A liberal activist with an eye for mainstream entertainment, Norman Lear fashioned bold and controversial comedies that were embraced by viewers who had to watch the evening news to find out what was going on in the world. His shows helped define prime time comedy in the 1970s.

Television writer and producer Norman Lear took a lighthearted approach to many challenging social and political issues in groundbreaking sitcoms such as “All in the Family” and “The Jeffersons.”