More Than This Surprising Comedy Duo|first1=Spencer|last1=Lubitz|last2=Trainor|first2=Daniel|publisher=E!|date=September 21, 2022|accessdate=July 23, 2023|archive-date=July 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230723213411/https://www.eonline.com/news/1347325/norman-lear-says-theres-nobody-in-our-business-hes-admired-more-than-this-surprising-comedy-duo|url-status=live}}</ref> and was the officiant at co-creator [[Trey Parker]]'s wedding.<ref>{{cite news |url = https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2006/10/30/8391792/index.htm |title = 'South Park' creators haven't lost their edge |access-date = January 23, 2010|first=Devin |last=Leonard |work = CNN {{!}} Money |date = October 27, 2010 |archive-date = November 7, 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131107220939/https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2006/10/30/8391792/index.htm |url-status = live }}</ref> ''South Park'' served as a bond between Lear and his son Benjamin, who was not familiar with his more known work from the 1970s.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://people.com/all-about-norman-lear-kids-8363775|title=Norman Lear's 6 Children: Everything to Know|first=Stephanie|last=Kalai|work=People|date=December 6, 2023|accessdate=January 13, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-ca-mn-fathers-day-norman-ben-lear-20160610-snap-story.html|title='We're proud of each other':For Norman and his son Ben, the moving picture spans generations|first=Josh|last=Rottenberg|work=Los Angeles Times|date=June 16, 2016|accessdate=January 13, 2023}}</ref>

In 2014, Lear published ''Even This I Get to Experience'', a memoir.<ref name="Morris"/><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/norman-lear/even-this-i-get-to-experience/|title=EVEN THIS I GET TO EXPERIENCE {{!}} Kirkus Reviews|language=en|date= July 26, 2014|access-date=September 25, 2021|archive-date=September 25, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210925175522/https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/norman-lear/even-this-i-get-to-experience/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Lear is spotlighted in the 2016 documentary ''Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You''.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/06/opinion/not-dead-yet.html|title=Not Dead Yet|date=July 5, 2016|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=July 6, 2016|author1-last=Ewing|author1-first=Heidi|author2-last=Grady|author2-first=Rachel|archive-date=July 6, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160706033826/http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/06/opinion/not-dead-yet.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2017, he served as executive producer for ''[[One Day at a Time (2017 TV series)|One Day at a Time]]'', the reboot of his 1975–1984 show of the same name that premiered on [[Netflix]] starring [[Justina Machado]] and [[Rita Moreno]] as a Cuban-American family. He hosted a podcast, ''All of the Above with Norman Lear'', since May 1, 2017.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/may/11/all-of-above-norman-lear-podcasts-sitcom-veteran-amy-poehler-jerrod-carmichael-chatshow-guests|title=All of the Above With Norman Lear: the 94-year-old king of podcasts|last=Verdier|first=Hannah|date=May 11, 2017|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=April 21, 2019|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077|archive-date=April 21, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190421221539/https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/may/11/all-of-above-norman-lear-podcasts-sitcom-veteran-amy-poehler-jerrod-carmichael-chatshow-guests|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/all-of-the-above-with-norman-lear/id1229548410|title=All of the Above with Norman Lear on Apple Podcasts|website=Apple Podcasts|date=July 9, 2018|language=en-us|access-date=April 21, 2019|archive-date=April 21, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190421221538/https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/all-of-the-above-with-norman-lear/id1229548410|url-status=live}}</ref> On July 29, 2019, it was announced that Lear had teamed with [[Lin-Manuel Miranda]] and [[Steven Kunes]] to make an [[American Masters]] documentary about Moreno's life, tentatively titled ''[[Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/29/entertainment/rita-moreno-doc-lin-manuel-miranda-norman-lear/index.html|title=Rita Moreno documentary coming from Lin-Manuel Miranda and Norman Lear|first=Whitney|last=Friedlander|date=July 29, 2019|website=CNN Digital|access-date=July 30, 2019|archive-date=July 30, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190730212520/https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/29/entertainment/rita-moreno-doc-lin-manuel-miranda-norman-lear/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2020, it was announced that Lear and Act III Productions would executive produce a revival of ''[[Who's the Boss?]]''<ref>{{Cite web|title='Who's the Boss' Sequel in the Works at Sony|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/whos-boss-sequel-works-at-sony-1305982|first=Rick|last=Porter|access-date=January 2, 2021|website=The Hollywood Reporter|date=August 4, 2020|archive-date=December 26, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201226095323/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/whos-boss-sequel-works-at-sony-1305982|url-status=live}}</ref> At the time of his death in 2023, he was overseeing multiple shows in development, including a planned reboot of ''[[Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman]]''.<ref>{{cite news|url = https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/norman-lear-tv-making-1235714999/|title = Norman Lear Was Still Making TV a Week Before His Death|last = Goldberg|first = Lesley|date = December 6, 2023|accessdate = December 6, 2023|work = [[The Hollywood Reporter]]|archive-date = December 7, 2023|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20231207133200/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/norman-lear-tv-making-1235714999/|url-status = live}}</ref> His last finished project to came out was the Amazon series [[Clean Slate (TV series)|Clean Slate]], which came out in February 2025, and was in the editing process after finishing filming when he passed away.<ref>{{cite news|url = https://deadline.com/2025/04/lean-slate-canceled-laverne-cox-explains-1236371911/|title = 'Clean Slate' Canceled By Prime Video: Laverne Cox & Creators Talk Labor Of Love, Norman Lear & Lessons Learned|last1 = Cox|first1 = Laverne|last2 = Ewen|first2 = Dan|last3 = Wallace|first3 = George|date = April 18, 2025|accessdate = April 19, 2025|work = [[deadline.com]]}}</ref>

