Legendary sitcom creator Norman Lear dead at 101

Norman Lear, the legendary creator of sitcoms including “All in the Family,” died Tuesday, Dec. 5, at the age of 101.
 

A spokeswoman for the family, Lara Bergthold, confirmed the news to the New York Times Wednesday, Dec. 6,sharing that Lear died at his home in Los Angeles.
 

“Thank you for the moving outpouring of love and support in honor of our wonderful husband, father, and grandfather,” Lear’s family said in a statement.
 

“Norman lived a life of creativity, tenacity, and empathy. He deeply loved our country and spent a lifetime helping to preserve its founding ideals of justice and equality for all. Knowing and loving him has been the greatest of gifts. We ask for your understanding as we mourn privately in celebration of this remarkable human being.”
 

His cause of death was not immediately known.
 

Lear was already an Oscar nominee for 1968’s “Divorce American Style” when he devised an idea for a sitcom about a bigoted, conservative man living with his family in Queens, New York.
 

He also created “All in the Family” which was among the first shows to address cultural and social issues like racism, abortion, homosexuality and the Vietnam war.
 

“All in the Family” spawned six spin-offs, including “Family,” which received four Emmys in the 1970s along with a Peabody Award for Lear, “for giving us comedy with a social conscience.”
 

He is also credited with creating a slate of iconic TV shows, including “Sanford and Son,” “One Day at a Time,” “The Jeffersons” and “Good Times.”