American screenwriter and producer Norman Milton Lear (born July 27, 1922) is responsible for more than a hundred original series.
All in the Family (1971–1979), Maude (1972–1988), Sanford and Son (1972–1977), One Day at a Time (1975–1984), The Jeffersons (1975–1985), and Good Times (1974–1979) are just a few of Lear’s many successful 1970s comedies.
He has kept up his busy schedule as a TV producer with projects including the One Day at a Time remake (2017) and the Good Times revival on Netflix (2022).
Norman Lear Net Worth
The American television writer and producer Norman Lear has a $200 million fortune. Norman Lear created several of the most successful television comedies of the 1970s. These include “All in the Family,” “Sanford and Son,” “One Day at a Time,” and “Good Times.”
He has also contributed extensively to progressive causes and politicians, earning him the reputation of being an outspoken political activist. To counter the conservative Christian agenda, Lear established People for the American Way in 1980.
Norman Lear Early Life and Career Beginnings
Norman Lear was born into a Jewish family in New Haven, Connecticut in 1922. Jeanette and the itinerant salesman Hyman were his parents. He was the only child, with a sister named Claire.
While playing with his radio when he was nine, Lear was exposed to anti-Semitic Catholic priest Father Charles Coughlin and saw his father arrested for peddling bogus bonds. The latter event influenced Lear’s lifetime dedication to campaigning, while the former inspired the character of Archie Bunker.
Lear attended Emerson College in Boston after graduating from Weaver High School in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1940. He left school in 1942 to enlist in the United States Army Air Forces.
He was a radio operator and gunner in the Mediterranean theater and flew 52 combat flights, earning him the Air Medal for his service. Lear started a career in public relations after the war and relocated to Los Angeles to be near his cousin Elaine.
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Lear went door-to-door selling furniture with Elaine’s husband, aspiring comedian Ed Simmons. Throughout the 1950s, the duo wrote and performed comic skits for shows like Rowan and Martin and Martin and Lewis.
Writing for three Martin and Lewis comedy specials in 1953 netted Norman and Ed a record-breaking $52,000 each (about $500,000 in today’s currencies). In 1954, CBS hired Lear as a writer for their new comedy series “Honestly, Celeste!,” but the show was canceled soon after its premiere.
Aside from his work on “The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show,” which he also helped create, Lear also produced the short-lived “The Martha Raye Show.” In 1959, Lear made his debut with “The Deputy,” a Henry Fonda Western.
Norman Lear Embassy Pictures and Coca Cola Sale
Lear and Jerry Perenchio purchased Avco Embassy Pictures together in 1982. They parted ways with the company in 1985, selling it to Columbia Pictures for $485 million in Coca-Cola stock. The deal netted Norman and Lear an estimated $600 million before taxes and inflation.
Producing such hits as “The Sure Thing,” “Stand By Me,” “The Princess Bride,” and “Fried Green Tomatoes,” Norman Lear established Act III Communications in 1986.
Norman Lear Personal Life
In 1999, President Bill Clinton honored him with the National Medal of the Arts. For $8.1 million in 2001, he bought one of the first copies of the Declaration of Independence. People For the American Way was founded by political activist and actor Norman Lear in 1981.
He is an advocate for free speech, having founded the nonpartisan organizations BornAgainAmerican.org in 2009 and Declare Yourself in 2004. Many African Americans in the television industry can thank Lear for their start. In 2017, Lear received the Kennedy Center Honors.
He has six children from his three marriages. His first wife, Charlotte Rosen, was his companion from 1944 to 1956. He was married to Frances Loeb for a second time from 1956 till 1986. He has been with Lyn Davis, his wife since 1987.
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Norman Lear’s Real Estate
Lyn, Norman’s third wife, and he spent $6.5 million on a mansion in Los Angeles’ Brentwood area in 1995. In addition to the 35-car garage and security offices, the 8-acre property features a 14,000-square-foot main house, guest house, pool, gym, spa, tennis court, and more.
In 2015, he put the home on the market for $55 million. He re-listed the property in November of 2019 for just under $40 million. When Norman and Lyn moved to New York in 2008, they spent $10.2 million on a two-bedroom condo near Central Park.
Lear and his wife paid $8.1 million in 2001 to acquire one of the first copies of the US Declaration of Independence. In the years that followed, Lear took the document on a cross-country road trip, stopping at presidential libraries and museums, sporting events, and even the Super Bowl and Winter Olympics.
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