==Awards and honors==
Lear has been honored for his influence on American television and culture.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutguide/movies/norman-lear-just-another-version-of-you-homage-to-a-visionary-tv-producer/2016/07/21/d21fa436-49de-11e6-bdb9-701687974517_story.html|title='Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You': Homage to a visionary TV producer|last=Hornaday|first=Ann|date=July 21, 2016|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=December 6, 2023|archive-date=March 17, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190317004702/https://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutguide/movies/norman-lear-just-another-version-of-you-homage-to-a-visionary-tv-producer/2016/07/21/d21fa436-49de-11e6-bdb9-701687974517_story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Before ''All in the Family'', television sitcoms in the 1950s and 1960s generally portrayed white American family life as comfortable and avoided raising issues such as racial discrimination and patriarchy.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.vulture.com/2023/12/remembrance-norman-lear-19222023.html|title=Norman Lear's Truth|last=VanArendonk|first=Kathryn|date=December 6, 2023|website=[[Vulture (website)|Vulture]]|access-date=December 6, 2023|archive-date=December 6, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231206232909/https://www.vulture.com/2023/12/remembrance-norman-lear-19222023.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/06/arts/television/norman-lear-all-in-the-family.html|date=December 6, 2023|title=Norman Lear, TV's Greatest American|last=Poniewozik|first=James|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=December 6, 2023|archive-date=December 6, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231206150030/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/06/arts/television/norman-lear-all-in-the-family.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Beginning in 1971, ''All in the Family'' openly discussed current social and political topics and became the country's most popular show for five straight years.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/made-by-history/2022/08/01/norman-lear-remade-tv-decades-later-he-still-shapes-what-we-watch/|title=Norman Lear remade TV, and decades later he still shapes what we watch|last=Winberg|first=Oscar|date=August 1, 2022|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=December 6, 2023|archive-date=June 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230623194247/https://www.washingtonpost.com/made-by-history/2022/08/01/norman-lear-remade-tv-decades-later-he-still-shapes-what-we-watch/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="USAT2023">{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2023/12/06/norman-lear-appreciation-genius-revolutionized-television/2055436002/|title=He changed television forever. Why we all owe thanks to the genius of Norman Lear.|last=Bianco|first=Robert|date=December 6, 2023|newspaper=[[USA Today]]|access-date=December 6, 2023|archive-date=December 6, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231206232933/https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2023/12/06/norman-lear-appreciation-genius-revolutionized-television/2055436002/|url-status=live}}</ref> Lear's subsequent shows widened television's representation of racial and gender diversity, such as ''Good Times'', the first television show centered on an African-American nuclear family;<ref>{{cite web|url=https://peabodyawards.com/award-profile/individual-award-norman-lear/|title=Individual Award: Norman Lear|publisher=[[Peabody Awards]]|year=2016|access-date=December 6, 2023|archive-date=November 12, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231112155837/https://peabodyawards.com/award-profile/individual-award-norman-lear/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.barrons.com/news/norman-lear-sitcom-king-who-changed-tv-and-america-fc390205|title=Norman Lear, Sitcom King Who Changed TV – And America|last=Mathes|first=Matthew|date=December 6, 2023|newspaper=[[Barron's]]|access-date=December 6, 2023|archive-date=December 6, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231206232910/https://www.barrons.com/news/norman-lear-sitcom-king-who-changed-tv-and-america-fc390205|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/09/arts/television/norman-lear-good-times-the-jeffersons.html|title=Norman Lear Reshaped How America Saw Black Families|last1=Abrams|first1=Jonathan|last2=Kuo|first2=Christopher|date=2023-12-09|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=2023-12-09|archive-date=December 9, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231209110341/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/09/arts/television/norman-lear-good-times-the-jeffersons.html/|url-status=live}}</ref> Television screenwriter [[Paddy Chayefsky]] said that Lear "put the American people [on screen] ... he took the audience and put them on the set".<ref>{{cite book|title=On Becoming a Leader|page=27|first=Warren G.|last=Bennis|author-link=Warren Bennis|date=March 3, 2009|publisher=[[Basic Books]]|isbn=9780465003983}}</ref> However, it has been acknowledged that [[James L. Brooks]] TV series ''[[Room 222]]'', which was not made by Lear and which debuted before Lear's shows debuted, was also among the first shows to not only feature an African American lead character in a less stereotypical role, a high school teacher, but also invoke serious contemporary issues, with the [[Television Academy Foundation]] stating that "A season and a half before Norman Lear made "relevant" programming a dominant genre with the introduction of programs like All in the Family and Maude, Room 222 was using the form of the half-hour comedy to discuss serious contemporary issues. During its five seasons on the air, the show included episodes that dealt with such topics as racism, sexism, homophobia, dropping out of school, shoplifting, drug use among both teachers and students, illiteracy, cops in school, guns in school, Vietnam war veterans, venereal disease, and teenage pregnancy".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/shows/room-222|title=Room 222
|publisher=Television Academy Foundation:The Interviews|year=1997|accessdate=July 11, 2024}}</ref>

