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LOS ANGELES —  Norman Lear, the producer and writer of some of the biggest hits on TV, is dead at 101.  Lear died at his home in Los Angeles of natural causes.  Lear was born and raised in New Haven, Connecticut, before enlisting in the Army in September of 1942.  After World War II, Lear had a career in public relations and picked up comedy writing in the late 1950s.

He is best known for creating 1970s sitcoms “All in the Family” and “Maude.”  He had other big hits, including “Sanford and Son,” “Good Times,” and “The Jeffersons.”  Lear’s sitcoms were commonly shot on videotape in place of film, used a live studio audience, and dealt with political issues of the day.  Lear was a political activist who funded progressive causes as part of the Malibu Mafia, an informal group of wealthy American Jewish men.

In 1968, Lear was nominated for an Academy Award for his writing of “Divorce American Style.”  He also produced the cult favorite “The Princess Bride.”  Lear received five Emmy Awards and two Peabody Awards over the course of his career.  In 2017, he was a Kennedy Center Honors recipient.