Norman Lear, the television writer and producer who introduced political and social commentary to situation comedy through “All in the Family” and other shows and proved that it could be topical and funny while appealing to millions of viewers, died Tuesday. His home in Los Angeles. He is 101 years old.
His death was confirmed by family spokeswoman Laura Bergdold.
Mr. Lear reigned at the top of the television world in the 1970s and early ’80s, leaving a lasting mark with shows that brought the sitcom into the real world.
“The Jeffersons” looked at the struggles faced by an upwardly mobile black family; A very different black family deals with poverty and discrimination in “Good Times.” The protagonist of “Maude” is an outspoken feminist; The heroine of “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman” suffers from all sorts of modern-day problems, not least her own neurosis.
“In those years you looked around the television,” Mr. Trump said in a 2012 New York Times interview. Lear said, referring to the mid to late 1960s. Dad found out’; ‘The boss comes to dinner and the roast is ruined.’ The message is that we have no problem.
A full obituary will be published soon.
Richard Severo, a Times reporter from 1968 to 2006, died in June. Alex Trapp contributed reporting.