[[File:2017 Kennedy Center Honorees.jpg|thumb|right|Lear was among the 2017 [[Kennedy Center Honors]] recipients.]]
In 1999, President [[Bill Clinton]] awarded Lear the [[National Medal of Arts]], noting: "Norman Lear has held up a mirror to American society and changed the way we look at it."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.learcenter.org/about/norman-lear/|title=Norman Lear|work=The Norman Lear Center |publisher=[[Norman Lear Center]]|access-date=December 6, 2023|archive-date=May 19, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230519052818/https://archive.learcenter.org/about/norman-lear/|url-status=live}}</ref> That year, he and [[Bud Yorkin]] received the [[Women in Film Los Angeles|Women in Film]] [[Women in Film Crystal + Lucy Awards#THE LUCY AWARD|Lucy Award]] in recognition of excellence and innovation in creative works that have enhanced the perception of women through the medium of television.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://wif.org/past-recipients |title=Past Recipients |publisher=Wif.org |access-date=April 22, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110830035734/http://www.wif.org/past-recipients |archive-date=August 30, 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=February 2017, NHMC National Hispanic Media Coalition|url=https://www.nhmc.org/february-2017-newsletter/|access-date=August 4, 2021|website=NHMC National Hispanic Media Coalition|language=en-US|archive-date=August 4, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210804164817/https://www.nhmc.org/february-2017-newsletter/|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Producers Guild of America]] awarded Lear its Achievement Award in Television in 2006; by the next year, the honor was named the [[Norman Lear Achievement Award in Television]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://newspapers.com/article/the-stuart-news-pga/136376246/|title=Clint Eastwood honored by Producers Guild of America|date=November 18, 2005|page=E6|newspaper=[[The Stuart News]]|via=[[Newspapers.com]]|access-date=December 6, 2023|archive-date=December 6, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231206195632/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-stuart-news-pga/136376246/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-pga/136376326/|title=Producers list their nominees|date=January 4, 2007|last=King|first=Susan|page=E5|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|via=[[Newspapers.com]]|access-date=December 6, 2023|archive-date=December 6, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231206195554/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-pga/136376326/|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2017, he was awarded the fourth annual Woody Guthrie Prize presented by the [[Woody Guthrie Center]], recognizing an artist whose work represents the spirit of Woody Guthrie "as a positive force for social change".<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Woody Guthrie Center Presents Woody Guthrie Prize Honoring Norman Lear – GRAMMY Museum|url=https://grammymuseum.org/event/the-woody-guthrie-center-presents-woody-guthrie-prize-honoring-norman-lear/|access-date=September 27, 2021|language=en-US|archive-date=September 27, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210927101223/https://grammymuseum.org/event/the-woody-guthrie-center-presents-woody-guthrie-prize-honoring-norman-lear/|url-status=live}}</ref> He became the oldest recipient of the [[Kennedy Center Honors]] later that year at the age of 95.<ref name="USAT2023"/>

Lear's star on the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]] is located at 6615 [[Hollywood Boulevard]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement|website=achievement.org|publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]]|url=https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/|access-date=October 23, 2020|archive-date=December 15, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161215023909/https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/|url-status=live}}</ref> He received other numerous honorary accolades, including:<ref>{{Cite web|title=ACT III|url=https://www.normanlear.com/act-iii|access-date=September 27, 2021|website=Norman Lear|language=en-US|archive-date=September 27, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210927104212/https://www.normanlear.com/act-iii|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thewrap.com/norman-lear-breaks-an-emmy-record-becomes-the-oldest-winner-ever/|title=Norman Lear Breaks an Emmy Record, Becomes the Oldest Winner Ever|first=Steve|last=Pond|date=September 15, 2019|access-date=September 23, 2019|archive-date=September 23, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190923030127/https://www.thewrap.com/norman-lear-breaks-an-emmy-record-becomes-the-oldest-winner-ever/|url-status=live}}</ref>

