Norman Lear, the writer, director and producer who revolutionized prime time television with 91裸聊视频淎ll in the Family91裸聊视频� and 91裸聊视频淢aude,91裸聊视频� propelling political and social turmoil into the once-insulated world of sitcoms, has died. He was 101.

Lear died Tuesday night in his sleep, surrounded by family at his home in Los Angeles, said Lara Bergthold, a spokesperson for his family.

A liberal activist, 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 O91裸聊视频機onnor, Bea Arthur and Redd Foxx.

91裸聊视频淎ll in the Family91裸聊视频� was immersed in the headlines of the day, while also drawing upon Lear91裸聊视频檚 childhood memories of his tempestuous father. Racism, feminism, and the Vietnam War were flashpoints as blue collar conservative Archie Bunker, played by O91裸聊视频機onnor, clashed with liberal son-in-law Mike Stivic (Reiner). Jean Stapleton co-starred as Archie91裸聊视频檚 befuddled but good-hearted wife, Edith, and Sally Struthers played the Bunkers91裸聊视频� daughter, Gloria, who defended her husband in arguments with Archie.

Lear91裸聊视频檚 work transformed television at a time when old-fashioned programs as 91裸聊视频淗ere91裸聊视频檚 Lucy,91裸聊视频� 91裸聊视频淚ronside91裸聊视频� and 91裸聊视频淕unsmoke91裸聊视频� still dominated. CBS, Lear91裸聊视频檚 primary network, would soon enact its 91裸聊视频渞ural purge91裸聊视频� and cancel such standbys as 91裸聊视频淭he Beverly Hillbillies91裸聊视频� and 91裸聊视频淕reen Acres.91裸聊视频� The groundbreaking sitcom 91裸聊视频淭he Mary Tyler Moore Show,91裸聊视频� about a single career woman in Minneapolis, debuted on CBS in Sept. 1970, just months before 91裸聊视频淎ll in the Family91裸聊视频� started.

But ABC passed on 91裸聊视频淎ll in the Family91裸聊视频� twice and CBS was initially reluctant to take on the daring series, Lear would say. When the network finally aired 91裸聊视频淎ll in the Family,91裸聊视频� it began with a disclaimer: 91裸聊视频淭he program you are about to see is 91裸聊视频楢ll in the Family.91裸聊视频� 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.91裸聊视频�

By the end of 1971, 91裸聊视频淎ll In the Family91裸聊视频� 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 91裸聊视频淢eathead91裸聊视频� and his wife 91裸聊视频淒ingbat,91裸聊视频� and would also snap at anyone who dared occupy his faded orange-yellow wing chair. It was the centerpiece of the Bunkers rowhouse in the New York City borough of Queens and eventually an artifact in the Smithsonian91裸聊视频檚 National Museum of American History.

Even the show91裸聊视频檚 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, 91裸聊视频淭hose Were the Days,91裸聊视频� with Edith screeching off-key and Archie crooning such lines 91裸聊视频淒idn91裸聊视频檛 need no welfare state91裸聊视频� and 91裸聊视频淕irls were girls and men were men.91裸聊视频�

91裸聊视频淎ll in the Family,91裸聊视频� based on the British sitcom, 91裸聊视频淭il Death Us Do Part,91裸聊视频� 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 91裸聊视频淔rasier91裸聊视频� in 1998.

Hits continued for Lear and then-partner Bud Yorkin, including 91裸聊视频淢aude91裸聊视频� and 91裸聊视频淭he Jeffersons,91裸聊视频� both spinoffs from 91裸聊视频淎ll in the Family91裸聊视频� and both the same winning combination of one-liners and social conflict. In a 1972 two-part episode of 91裸聊视频淢aude,91裸聊视频� the title character (played by Arthur) became the first on television to have an abortion, drawing a surge of protests along with the show91裸聊视频檚 high ratings. Nixon himself objected to an 91裸聊视频淎ll in the Family91裸聊视频� episode about a close friend of Archie91裸聊视频檚 who turns out to be gay, privately fuming to White House aides that the show 91裸聊视频済lorified91裸聊视频� same-sex relationships.

91裸聊视频淐ontroversy suggests people are thinking about something. But there91裸聊视频檇 better be laughing first and foremost or it91裸聊视频檚 a dog,91裸聊视频� Lear said in a 1994 interview with The Associated Press.

Lear and Yorkin also created 91裸聊视频淕ood Times,91裸聊视频� about a working class Black family in Chicago; 91裸聊视频淪anford & Son,91裸聊视频� a showcase for Foxx as junkyard dealer Fred Sanford; and 91裸聊视频淥ne Day at a Time,91裸聊视频� 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.

The late Paddy Chayefsky, a leading writer of television91裸聊视频檚 early 91裸聊视频済olden age,91裸聊视频� once said that Lear 91裸聊视频渢ook 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.91裸聊视频�

Lear91裸聊视频檚 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.

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 91裸聊视频渁busing religion.91裸聊视频�

91裸聊视频淚 started to say, This is not my America. You don91裸聊视频檛 mix politics and religion this way,91裸聊视频� Lear said in a 1992 interview with Commonweal magazine.

The nonprofit91裸聊视频檚 president, Svante Myrick, said 91裸聊视频渨e are heartbroken91裸聊视频� by Lear91裸聊视频檚 death. 91裸聊视频淲e extend our deepest sympathies to Norman91裸聊视频檚 wife Lyn and their entire family, and to the many people who91裸聊视频�, like us,91裸聊视频� loved Norman.91裸聊视频�

With this wry smile and impish boat hat, the youthful Lear created television well into his 90s, rebooting 91裸聊视频淥ne Day at a Time91裸聊视频� for Netflix in 2017 and exploring income inequality for the documentary series 91裸聊视频淎merica Divided91裸聊视频� in 2016. Documentarians featured him in 201691裸聊视频檚 91裸聊视频淣orman Lear: Just Another Version of You,91裸聊视频� and 201791裸聊视频檚 91裸聊视频淚f You91裸聊视频檙e Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast,91裸聊视频� a look at active nonagenarians such as Lear and Rob Reiner91裸聊视频檚 father, Carl Reiner.

