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Television producer Norman Lear, known for many shows including the situation comedy “All in the Family” died Tuesday at the age of 101 in his home in Los Angeles, according to multiple reports.
Lear died Tuesday night in his sleep, surrounded by family at his home in Los Angeles, Lara Bergthold, a spokesperson for his family confirmed to the Associated Press.
A liberal activist with an eye for mainstream entertainment, Lear fashioned bold and controversial comedies that were embraced by TV sitcom viewers who long 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 and after, launched the careers of such young performers as Rob Reiner and Valerie Bertinelli and made Carroll O’Connor, Bea Arthur and Redd Foxx among others into middle-aged superstars.
In his later years, Lear joined with Warren Buffett and James E. Burke to establish The Business Enterprise Trust, honoring businesses that take a long-term view of their effect on the country.
He also founded the Norman Lear Center, based at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication, which explores the relationship between entertainment, commerce and society. In 2014, he published the memoir “Even This I Get to Experience.”
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