Photo: John Bryson/Getty
“Bringing joy to people is what it’s all about,” prolific writer and producerNorman Leartold PEOPLE days before his 100th birthday on July 27, 2022. “My awards and accolades mean a great deal to me, but they don’t mean as much as the drive to the studio today. I still explode with joy, excitement, interest and utter delight every time.“As Hollywood mourns theloss of the television icon at 101 years old, celebrate his continuing legacy with a look at 15 of his most iconic works.
“Bringing joy to people is what it’s all about,” prolific writer and producerNorman Leartold PEOPLE days before his 100th birthday on July 27, 2022. “My awards and accolades mean a great deal to me, but they don’t mean as much as the drive to the studio today. I still explode with joy, excitement, interest and utter delight every time.”
As Hollywood mourns theloss of the television icon at 101 years old, celebrate his continuing legacy with a look at 15 of his most iconic works.
01of 15’Colgate Comedy Hour,' 1950’Colgate Comedy Hour,' 1950.NBCU Photo BankLear’s work began in the 1950s with his “big break,“as he called it,writing for theColgate Comedy Hour.
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‘Colgate Comedy Hour,’ 1950
‘Colgate Comedy Hour,’ 1950.NBCU Photo Bank
Lear’s work began in the 1950s with his “big break,“as he called it,writing for theColgate Comedy Hour.
02of 15’The Martha Raye Show,' 1954’The Martha Raye Show,' 1954.Steve Oroz/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty"I adored [Martha Raye],” Lear recalled of the variety show, another of his earliest projects, in an interview with theTelevision Academy. “She … could just explode and go off script.”
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‘The Martha Raye Show,’ 1954
‘The Martha Raye Show,’ 1954.Steve Oroz/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty
“I adored [Martha Raye],” Lear recalled of the variety show, another of his earliest projects, in an interview with theTelevision Academy. “She … could just explode and go off script.”
03of 15’All in the Family,' 1971’All in the Family,' 1971.CBS/Getty"It’s been incredible to celebrate it every day,” Lear told PEOPLE ofAll in the Family, the 1971 to 1979 sitcom he created starring Rob Reiner, Sally Struthers, Carroll O’Connor and Jean Stapleton. “I don’t remember what I saw in my imagination when I wrote it, but when O’Connor sat down and read a page, holy moly.” The show scored 22 Emmys, including a 1971 Outstanding Comedy Series win for Lear.
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‘All in the Family,’ 1971
‘All in the Family,’ 1971.CBS/Getty
“It’s been incredible to celebrate it every day,” Lear told PEOPLE ofAll in the Family, the 1971 to 1979 sitcom he created starring Rob Reiner, Sally Struthers, Carroll O’Connor and Jean Stapleton. “I don’t remember what I saw in my imagination when I wrote it, but when O’Connor sat down and read a page, holy moly.” The show scored 22 Emmys, including a 1971 Outstanding Comedy Series win for Lear.
04of 15’Sanford and Son,' 1972’Sanford and Son,' 1972.EverettAs junkman Fred G. Sanford, “Redd Foxx(right, with Demond Wilson) entertained me in a way that I know added time to my life,” said Lear, who developedSanford and Son,which aired on NBC for six seasons from 1972 to 1977.
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‘Sanford and Son,’ 1972
‘Sanford and Son,’ 1972.Everett
As junkman Fred G. Sanford, “Redd Foxx(right, with Demond Wilson) entertained me in a way that I know added time to my life,” said Lear, who developedSanford and Son,which aired on NBC for six seasons from 1972 to 1977.
05of 15’Maude,' 1972’Maude,' 1972.getty"It was the start of the women’s movement, and casting a strong woman in a leading role seemed like such a fresh and much- needed idea,” says Lear, who createdMaude(1972 to 1978) with Bud Yorkin. “Bea Arthur brought all of that to life.”