* 1977: [[Peabody Awards]]: Lifetime achievement 
* 1977: [[American Humanist Association]]: Humanist Arts Award
* 1980: [[Academy of Achievement]] Golden Plate Award
* 1984: Television Academy: Hall of Fame  
* 2007: [[Britannia Awards]] Excellence in Television
* 2017: [[National Hispanic Media Coalition]] Media Icon
* 2017: [[Peabody Awards]]: Lifetime achievement

==Political and cultural activities==
[[File:Los Angeles, CA, USA (51817534586).jpg|thumb|[[Jane Fonda]] and Norman Lear at a [[climate change]] awareness rally in 2020]]
Lear was an outspoken supporter of [[First Amendment]] and liberal causes. The only time that he did not support the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] candidate for president was in [[1980 United States presidential election|1980]] when he supported [[John B. Anderson|John Anderson]] over [[Jimmy Carter]] because he considered the [[Carter administration]] to be "a complete disaster".<ref name=klo>{{cite web |url=http://theoscarsite.com/whoswho5/lear_n.htm |title=de beste bron van informatie over theoscarsite. Deze website is te koop! |publisher=theoscarsite.com |access-date=April 22, 2013 |archive-date=July 8, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080708235523/http://theoscarsite.com/whoswho5/lear_n.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

Lear was one of the wealthy Jewish Angelenos known as the [[Malibu Mafia]].<ref name=Brownstein1990>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GCl3AAAAMAAJ |title=The Power and the Glitter: The Hollywood–Washington Connection |pages=203–211 |last=Brownstein |first=Ronald |date=1990 |publisher=[[Pantheon Books]] |isbn=9780394569383 |access-date=August 18, 2020 |archive-date=December 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231206195708/https://books.google.com/books?id=GCl3AAAAMAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> In the 1970s and 1980s, the group discussed progressive and liberal political issues, and worked together to fund them. They helped to fund the legal defense of [[Daniel Ellsberg]] who had released the ''[[Pentagon Papers]]'',<ref name=Brownstein1987>{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-06-28-tm-361-story.html |title=The Man Who Would Be Kingmaker |last=Brownstein |first=Ronald |date=June 28, 1987 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |access-date=August 12, 2020 |archive-date=November 4, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201104195610/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-06-28-tm-361-story.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and they backed the struggling progressive magazine ''[[The Nation]]'' to keep it afloat.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-12-28-vw-7520-story.html |last=Lacher |first=Irene |date=December 28, 1990 |title=Ultimate Outsider : Leftist and Fractious, the Nation Is Still Going Strong After 125 Years |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |access-date=August 18, 2020 |archive-date=May 23, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200523232444/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-12-28-vw-7520-story.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1975, they formed the Energy Action Committee to oppose [[Big Oil]]'s powerful lobby in Washington.<ref name=Brownstein1987/>

===People for the American Way===
In 1981, Lear founded [[People for the American Way]] (PFAW), a progressive advocacy organization formed in reaction to the politics of the [[Christian right]].<ref name=Brownstein1987/> PFAW ran several advertising campaigns opposing the interjection of religion in politics.<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Day|first1=Patrick Kevin|title=Norman Lear Celebrates 30 Years of People For the American Way|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/norman-lear-celebrates-30-years-245672|access-date=May 6, 2015|magazine=The Hollywood Reporter|date=October 7, 2011|archive-date=January 25, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125021431/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/norman-lear-celebrates-30-years-245672|url-status=live}}</ref> PFAW and other like-minded groups succeeded in their efforts to block Reagan's 1987 [[Robert Bork Supreme Court nomination|nomination of Robert Bork to the Supreme Court]].<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://variety.com/2011/biz/news/lear-sees-politics-the-american-way-1118046607/ |title=Lear sees politics the American way |last=Johnson |first=Ted |date=November 27, 2011 |magazine=Variety |access-date=August 18, 2020 |archive-date=September 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210918084317/https://variety.com/2011/biz/news/lear-sees-politics-the-american-way-1118046607/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Lear, a longtime critic of the Religious Right, was an advocate for the advancement of [[secularism]].<ref name=learrel09>[https://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/god-and-country/2009/02/10/interview-anti-christian-right-crusader-norman-lear-on-becoming-a-born-again-american Interview: Anti-Christian-Right Crusader Norman Lear on Becoming a 'Born-Again American'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160710194107/http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/god-and-country/2009/02/10/interview-anti-christian-right-crusader-norman-lear-on-becoming-a-born-again-american |date=July 10, 2016 }} US News, Dan Gilgoff, February 10, 2009. Retrieved February 26, 2013</ref><ref name=learrel87 />

