TV Pioneer Norman Lear: Changing Television Forever

For many in Hollywood, from movie stars and directors to screenwriters and network executives, Norman Lear was a creative force, an inspiration and, crucially, a dear friend. With revolutionary programs like All in the Family, Maude, The Jeffersons, Good Times and more, he brought contemporary realities into America’s living room and reinvented the medium of television.

Throughout his life, Lear strove to represent the truth of contemporary culture. This extended to the exceptional collection of art he built alongside his wife, Lyn Davis Lear.

‘At the first rehearsal, as I was meeting Rob and Sally [Struthers] and the rest of the cast for that episode, Norman stressed how inclusive the process is: if you have any ideas, don’t hesitate. At that moment, I knew firsthand what an amazing producer he was, how he loved the input of others to help make the end product as good as it could be. I was a total newcomer, yet he and Rob and the writers were open to suggestions.

‘Lear’s shows weren’t merely hilarious. Never silly, never pandering, they were honest and pointed, and they were accepted because they were always clothed in the truth. He took on subjects that were real and never backed off.

‘I think his touch is still influencing the way shows are developed today. There’s almost a silent, What would Norman do?

‘What I’ll remember most though is his warmth and humour and intelligence and integrity. For all his genius and for all of his epic contributions to American culture, he always felt like a kind, funny, charming uncle to me.’‘The first time I met Norman was during the taping of the pilot of black-ish. He had heard about the show, and he was unbelievably supportive in a way that he did not have to be, lending his voice and his experience and telling me to basically be myself.

‘Norman influenced me as an artist probably more than anyone else in television because, to me, his message was: Be yourself and tell your story. You can’t be anyone else, but you can tell your story through the lenses of other people, and I think that’s what I’ve learned as a storyteller. I can’t tell a woman’s story, but I can tell my story through the women that have helped raise me and that I’ve helped raise. I can tell my story through the women that I’ve worked with. I can tell my story through the white guys that I know and how I see them reflected in my eyes. I think that’s the biggest part of who Norman was and that I really try to continue to do as an artist.

‘The show of Norman’s that resonated with me most, although most of them did, was The Jeffersons. I don’t think I had seen a portrayal of a Black man who was not afraid of sticking it back to the man in a way like that. I remember my dad in particular always liked who Mr. Jefferson was. And I remember, for me, I wanted to be that guy in some way for myself.

‘The messages that Norman talked about and the messages that he so artfully showed through his characters’ voices were the truth. They talked about the world. They talked about things that people felt: the ugly, the good, the happy, the sad. He used television to hold a mirror to society by really reflecting the conversations that were happening around the dinner table, that were happening in the bedroom, that were happening at work. He took those private conversations and broadcast them to the world.’