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‘Maude,’ 1972
‘Maude,’ 1972.getty
“It was the start of the women’s movement, and casting a strong woman in a leading role seemed like such a fresh and much- needed idea,” says Lear, who createdMaude(1972 to 1978) with Bud Yorkin. “Bea Arthur brought all of that to life.”
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‘Good Times,’ 1974
‘Good Times,’ 1974.CBS Photo Archive/Getty
07of 15’One Day at a Time,' 1975’One Day at a Time,' 1975.CBS/GettyThe original sitcom aired on CBS from 1975 to 1984 and starred Bonnie Franklin as a divorced mother raising two teenage daughters (Valerie Bertinelli and Mackenzie Phillips). Pat Harrington Jr. played their building superintendent Dwayne Schneider.
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‘One Day at a Time,’ 1975
‘One Day at a Time,’ 1975.CBS/Getty
The original sitcom aired on CBS from 1975 to 1984 and starred Bonnie Franklin as a divorced mother raising two teenage daughters (Valerie Bertinelli and Mackenzie Phillips). Pat Harrington Jr. played their building superintendent Dwayne Schneider.
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‘The Jeffersons,’ 1975
‘The Jeffersons,’ 1975.Michael Ochs Archives/getty
09of 15’Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman,' 1976’Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman,' 1976.John Bryson/Getty"We made two episodes [as pilots], we financed it ourselves,” Lear recalled of the soap opera satire inan interview with the Television Academy. “We couldn’t sell it. From something salesmen were telling us, they thought it was too off-the-wall, so I had the notion that if we invited people to see that I’m a sensible, sane person and I’ve got kids and a family, coming from not some off-the-wall character, they might wish to buy. So we devised an evening and invited the [syndicated station] buyers to a dinner at my home on a warm spring evening. My daughters and my wife were the hostesses. It was a terrific evening. And the next morning they were going to look at another presentation … Now they were looking at the product of a family guy, and not a lunatic! And [one of the men] stood up and said, ‘I want this show.’ And that started a bandwagon.“A remake is in the workswith Emily Hampshire as the star.
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‘Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman,’ 1976
‘Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman,’ 1976.John Bryson/Getty
“We made two episodes [as pilots], we financed it ourselves,” Lear recalled of the soap opera satire inan interview with the Television Academy. “We couldn’t sell it. From something salesmen were telling us, they thought it was too off-the-wall, so I had the notion that if we invited people to see that I’m a sensible, sane person and I’ve got kids and a family, coming from not some off-the-wall character, they might wish to buy. So we devised an evening and invited the [syndicated station] buyers to a dinner at my home on a warm spring evening. My daughters and my wife were the hostesses. It was a terrific evening. And the next morning they were going to look at another presentation … Now they were looking at the product of a family guy, and not a lunatic! And [one of the men] stood up and said, ‘I want this show.’ And that started a bandwagon.”
A remake is in the workswith Emily Hampshire as the star.
10of 15’Archie Bunker’s Place,' 1979’Archie Bunker’s Place,' 1979.CBS Photo Archive/GettyIn a 2016 Sundance Q&A with Lena Dunham, Lear said he actually didn’t want to do theAll in the Familyspinoff, which ran for four seasons on CBS.“I prevented it from happening for some months,” Lear recalled. “The only way it got on was when [network owner William Paley] called me to his office and had four or five pages of names of people who would be out of work if the show didn’t go on. And so the show went on.“Lear said it was star Carroll O’Connor, Archie himself, who pushed hard for the series, too, though Lear called him “difficult” despite his acting talents and the fact he “worshipped the ground he walked on.““He didn’t understand the character the way I felt I wished him to be, and he was the character,” Lear continued. “God, that’s all so interesting and complicated.”
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‘Archie Bunker’s Place,’ 1979
‘Archie Bunker’s Place,’ 1979.CBS Photo Archive/Getty
In a 2016 Sundance Q&A with Lena Dunham, Lear said he actually didn’t want to do theAll in the Familyspinoff, which ran for four seasons on CBS.