Prominent right-wing Christians including [[Pat Robertson]], [[Jerry Falwell]], and [[Jimmy Swaggart]] have accused Lear of being an [[atheist]] and holding an anti-Christian bias.<ref name=learrel09 /><ref name=learrel87>[http://normanlear.com/spirit_8.html A Profile of Norman Lear: Another Pilgrim's Progress] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141025130646/http://www.normanlear.com/spirit_8.html |date=October 25, 2014 }} Norman Lear.com, Martin E Marty. Retrieved February 26, 2013</ref> In the January 21, 1987, issue of ''[[The Christian Century]]'', Lear associate [[Martin E. Marty]] (a [[Lutheran]] professor of church history at the [[University of Chicago Divinity School]] between 1963 and 1998) rejected those allegations, stating the television producer honored religious moral values and complimenting Lear's understanding of Christianity.<ref name=learrel87 /> Marty noted that while Lear and his family had never practiced [[Orthodox Judaism]],<ref name=learrel87 /> the television producer was a follower of Judaism.<ref name=learrel87 />

In a 2009 interview with ''[[US News]]'' journalist Dan Gilgoff, Lear rejected claims by right-wing Christian nationalists that he was an atheist and prejudiced against Christianity. Lear held religious beliefs and integrated some evangelical Christian language into his Born Again American campaign. He believed that religion should be kept separate from politics and policymaking.<ref name=learrel09 /> In a 2014 interview with ''[[The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles]]'' journalist Rob Eshman, Lear described himself as a "total Jew" but said he was never a practicing one.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jewishjournal.com/cover_story/article/norman_lear_on_race_in_america_judaism_world_war_ii_and_his_bright_future|title=Norman Lear on race in America, Judaism, World War II and his bright future|work=The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles|first=Rob|last=Eshman|date=December 17, 2014|access-date=September 10, 2015|archive-date=September 6, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906205739/http://www.jewishjournal.com/cover_story/article/norman_lear_on_race_in_america_judaism_world_war_ii_and_his_bright_future|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1989, Lear founded the Business Enterprise Trust, an educational program that used annual awards, business school case studies, and videos to spotlight exemplary social innovations in American business until it ended in 1998. He announced in 1992 that he was reducing his political activism.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://buffalonews.com/news/a-false-picture-presented-of-hollywoods-role-in-politics/article_292e56c7-9e48-5e96-af4b-01af8224a97b.html |last=Lear |first=Norman |author-link=Norman Lear |date=July 12, 1992 |title=A False Picture Presented of Hollywood's Role in Politics |newspaper=The Buffalo News |access-date=August 12, 2020 |archive-date=November 5, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201105140939/https://buffalonews.com/news/a-false-picture-presented-of-hollywoods-role-in-politics/article_292e56c7-9e48-5e96-af4b-01af8224a97b.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2000, he provided an endowment for a multidisciplinary research and public policy center, the [[Norman Lear Center]], that explored the convergence of entertainment, commerce, and society at the [[USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-feb-23-fi-1577-story.html|title=A Major Academic Look at How Show Business Affects Real Life|last=Flanigan|first=James|date=February 23, 2000|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|archive-url=https://archive.today/20231206173336/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-feb-23-fi-1577-story.html|archive-date=December 6, 2023}}</ref>

Lear served on the National Advisory Board of the [[Young Storytellers Foundation]]. He wrote articles for ''[[The Huffington Post]]''. He was a trustee of [[The Paley Center for Media]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.paleycenter.org/about-leadership-board-of-trustees/ |title=Board of Trustees |publisher=Paleycenter.org |access-date=April 22, 2013 |archive-date=April 21, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130421113003/http://www.paleycenter.org/about-leadership-board-of-trustees |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Declaration of Independence===
In 2001, Lear and his wife, Lyn, purchased a [[Dunlap broadside]]—one of the first published copies of the [[United States Declaration of Independence]]—for $8.1&nbsp;million. [[John Dunlap]] printed about 200 copies of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. Twenty-five copies survive today and only four of those are in private hands.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/lear-buys-declaration-of-independence/|title=Lear Buys Declaration Of Independence|date=June 30, 2000|publisher=[[CBS News]]|access-date=December 6, 2023|archive-date=January 13, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230113215214/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/lear-buys-declaration-of-independence/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Lear said in a press release and on the ''[[Today (American TV program)|Today]]'' show that his intent was to tour the document around the United States so that the country could experience its "birth certificate" firsthand.<ref>''Today Show'' interview with Katie Couric, February 8, 2002</ref> Through the end of 2004, the document traveled throughout the United States on the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]] Road Trip, which Lear organized, visiting several presidential libraries, dozens of museums, as well as the [[2002 Olympics]], [[Super Bowl XXXVI]], and the [[Live 8]] concert in Philadelphia. Lear and [[Rob Reiner]] produced a filmed, dramatic reading of the Declaration of Independence—the last project filmed by famed [[cinematographer]] [[Conrad Hall]]—on July 4, 2001, at [[Independence Hall]] in [[Philadelphia]]. The film is introduced by [[Morgan Freeman]] and [[Kathy Bates]], [[Benicio del Toro]], [[Michael Douglas]], [[Mel Gibson]], [[Whoopi Goldberg]], [[Graham Greene (actor)|Graham Greene]], [[Ming-Na Wen]], [[Edward Norton]], [[Winona Ryder]], [[Kevin Spacey]], and [[Renée Zellweger]] appear as readers.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.normanlear.com/citizenship/declaration-of-independence-road-trip/press/|title=press &#124; television, film, political and social activist, philanthropist|access-date=August 13, 2015|archive-date=September 20, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150920115208/http://www.normanlear.com/citizenship/declaration-of-independence-road-trip/press/|url-status=live}}</ref> It was directed by [[Arvin Brown]] and scored by [[John Williams]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://normanlear.com/citizenship/declaration-of-independence-road-trip/press/|title=Road Trip Fact Sheet|access-date=September 28, 2022|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150920115208/http://normanlear.com/citizenship/declaration-of-independence-road-trip/press|archive-date=September 20, 2015}}</ref>

