Iconic 'All In The Family' Producer Norman Lear Dead At 101

Iconic television and film producer Norman Lear, who was responsible for the sitcoms 'All In The Family,' 'Sanford and Son,' 'The Jeffersons,' 'Good Times' and 'Maude,' has died at the age of 101, his family confirmed in a statement obtained by CNN Wednesday (December 6) morning.

“Norman lived a life of curiosity, tenacity, and empathy. He deeply loved our country and spent a lifetime helping to preserve its founding ideals of justice and equality for all,” his family wrote. “He began his career in the earliest days of live television and discovered a passion for writing about the real lives of Americans, not a glossy ideal. At first, his ideas were met with closed doors and misunderstanding. However, he stuck to his conviction that the ‘foolishness of the human condition’ made great television, and eventually he was heard.”

Lear's pioneering 1970s sitcoms tackled the topics of racism, feminism and social inequalities in an era when no one else would. The Connecticut native also served an executive producer for the popular movies 'The Princess Bride' and 'Fried Green Tomatoes' and received an Academy Award nomination for best screenplay for the film 'Divorce American Style.'

Lear was also credited for establishing the political organization People of the American Way.