LOS ANGELES – (WBAP/KLIF) – Television’s legendary writer/producer/developer Norman Lear has died in Los Angeles at the age of 101. Lear revolutionized American comedy with popular early 1970’s sitcoms including “All in the Family”, “Sanford and Son”, among others.
Lear had established himself as a top comedy writer and nabbed a 1968 Oscar nomination for his screenplay for “Divorce, American Style” when he dreamed up the bigoted working-class character Archie Bunker, in the show that became an immediate hit, and carries through to this day.
Lear’s shows addressed serious cultural, political and social flashpoints of the times; racism, abortion, homosexuality, and arguments about the Vietnam war by working the issues into All in the Family scripts.
“All in the Family” spun six more spin offs, and among other awards, Lear saw commendation with the show receiving four Emmys; 171-73, and a 1977 Peabody Award for Lear himself, for offering the U.S. “comedy with a social conscience”
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