Norman Lear

Norman Lear ( 2008 )

Norman Lear (born July 27, 1922 in New Haven , Connecticut ) is an American television writer and producer. He created and produced various successful series such as All in the Family , Sanford and Son , One Day at a Time , The Jeffersons , Good Times and Maude .

Life

Lear studied at Emerson College , Boston , but left college in 1942 to join the US Army Air Corps (the predecessor of the US Air Force ). He was awarded the Air Medal and served until 1945.

He first worked as a screenwriter for comedies . He later became film director , wrote and produced, among others In 1963, the Frank Sinatra Comedy If my bedroom could speak and the 1967 film Divorce American ( Divorce American Style ) and introduced in 1971 in the 25 million in prize (original Cold Turkey ) Director - both films starring Dick Van Dyke .

Lear's tremendous success began when in 1970 he tried to sell ABC an idea for a series depicting the life of a simple working class family. The Til Death Do Us Part format came from England . Until then, the majority of American sitcoms had only shown ideal model families. Although the 1960s were very eventful, ABC and the other television companies had persistently avoided sensitive subjects. Lear produced two pilot episodes that ABC turned down. He made a third one that CBS bought. It first aired on January 12, 1971. The series flourished in the summer (the time of year when American television normally shows reruns). 1971–1972, All in the Family quickly climbed to the top of the ratings. For the next four years, the series stayed in first place.

Lear's second success was also based on an English series, this time Steptoe and Son . This series wasn't political. The main characters are an old, widowed man and his son who live together and run a little successful scrap business. In the English version, the men come from the Cockney district of London, the East End . The people in Lear's version of Sanford and Son are black people from poor Watts neighborhoods in Los Angeles. Fred G. Sanford, portrayed by famous black comedian Redd Foxx, is an especially grumpy guy, almost as prejudiced as Archie Bunker.

Lear insisted that his series should be recorded in front of a real audience. This method, only developed in the 1950s and a huge success with I Love Lucy , had gradually disappeared in the early 1970s because it was easier and cheaper to add the laughter artificially ("laughtrack"). Lear believed that the actors' timing and performance would be much better when they could hear the audience's reactions. Thanks to Lear's conviction, this long-established technology had a rebirth in the 1970s.

Lear's longtime partner in production was Bud Yorkin , who was the lead producer of Sanford and Son. He parted ways with Lear in 1975, but their company, Tandem Produktions, was not dissolved. That same year, Lear and his talent agent, Jerry Perenchio , founded TAT Communications ; Both companies were sometimes referred to as Tandem / TAT Lears organization was one of the most successful independent television producers of the 1970s. Although the subjects Lear's programs dealt with are now somewhat obsolete, the series still remain popular and can be purchased on DVD.

Since the early 1990s, Lear's efforts to remain active in the television industry have often failed. Today Lear lives in Shaftsbury (US state Vermont ) in a house where the poet Robert Frost once lived.

Lear and Robert Kaufman were nominated for an Oscar nomination for the screenplay for divorce in American at the 1968 Academy Awards. He also won three Emmy awards and was nominated for eight others. In 1975 he was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame . Fener has received multiple awards from the Writers Guild of America .

Civil society engagement

Norman Lear has long been socially committed by supporting a number of liberal and left-wing projects. In 1978 he founded the People for the American Way advocacy group with the express intention of countering the growing influence of the Religious Right , the strictly conservative American churches.

Lear founded Declare Yourself to encourage 18-29 year olds to register for elections and vote.

Most recently, he worked with Arianna Huffington in TV spots that highlight the potential dangers of large off-road vehicles ( sport utility vehicles , SUVs).

In 1999 he was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Bill Clinton .

TV Shows

From Top Gun Productions:

The second man (1959–1961)

From Tandem Productions:

All in the Family (1971-1979)
Sanford and Son (1972–1977)
Maude (1972–1978)
Good Times (1974-1979)
Diff'rent Strokes (1978-1986)
Archie Bunker's Place (1979-1983)
Gloria (1982-1983)

From TAT Communications / Embassy Television / ELP Communications:

The Jeffersons (1975–1985)
Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (1975-1977)
One Day at a Time (1975-1984)
Fernwood 2Night (1977-1978)
The Facts of Life (1979–1988)
Silver Spoons (1982-1987)
Square Pegs (1982-1983)
Who's the Boss? (1984-1992)
227 (1985-1990)
A Terribly Nice Family (1987-1997)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME	Lear, Norman
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American television writer and producer
DATE OF BIRTH	July 27, 1922
PLACE OF BIRTH	New Haven (Connecticut)