Source: Politics<\/p>\n
LOS ANGELES \u2014 Norman Lear<\/a>, the writer, director and producer who revolutionized prime time television with “All in the Family,” \u201cThe Jeffersons\u201d and \u201cMaude,\u201d propelling political and social turmoil into the once-insulated world of TV sitcoms, has died. He was 101.<\/p>\n Lear died Tuesday night in his sleep, surrounded by family at his home in Los Angeles, said Lara Bergthold, a spokesperson for his family.<\/p>\n A liberal activist with an eye for mainstream entertainment, Lear fashioned bold and controversial comedies that were embraced by viewers who had to watch the evening news to find out what was going on in the world. His shows helped define prime time comedy in the 1970s, launched the careers of Rob Reiner and Valerie Bertinelli and made middle-aged superstars of Carroll O’Connor, Bea Arthur and Redd Foxx.<\/p>\n Lear \u201ctook television away from dopey wives and dumb fathers, from the pimps, hookers, hustlers, private eyes, junkies, cowboys and rustlers that constituted television chaos, and in their place he put the American people,\u201d the late Paddy Chayefsky, a leading writer of television\u2019s early \u201cgolden age,\u201d once said.<\/p>\n Tributes poured in<\/a> after his death: \u201cI loved Norman Lear with all my heart. He was my second father. Sending my love to Lyn and the whole Lear family,\u201d Reiner wrote<\/a> on X, formerly Twitter. “More than anyone before him, Norman used situation comedy to shine a light on prejudice, intolerance, and inequality. He created families that mirrored ours,\u201d Jimmy Kimmel said.<\/p>\n \u201cAll in the Family\u201d was immersed in the headlines of the day, while also drawing upon Lear’s childhood memories of his tempestuous father. Racism, feminism, and the Vietnam War were flashpoints as blue collar conservative Archie Bunker, played by O’Connor, clashed with liberal son-in-law Mike Stivic (Reiner). Jean Stapleton co-starred as Archie\u2019s befuddled but good-hearted wife, Edith, and Sally Struthers played the Bunkers’ daughter, Gloria, who defended her husband in arguments with Archie.<\/p>\n Lear’s work transformed television at a time when old-fashioned programs as \u201cHere\u2019s Lucy,\u201d \u201cIronside\u201d and \u201cGunsmoke\u201d still dominated. CBS, Lear\u2019s primary network, would soon enact its \u201crural purge\u201d and cancel such standbys as \u201cThe Beverly Hillbillies\u201d and \u201cGreen Acres.\u201d The groundbreaking sitcom \u201cThe Mary Tyler Moore Show,\u201d about a single career woman in Minneapolis, debuted on CBS in Sept. 1970, just months before \u201cAll in the Family\u201d started.<\/p>\n But ABC passed on \u201cAll in the Family\u201d twice and CBS ran a disclaimer when it finally aired the show: \u201cThe program you are about to see is \u2018All in the Family.\u2019 It seeks to throw a humorous spotlight on our frailties, prejudices, and concerns. By making them a source of laughter we hope to show, in a mature fashion, just how absurd they are.\u201d<\/p>\n By the end of 1971, \u201cAll In the Family\u201d was No. 1 in the ratings and Archie Bunker was a pop culture fixture, with President Richard Nixon among his fans. Some of his putdowns became catchphrases. He called his son-in-law \u201cMeathead\u201d and his wife \u201cDingbat,\u201d and would snap at anyone who dared occupy his faded orange-yellow wing chair. It was the centerpiece of the Bunkers’ rowhouse in Queens, and eventually went on display in the Smithsonian\u2019s National Museum of American History.<\/p>\n Even the show\u2019s opening segment was innovative: Instead of an off-screen theme song, Archie and Edith are seated at the piano in their living room, belting out a nostalgic number, \u201cThose Were the Days,\u201d with Edith screeching off-key and Archie crooning such lines \u201cDidn\u2019t need no welfare state\u201d and \u201cGirls were girls and men were men.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAll in the Family,\u201d based on the British sitcom, \u201cTil Death Us Do Part,\u201d was the No. 1-rated series for an unprecedented five years in a row and earned four Emmy Awards as best comedy series, finally eclipsed by five-time winner \u201cFrasier\u201d in 1998.<\/p>\n Hits continued for Lear and then-partner Bud Yorkin, including \u201cMaude\u201d and \u201cThe Jeffersons,\u201d both spinoffs from \u201cAll in the Family,\u201d with the same winning combination of one-liners and social conflict. In a 1972 two-part episode of \u201cMaude,\u201d the title character (played by Arthur) became the first on television to have an abortion, drawing a surge of protests along with high ratings. And when a close friend of Archie’s turned out to be gay, Nixon privately fumed to White House aides that the show \u201cglorified\u201d same-sex relationships.<\/p>\n \u201cControversy suggests people are thinking about something. But there\u2019d better be laughing first and foremost or it\u2019s a dog,\u201d Lear said in a 1994 interview with The Associated Press.<\/p>\n Lear and Yorkin also created \u201cGood Times,\u201d about a working class Black family in Chicago; \u201cSanford & Son,\u201d a showcase for Foxx as junkyard dealer Fred Sanford; and \u201cOne Day at a Time,\u201d starring Bonnie Franklin as a single mother and Bertinelli and Mackenzie Phillips as her daughters. In the 1974-75 season, Lear and Yorkin produced five of the top 10 shows.<\/p>\n Lear\u2019s business success enabled him to express his ardent political beliefs beyond the small screen. In 2000, he and a partner bought a copy of the Declaration of Independence for $8.14 million and sent it on a cross-country tour.<\/p>\n He was an active donor to Democratic candidates and founded the nonprofit liberal advocacy group People for the American Way in 1980, he said, because people such as evangelists Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson were \u201cabusing religion.\u201d<\/p>\n “I started to say, This is not my America. You don\u2019t mix politics and religion this way,\u201d Lear said in a 1992 interview with Commonweal magazine.<\/p>\n The nonprofit’s president, Svante Myrick, said \u201cwe are heartbroken\u201d by Lear’s death. \u201cWe extend our deepest sympathies to Norman\u2019s wife Lyn and their entire family, and to the many people who, like us, loved Norman.\u201d<\/p>\n With this wry smile and impish boat hat, the youthful Lear created television well into his 90s, rebooting \u201cOne Day at a Time\u201d for Netflix in 2017 and exploring income inequality for the documentary series \u201cAmerica Divided\u201d in 2016. Documentarians featured him in 2016’s \u201cNorman Lear: Just Another Version of You,\u201d and 2017’s \u201cIf You\u2019re Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast,\u201d a look at active nonagenarians such as Lear and Rob Reiner\u2019s father, Carl Reiner.<\/p>\n