Norman Lear

Award won Role or nomination

1. 1922 age 0

   Born

2. 1987 age 65

   CreditThe Princess Brideexecutive producer

3. 1991 age 69

   CreditFried Green Tomatoesproducer

4. 2023 age 101

   Died

• RRRob Reiner2 titles
• RWRobin Wright1 title
• KBKathy Bates1 title
• TNThomas Newman1 title
• ABAdrian Biddle1 title
• CECary Elwes1 title
• PDPhyllis Dalton1 title
• LRLaTanya Richardson1 title
• LSLois Smith1 title
• WSWallace Shawn1 title

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  Photo:Kathleen Ballard, Los Angeles TimesCC BY 4.0
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  Photo:Larry D. MooreCC BY 4.0

• I’ve been doing "Breakfast Thoughts", and I guess my Breakfast Thought at the moment is, uh, is "the moment." <br /> Every person who is seeing me now — some are seeing me within months of my saying this, some are likely to see this years after I have said this, but whenever all of you are seeing it — that will be the moment you’re seeing it — as this is the moment I’m saying it. And what that means to me is: living in the moment. The moment between past and present, or present and past. The moment between after and next, the hammock in the middle of after and next. The moment. Treasure it. Use it with love.

  Norman Lear, CC BY-SA 4.0

• Well, I made it. I am 100 years old today. I wake up every morning grateful to be alive. <br /> Reaching my own personal centennial is cause for a bit of reflection on my first century — and on what the next century will bring for the people and country I love. To be honest, I’m a bit worried that I may be in better shape than our democracy is.

  Norman Lear, CC BY-SA 4.0

• I was deeply troubled by the attack on Congress on Jan. 6, 2021 — by supporters of former President Donald Trump attempting to prevent the peaceful transfer of power. Those concerns have only grown with every revelation about just how far Mr. Trump was willing to go to stay in office after being rejected by voters — and about his ongoing efforts to install loyalists in positions with the power to sway future elections.

  Norman Lear, CC BY-SA 4.0

• I don’t take the threat of authoritarianism lightly. As a young man, I dropped out of college when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and joined the U.S. Army Air Forces. I flew more than 50 missions in a B-17 bomber to defeat Fascism consuming Europe. I am a flag-waving believer in truth, justice and the American way, and I don’t understand how so many people who call themselves patriots can support efforts to undermine our democracy and our Constitution. It is alarming. <br /> At the same time, I have been moved by the courage of the handful of conservative Republican lawmakers, lawyers and former White House staffers who resisted Mr. Trump’s bullying. They give me hope that Americans can find unexpected common ground with friends and family whose politics differ but who are not willing to sacrifice core democratic principles.

  Norman Lear, CC BY-SA 4.0

• For all his faults, Archie loved his country and he loved his family, even when they called him out on his ignorance and bigotries. If Archie had been around 50 years later, he probably would have watched Fox News. He probably would have been a Trump voter. But I think that the sight of the American flag being used to attack Capitol Police would have sickened him. I hope that the resolve shown by Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, and their commitment to exposing the truth, would have won his respect.

  Norman Lear, CC BY-SA 4.0

• It is remarkable to consider that television — the medium for which I am most well-known — did not even exist when I was born, in 1922. The internet came along decades later, and then social media. We have seen that each of these technologies can be put to destructive use — spreading lies, sowing hatred and creating the conditions for authoritarianism to take root. But that is not the whole story. Innovative technologies create new ways for us to express ourselves, and, I hope, will allow humanity to learn more about itself and better understand one another’s ideas, failures and achievements.

  Norman Lear, CC BY-SA 4.0