In 2004, Lear established [[Declare Yourself]] which is a national nonpartisan, nonprofit campaign created to empower and encourage eligible 18- to 29-year-olds in America to register and vote. It has registered almost 4 million young people.<ref>{{cite web|title=Yahoo! Helps Declare Yourself Drive More Than 1 Million Young Americans to Download Voter Registration Forms for 2004 Election|url=http://investor.yahoo.net/common/mobile/iphone/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=146735&CompanyID=YHOO&mobileid=|work=Yahoo! recent news|publisher=Yahoo! Inc.|access-date=May 19, 2012|format=Press release|date=October 27, 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304100359/http://investor.yahoo.net/common/mobile/iphone/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=146735&CompanyID=YHOO&mobileid=|archive-date=March 4, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>{{Update inline|date=December 2023}}

Lear was one of 98 "prominent members of Los Angeles' Jewish community" who signed an open letter supporting the [[Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action|proposed nuclear agreement between Iran and six world powers]] led by the United States. The letter called for the passage of the bill and warned that the ending of the agreement by Congress would be a "tragic mistake".<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/98-prominent-hollywood-jews-back-814855|title=98 Prominent Hollywood Jews Back Iran Nuclear Deal in Open Letter (Exclusive)|magazine=The Hollywood Reporter|first=Seth|last=Abramovitch|date=August 12, 2015|access-date=February 18, 2020|archive-date=August 15, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150815033015/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/98-prominent-hollywood-jews-back-814855|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Personal life and death==
Lear was married three times.<ref name=TCM-Bio /> His first marriage was to Charlotte Rosen in 1943. They divorced in 1956.

He was married to [[Frances Lear|Frances Loeb]], from 1956 to 1985.<ref name=ChicagoTribune-FrancesLear-1988>{{cite news|last1=Behrens|first1=Leigh|title=Frances Lear: 'Women Are Bursting Forth With Their Creativity'|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1988/02/28/frances-lear-3/|access-date=October 16, 2014|work=[[Chicago Tribune]]|date=February 28, 1988|archive-date=May 15, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150515234832/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1988-02-28/features/8804020963_1_frances-lear-magazine-creativity|url-status=live}}</ref> They separated in 1983, with Loeb eventually receiving $112&nbsp;million from Lear in their divorce settlement, part of which she used to found ''[[Lear's]]'' magazine.<ref name="NYTimes-FrancesObit-1996" />

In 1987, he married Lyn Davis, who survived him. When she met Lear in 1984, Lyn was in the process of earning a doctorate in [[clinical psychology]]. She later became a documentary filmmaker through her production company Lyn Lear Productions.<ref name=thirdmarriage>{{cite news|url=https://people.com/tv/who-is-lyn-lear-norman-lear-wife/|title=Who Is Norman Lear's Wife? All About Lyn Lear|first=Katie|last=Mannion|work=People|date=December 8, 2023|accessdate=May 29, 2024}}</ref>

From his three marriages, he had six children.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://parade.com/celebrities/norman-lear-children|title=Norman Lear's Children Kept Him Young at Heart! All About the TV Legend's Six Kids|first=Jessica|last=Sager|date=December 6, 2023|website=Parade|access-date=May 7, 2023|archive-date=May 7, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230507122521/https://parade.com/celebrities/norman-lear-children|url-status=live}}</ref> He was a godparent to actress and singer [[Katey Sagal]].<ref name="tvguide.com">[https://www.tvguide.com/news/katey-sagal-wise-38744/ "Katey Sagal on Wise Guys, Lost and More!"] December 9, 2005. TV Guide.com. Retrieved December 30, 2015. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200130065157/https://www.tvguide.com/news/katey-sagal-wise-38744/ |date=January 30, 2020 }}.</ref>