“I prevented it from happening for some months,” Lear recalled. “The only way it got on was when [network owner William Paley] called me to his office and had four or five pages of names of people who would be out of work if the show didn’t go on. And so the show went on.”
Lear said it was star Carroll O’Connor, Archie himself, who pushed hard for the series, too, though Lear called him “difficult” despite his acting talents and the fact he “worshipped the ground he walked on.”
“He didn’t understand the character the way I felt I wished him to be, and he was the character,” Lear continued. “God, that’s all so interesting and complicated.”
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‘The Facts of Life,’ 1979
‘The Facts of Life,’ 1979.
“The fact that Charlotte Rae was in our lives, and was as talented and funny as she was, was a big part of creating the show,” Lear — whose production company handled bothDiff’rent StrokesandThe Facts of Life—told Vulture in 2021.
12of 15’Silver Spoons,' 1982’Silver Spoons,' 1982.The sitcom about a rich businessman who finds out he has a young son (’80s icon Ricky Schroder, right, with Jason Bateman) didn’t touch on issues of social justice the way many of Lear’s other shows did, though was a commercial success.
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‘Silver Spoons,’ 1982
‘Silver Spoons,’ 1982.
The sitcom about a rich businessman who finds out he has a young son (’80s icon Ricky Schroder, right, with Jason Bateman) didn’t touch on issues of social justice the way many of Lear’s other shows did, though was a commercial success.
13of 15'227,' 1985'227,' 1985.Embassy Pictures/Fotos International/GettyWriter Christine Houston came to the attention of Lear after she won a play-writing contest in his name with227,a story of women living together in Chicago in the 1950s. Lear took Houston under his wing and eventually actress Marla Gibbs found the script, starring in a series that moved the story to modern-day Washington, D.C. Lear served as executive producer,and Houston ultimately won an NAACP Image Award.
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‘227,’ 1985
‘227,’ 1985.Embassy Pictures/Fotos International/Getty
Writer Christine Houston came to the attention of Lear after she won a play-writing contest in his name with227,a story of women living together in Chicago in the 1950s. Lear took Houston under his wing and eventually actress Marla Gibbs found the script, starring in a series that moved the story to modern-day Washington, D.C. Lear served as executive producer,and Houston ultimately won an NAACP Image Award.
14of 15’America Divided,' 2016’America Divided,' 2016.Monica Schipper/GettyIn 2016, Lear teamed up with Shonda Rhimes and Common to produce the EPIX Original docu-series,America Divided,which examined “narratives around inequality in education, housing, healthcare, labor, criminal justice and the political system,“according to the series' website.In his 2021 interview with Vulture, Lear said, “the country needs a lot of help. I’m not worried about it where I am concerned, at my age, but when I think about my kids and grandkids and their kids to come?“He continued, “We need leadership that helps the American people understand what’s at stake and what is possible and how tender our democracy is. There’s nothing more important than helping the American people understand how important their vote is.”
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‘America Divided,’ 2016
‘America Divided,’ 2016.Monica Schipper/Getty
In 2016, Lear teamed up with Shonda Rhimes and Common to produce the EPIX Original docu-series,America Divided,which examined “narratives around inequality in education, housing, healthcare, labor, criminal justice and the political system,“according to the series' website.
In his 2021 interview with Vulture, Lear said, “the country needs a lot of help. I’m not worried about it where I am concerned, at my age, but when I think about my kids and grandkids and their kids to come?”
He continued, “We need leadership that helps the American people understand what’s at stake and what is possible and how tender our democracy is. There’s nothing more important than helping the American people understand how important their vote is.”
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‘One Day at a Time (Reboot),’ 2017
“We brought to the screen real loving families living the same lives as millions of others,” Lear said of the original and the reboot, which centered on a Latino family and ran for four seasons on Netflix, from 2017 to 2020.
source: people.com
