Norman Lear

Lear at the Walt Disney Concert Hall 10th Anniversary Celebration, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles, CA 09-30-13, s_bukley/Bigstock.com

Birth Name: Norman Milton Lear

Date of Birth: July 27, 1922

Place of Birth: New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.

Date of Death: December 5, 2023

Place of Death: Los Angeles, California, U.S.

Ethnicity: Ashkenazi Jewish

Norman Lear was an American screenwriter, producer, writer, creator, and developer. He was known for his many legendary sitcoms, some of which spotlighted political and social themes. He developed and wrote for All in the Family, developed Good Times, The Jeffersons, The Dumplings, One Day at a Time, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman; All’s Fair, Sanford Arms, The Baxters, and Palmerstown, U.S.A.; created All That Glitters, Fernwood 2 Night, America 2-Night, Apple Pie, Sunday Dinner, and 704 Hauser; co-developed Sanford and Son, Maude, Hot l Baltimore, and Channel Umptee-3; co-created and wrote for The Deputy; co-created The Nancy Walker Show, In the Beginning, a.k.a. Pablo, and Guess Who Died; and was a writer for The Martin and Lewis Show, Honestly, Celeste!, and The Ford Show. He also directed and co-wrote the film Cold Turkey; wrote the films Come Blow Your Horn and Divorce American Style; and co-wrote the film The Night They Raided Minsky’s. Norman hosted the show Quiz Kids. He also funded liberal and progressive causes and politicians, including founding advocacy organization People for the American Way. In the 2000s, he purchased a Dunlap broadside, one of the first copies of the Declaration of Independence; he toured the U.S. with the document.

Norman was the son of Jeanette/Enie (Sokolovsky/Seicol) and Hyman/Herman K. Lear, a traveling salesman. His father was born in New Haven, Connecticut, to Russian Jewish parents. His mother was a Jewish emigrant, from Elizavetgrad, Kherson Gubernia, Russia/Ukraine. His family moved to Chelsea, Massachusetts, and he later attended high school in Brooklyn, New York City. Norman enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1942, and was a radio operator/gunner on Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers with the 772nd Bomb Squadron, 463rd Bomb Group of the Fifteenth Air Force, in the Mediterranean theatre. He flew 52 combat missions, and received the Air Medal with four oak leaf clusters.

He was married to producer Lyn Davis, until his death. He had one child with his former wife Charlotte Rosen; two children with his former wife, activist, magazine publisher, editor, and writer Frances Loeb, who published women’s magazine Lear’s, after her married name; and three children with Lyn.

Norman’s paternal grandfather was named Shlomo Lev “Solomon” Lear (the son of Yacov “Jacob” Shimon/Simon Lear and Feige “Fannie”). Solomon was born in Elizavetgrad, Kherson Gubernia, Russia. Jacob was born in Žagarė, Joniškis district municipality, Šiauliai County, Lithuania, the son of Eliezer Halevi Lier/Chesna and Scheindel Lurie.

Norman’s paternal grandmother was Chane “Anna” Ruchel Russcol (the daughter of Shabtal Monis “Morris” Russcol and Henya/Hannah “Anna” Lear). Norman’s grandmother Anna was born in Elizavetgrad, Kherson, Russia. Hannah was the daughter of Yacov “Jacob” Shimon/Simon Lear and Chana Hoda Alperovitz. Norman’s parents were half-first cousins, once removed, through their Lear line.

Norman’s maternal grandfather was Yisha’aya Elimelech “Shia” Sokolovsky/Seicol (the son of Isruel Sokolovsky and Genia Rivka Garfinkel). Yisha’aya was born in Elizavetgrad, Kherson Gubernia, Russia. Isruel was the son of Efraim Yehudah Sokolovsky and Anna Kamenesky.

Norman’s maternal grandmother was named Basheva/Bathseva Elizabeth “Lizzie” Fish (the daughter of Yisroel Fish and Rivka Rokhel). Elizabeth was born in Elizavetgrad, Kherson Gubernia, Russia.

Sources: Genealogy of Norman Lear – https://www.geni.com

Norman Lear on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org