Lear died at his Los Angeles home on December 5, 2023, from cardiac arrest, as a complication of heart failure. He was 101. His body was cremated.<ref name="NYTimes-NormanObit-2023">{{cite news |title=Norman Lear, Whose Comedies Changed the Face of TV, Is Dead at 101 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/06/arts/television/norman-lear-dead.html|last1=Severo |first1=Richard |author1-link=Richard Severo |last2=Keepnews |first2=Peter |work=The New York Times |date=December 6, 2023 |archive-date=December 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231231175107/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/06/arts/television/norman-lear-dead.html |url-status=live |access-date=February 3, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url = https://deadline.com/2023/12/norman-lear-cause-of-death-1235671856/|title = Norman Lear's Cause Of Death Revealed|last = Evans|first = Greg|date = December 18, 2023|accessdate = December 18, 2023|work = [[Deadline Hollywood]]}}</ref>

Numerous celebrities paid tribute to Lear, including [[Jimmy Kimmel]], [[Bill Maher]], [[Bill Clinton]], [[Tyler Perry]], [[George Clooney]], [[John Leguizamo]], [[Jon Stewart]], [[Valerie Bertinelli]], [[Bob Iger]], [[Rob Reiner]], [[John Amos]], [[Billy Crystal]], [[Quinta Brunson]], [[Rita Moreno]], [[Mark Hamill]], [[Ben Stiller]], [[Albert Brooks]] and more. [[Murder, She Boat|The Simpsons' episode 9 from the 35th season]] ends with the words "In memory of Norman Lear" and a picture of Lear where he is depicted as a character from the Simpsons.

==TV productions==
<timeline>
ImageSize  = width:1200 height:auto barincrement:20
PlotArea   = left:25 right:150 top:10 bottom:30
TimeAxis   = orientation:horizontal format:mm/dd/yyyy
DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy
Period = from:01/01/1959 till:12/05/2023
Colors =
  id:white value:white
  id:grid1  value:black
  id:grid2  value:gray(0.7)
  id:revue value:gray(0.9) legend:Revue_Studios
  id:tandem value:pink legend:Tandem_Productions
  id:tat value:skyblue legend:ELP_Communications
  id:actiii value:green legend:ACT_III_Productions
BackgroundColors = canvas:white
AlignBars  = justify
ScaleMajor = start:01/01/1959 unit:year grid:grid1 increment:5
ScaleMinor = start:07/01/1959 unit:month grid:grid2 increment:6
BarData =
    bar:Deputy
    bar:All
    bar:Sanford
    bar:Maude
    bar:Good
    bar:Jeffersons
    bar:Hot
    bar:One
    bar:Mary
    bar:Dumplings
    bar:Alls
    bar:Nancy
    bar:Glitters
    bar:Fernwood
    bar:Year 
    bar:America
    bar:Diff'rent
    bar:Hanging
    bar:Baxters
    bar:Palmerstown
    bar:Pablo
    bar:Sunday
    bar:Powers
    bar:Hauser
    bar:Channel
    bar:One17
PlotData =
   align:left anchor:from fontsize:M width:15 shift:(4,-6) textcolor:black
   bar:Deputy from:09/12/1959 till:07/01/1961 color:revue text:[[The Deputy (TV series)|The Deputy]]
   bar:All from:01/12/1971 till:04/08/1979 color:tandem text:[[All in the Family]]
   bar:Sanford from:01/14/1972 till:03/25/1977 color:tandem text:[[Sanford and Son]]
   bar:Maude from:09/12/1972 till:04/22/1978 color:tandem text:[[Maude (TV series)|Maude]]
   bar:Good from:02/08/1974 till:08/01/1979 color:tandem text:[[Good Times]]
   bar:Jeffersons from:01/19/1975 till:06/25/1985 color:tat text:[[The Jeffersons]]
   bar:Hot from:01/24/1975 till:04/25/1975 color:tat text:[[Hot L Baltimore]]
   bar:One from:12/16/1975 till:05/28/1984 color:tat text:[[One Day at a Time (1975 TV series)|One Day at a Time]]
   bar:Mary from:01/06/1976 till:05/10/1977 color:tat text:[[Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman]]
   bar:Dumplings from:01/28/1976 till:03/31/1976 color:tat text:[[The Dumplings (TV series)|The Dumplings]]
   bar:Alls from:09/20/1976 till:04/30/1977 color:tat text:[[All's Fair]]
   bar:Nancy from:09/30/1976 till:12/23/1976 color:tat text:[[The Nancy Walker Show]]
   bar:Glitters from:04/18/1977 till:07/15/1977 color:tat text:[[All That Glitters]]
   bar:Fernwood from:07/04/1977 till:09/08/1977 color:tat text:[[Fernwood 2 Night]]
   bar:Year from:08/05/1977 till:09/02/1977 color:tat text:[[A Year at the Top]]  
   bar:America from:04/10/1978 till:07/07/1978 color:tat text:[[America 2-Night]]
   bar:Diff'rent from:11/03/1978 till:03/07/1986 color:tandem text:[[Diff'rent Strokes]]
   bar:Hanging from:08/08/1979 till:08/29/1979 color:tat text:[[Hanging In]]  
   bar:Baxters from:09/01/1979 till:08/01/1981 color:tat text:[[The Baxters]]
   bar:Palmerstown from:03/20/1980 till:06/09/1981 color:tat text:[[Palmerstown, U.S.A.]]
   bar:Pablo from:03/06/1984 till:04/17/1984 color:tat text:[[a.k.a. Pablo]]
   bar:Sunday from:06/02/1991 till:07/07/1991 color:actiii text:[[Sunday Dinner (TV series)|Sunday Dinner]]
   bar:Powers from:03/07/1992 till:01/16/1993 color:actiii text:[[The Powers That Be (TV series)|The Powers That Be]]
   bar:Hauser from:04/11/1994 till:05/16/1994 color:actiii text:[[704 Hauser]]
   bar:Channel from:10/25/1997 till:09/04/1998 color:actiii text:[[Channel Umptee-3]]
   bar:One17 from:01/06/2017 till:06/16/2020 color:actiii text:[[One Day at a Time (2017 TV series)|One Day at a Time]]
Legend = orientation:vertical position:right
</timeline>

