President Joe Biden paid tribute to Norman Lear, the pioneering author, producer and director who died on Tuesday at age 101.
Biden referred to as Lear a “transformational force in American culture” whose exhibits “redefined television with courage, conscience, and humor, opening our nation’s eyes and often our hearts.”
Lear was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Bill Clinton in 1999. At the time, Clinton stated that Lear “held up a mirror to American society and changed the way we look at it.”
Biden additionally famous Lear’s a long time of political advocacy, saying that he “fought directly for free speech, a woman’s right to choose, the environment, voting rights, and more.”
Biden’s full assertion is under:
Norman Lear was a transformational drive in American tradition, whose trailblazing exhibits redefined tv with braveness, conscience, and humor, opening our nation’s eyes and sometimes our hearts.
The forged of characters he created painted a fuller image of America – capturing our hopes and hardships, on a regular basis moments of worry and resilience. From Archie Bunker and George Jefferson to the casts of “Good Times” and “One Day at a Time,” his characters grew to become fixtures in tens of tens of millions of American lives, typically reminding us of household or neighbors. We liked them, disagreed with them, grew with them, rooted for them, and within the course of, modified the best way we see ourselves.
Norman left faculty for the Army throughout World War II, flying 52 missions in Europe, and he by no means forgot the teachings he realized there defending democracy and freedom. Arriving in Hollywood on the daybreak of tv, he helped to form the delivery of a medium that outlined American tradition, utilizing it to advance our nationwide dialog. Throughout his over-75-year profession – which included greater than 100 totally different exhibits and movies, as properly six Emmys, two Peabodys, a National Medal of Arts, and a Kennedy Center Honor – he by no means shied away from robust subjects, taking over problems with racism, class, divorce, and abortion, capturing the grace and dignity in individuals’s lives. And throughout a long time of political advocacy, he fought straight at no cost speech, a girl’s proper to decide on, the setting, voting rights, and extra.
Norman liked America and instructed our tales with coronary heart, dealing with the great, the unhealthy, and the reality of who we’re as a nation striving to type a extra excellent union. He made generations of Americans care, and we are grateful.
Our love goes out to Norman’s spouse, Lyn Davis Lear; his six youngsters, Ellen, Kate, Maggie, Ben, Madeline, and Brianna Lear; and his 4 grandchildren.
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