Norman Lear Biography

Fast Facts

• As a high-school senior, won an American Legion oratorical contest for a speech about what the U
• S
• Constitution meant to him
• Was an Army Air Force radioman during WWII; flew 56 missions and received an Air Medal with four oak leaf clusters
• Began his show-business career in the early 1950s writing gags for Danny Thomas; later wrote Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin's material for NBC's Colgate Comedy Hour
• Modeled Bea Arthur's Maude character after his ex-wife Frances Lear
• Cofounded People for the American Way, a civil-liberties advocacy organization, in 1981
• Was an inaugural inductee into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1984 (along with Lucille Ball, Milton Berle, Paddy Chayefsky, Edward R
• Murrow, William S
• Paley and David Sarnoff)
• Purchased a Dunlap broadside, an original copy of the Declaration of Independence, for $8
• 1 million in 2001; it has been on display around the U
• S
• ever since
• In 2004, founded Declare Yourself, a nonprofit, nonpartisan campaign to encourage young adults to vote in political elections
• In 2009, started the Born Again American campaign, which promotes citizenship and activism
• Owns Act III Communications, a multimedia holding company
• Supports a variety of nonprofit organizations (including Habitat for Humanity, Heal the Bay and Planned Parenthood of Los Angeles) through the Lear Family Foundation