Lear, Norman (Milton) (1922– )

US television producer. He broke new television ground by introducing substantive issues, controversy, and strong language to sitcoms. In 1959 he formed Tandem Productions with Bud Yorkin, producing a series of successful movies as well as popular television shows. All in the Family, which was derived from the 1960s British television program Till Death Us Do Part but drew on memories of his father, was televised 1971–83. It was a multiple Emmy winner and the most popular sitcom of its time. His syndicated soap opera satire Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (1976–77) developed a cult following.

Lear was born in New Haven, Connecticut. After spending only one year at Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts, he launched a television writing career in 1950 on The Ford Star Review. Among his other television hits were Sanford and Son, Maude, Good Times and The Jeffersons. An outspoken liberal, he dedicated some of his immense earnings to founding People for the American Way (1981), a group that sponsors mailings, advertisements, and other outlets to combat what it regards as threats from the extreme Right.