In 1984, he was lauded as the 91裸聊视频渋nnovative writer who brought realism to television91裸聊视频� when he became one of the first seven people inducted into the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences91裸聊视频� Hall of Fame. He later received a National Medal of Arts and was honored at the Kennedy Center. In 2020, he won an Emmy as executive producer of 91裸聊视频淟ive In Front of a Studio Audience: 91裸聊视频楢ll In the Family91裸聊视频� and 91裸聊视频楪ood Times91裸聊视频�.91裸聊视频�91裸聊视频�

Lear beat the tough TV odds to an astounding degree: At least one of his shows placed in prime-time91裸聊视频檚 top 10 for 11 consecutive years (1971-82). But Lear had flops as well.

Shows including 91裸聊视频淗ot L Baltimore,91裸聊视频� 91裸聊视频淧almerstown91裸聊视频� and 91裸聊视频渁.k.a. Pablo,91裸聊视频� a rare Hispanic series, drew critical favor but couldn91裸聊视频檛 find an audience; others, such as 91裸聊视频淎ll That Glitters91裸聊视频� and 91裸聊视频淭he Nancy Walker Show,91裸聊视频� earned neither. He also faced resistance from cast members, including 91裸聊视频淕ood Times91裸聊视频� stars John Amos and Esther Rolle, who often objected to the scripts as racially insensitive, and endured a mid-season walkout by Foxx, who missed eight episodes in 1973-74 because of a contract dispute.

In the 1990s, the comedy 91裸聊视频�704 Hauser,91裸聊视频� which returned to the Bunker house with a new family, and the political satire 91裸聊视频淭he Powers that Be91裸聊视频� were both short-lived.

Lear91裸聊视频檚 business moves, meanwhile, were almost consistently fruitful.

Lear started T.A.T. Communications in 1974 to be 91裸聊视频渟ole creative captain of his ship,91裸聊视频� his former business partner Jerry Perenchio told the Los Angeles Times in 1990. The company became a major TV producer with shows including 91裸聊视频淥ne Day at a Time91裸聊视频� and the soap-opera spoof 91裸聊视频淢ary Hartman Mary Hartman,91裸聊视频� which Lear distributed himself after it was rejected by the networks.

In 1982, Lear and Perenchio bought Avco-Embassy Pictures and formed Embassy Communications as T.A.T.91裸聊视频檚 successor, becoming successfully involved in movies, home video, pay TV and cable ownership. In 1985, Lear and Perenchio sold Embassy to Coca-Cola for $485 million. They had sold their cable holdings the year before, reportedly for a hefty profit.

By 1986, Lear was on Forbes magazine91裸聊视频檚 list of the 400 richest people in America, with an estimated net worth of $225 million. He didn91裸聊视频檛 make the cut the next year after a $112 million divorce settlement for his second wife, Frances. They had been married 29 years and had two daughters.

He married his third wife, psychologist Lyn Davis, in 1987 and the couple had three children. (Frances Lear, who went on to found the now-defunct Lear91裸聊视频檚 magazine with her settlement, died in 1996 at age 73.)

Lear was born in New Haven, Conn. on July 27, 1922, to Herman Lear, a securities broker who served time in prison for selling fake bonds, and Jeanette, a homemaker who helped inspire Edith Bunker. Norman Lear would remember family life as a kind of sitcom, full of quirks and grudges, 91裸聊视频渁 group of people living at the ends of their nerves and the tops of their lungs,91裸聊视频� he explained during a 2004 appearance at the John F. Kennedy Presidential LIbrary in Boston.

His political activism had deep roots. In a 1984 interview with The New York Times, Lear recalled how, at age 10, he would mail letters for his Russian immigrant grandfather, Shia Seicol, which began 91裸聊视频淢y dearest darling Mr. President,91裸聊视频� to Franklin D. Roosevelt. Sometimes a reply came.

91裸聊视频淭hat my grandfather mattered made me feel every citizen mattered,91裸聊视频� said Lear, who at 15 was sending his own messages to Congress via Western Union.

He dropped out of Emerson College 1942 to enlist in the Air Force, was awarded a Decorated Air Medal, and then worked in public relations.

Lear began writing in the early 1950s on shows including 91裸聊视频淭he Colgate Comedy Hour91裸聊视频� and working for such comedians as Martha Raye and George Gobel. In 1959, he and Yorkin founded Tandem Productions, which produced films including 91裸聊视频淐ome Blow Your Horn,91裸聊视频� 91裸聊视频淪tart the Revolution Without Me91裸聊视频� and 91裸聊视频淒ivorce American Style.91裸聊视频� Lear also directed the 1971 satire 91裸聊视频淐old Turkey,91裸聊视频� starring Dick Van Dyke about a small town that takes on a tobacco company91裸聊视频檚 offer of $25 million to quit smoking for 30 days.

In his later years, Lear joined with Warren Buffett and James E. Burke to establish The Business Enterprise Trust, honoring businesses that take a long-term view of their effect on the country. He also founded the Norman Lear Center at the University of Southern California91裸聊视频檚 Annenberg School for Communication, exploring entertainment, commerce and society. In 2014, he published the memoir 91裸聊视频淓ven This I Get to Experience.91裸聊视频�

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