The chart does not include the made-for-television movies ''[[The Wave (1981 film)|The Wave]]'', which aired on October 4, 1981, or ''[[Heartsounds]]'', which aired on September 30, 1984.

==Bibliography==
* Lear, Norman. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20141017104941/http://www.normanlear.com/backstory_writings.html Liberty and Its Responsibilities]". ''Broadcast Journalism, 1979–1981''. The Eighth Alfred I. DuPont Columbia University Survey, Ed. By Marvin Barrett. New York: Everest House, 1982. {{ISBN|978-0-896-96160-9}}. {{oclc|8347364}}.
* Lear, Norman. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20130518100108/http://www.normanlear.com/backstory_writings_3.html Our Political Leaders Mustn't Be Evangelists]", ''[[USA Today]]'', August 17, 1984.
* Lear, Norman and [[Ronald Reagan]]. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20130518092527/http://www.normanlear.com/backstory_writings_4.html A Debate on Religious Freedom]", ''[[Harper's Magazine]]'', October 1984.
* Lear, Norman. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20130518080441/http://www.normanlear.com/backstory_writings_5.html Our Fragile Tower of Greed and Debt]", ''[[The Washington Post]]'', April 5, 1987.
* Lear, Norman. ''Even This I Get to Experience''. New York: The Penguin Press, 2014. {{ISBN|978-1-594-20572-9}}. {{oclc|870919776}}.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

===Sources===
* ''[[CBS News Sunday Morning]]'' interview with Norman Lear on January 10, 2021. [https://www.cbsnews.com/news/what-makes-norman-lear-at-98-still-tick/ "What makes Norman Lear, at 98, still tick?"]

==Further reading==
* Campbell, Sean. ''[http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/71369349 The Sitcoms of Norman Lear.]'' Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co, 2007. {{ISBN|978-0-786-42763-5}}.
* Carroll, Daniel P., and Albert K. Brown. ''Crew Umbriago''. [S.l.]: D.P. Carroll, 1986. {{Oclc|29466034}}.
* Miller, Taylor Cole. ''Syndicated Queerness: Television Talk Shows, Rerun Syndication, and the Serials of Norman Lear''. Ph.D. thesis, University of Wisconsin–Madison, 2017. {{Oclc|1000387759}}.
* ''[https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/norman-lear-about-the-film/7402/ Just Another Version of You]''. ''[[American Masters]]'' documentary. PBS. 2016.
* Turner Publishing Co. ''772nd Bomb Squadron: The Men – the Memories of the 463rd Bomb Group (The Swoose Group)''. Paducah, KY: Turner Pub. Co, 1996. {{ISBN|978-1-563-11320-8}}. {{Oclc|39273210}}.

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
{{Commons category}}
{{external media| float = right
| video1 = [https://www.emmys.com/video-gallery/hall-of-fame#videoId=438226 Norman Lear Hall of Fame Induction 1984], [[Academy of Television Arts & Sciences|Television Academy]]
| video2 = [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64EZ0K0fWBc Good Times With Norman Lear – Dispatches From Quarantine], June 29, 2020, Silver Screen Studios
}}
* {{Official website}}
* {{IMDb name|5131|Norman Lear}}
* {{EmmyTVLegends name}}
* {{C-SPAN|1983}}
* {{discogs artist|Norman Lear}}

{{Norman Lear Shows|state=collapsed}}
{{Navboxes
| title = Awards for Norman Lear
| list =
{{BAFTA Los Angeles Britannia Awards}}
{{Carol Burnett Award}}
{{Evelyn F. Burkey Award}}
{{International Emmy Founders Award}}
{{Kennedy Center Honorees 2010s}}
{{National Medal of Arts recipients 1990s}}
{{Norman Lear Achievement Award in Television}}
{{TCA Career Achievement Award}}
{{Laurel Award for TV Writing Achievement}}
{{1984 Television Hall of Fame}}
{{Valentine Davies Award}}
}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lear, Norman}}
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