Television pioneer Norman Lear remembered in tribute featuring Oprah Winfrey, Mackenzie Phillips and Jimmie Walker
Hollywood legend Norman Lear, who died Tuesday at the age of 101, was remembered in a special tribute featuring the colleagues, friends and family members who knew him best. Hosted by Nischelle Turner, Norman Lear: A Life on Television aired on CBS on Friday evening, and reflected on the life and work of the TV pioneer. Lear developed over 100 projects in his lifetime, including beloved shows like Good Times, All in the Family, Maude and One Day at a Time.
The stars of his show reflect on his legacy
As the creator of some of TV's most influential sitcoms, Lear developed a familial relationship with his stars. Mackenzie Phillips, who rose to stardom as sassy teenager Julie Cooper on One Day at a Time, had nothing but love for her time working with Lear.
"Norman Lear was a social justice warrior long before that phrase ever existed," reflected Phillips, 64, who starred alongside Valerie Bertinelli and Bonnie Franklin in the hit '70s series, which followed a single mom and her two daughters. "We were dealing with losing your virginity, birth control, Julie became a religious convert, we dealt with things nobody was talking about. 'If you just don't look it's not happening.' And Norman made us look."
Phillips also reflected on Lear's championship of women's rights and racial equality. "His ultimate goal through his work was to change the world. Maybe one day at a time," she concluded, referring to the name of her series.
Also featured in the program was Jimmie Walker, known as J.J. Evans on Lear's sitcom Good Times, which centered on a tight-knit Black family living in a Chicago housing project. Walker recalled Lear's dedication to hiring Black writers for the series.
"In those days we had no Black writers, but Norman searched high and low for these people," Walker noted, adding that Lear reached out to HBCUs, or historically black colleges and universities, to recruit fresh writing staff. "The HBCUs sent out a thing, and he said 'If you think you and write on any of my shows, send in a script and we’ll look at it."
Hollywood friends speak out
It wasn't just the stars of Lear's beloved programs that praised Lear during the tribute. Oprah Winfrey, speaking at the world premiere of her film The Color Purple, had a powerful message of gratitude for Lear.
"His impact and legacy will be felt for generations to come. Even people who were not familiar with those shows are experiencing the benefit of what those shows did for our society, our culture, our America," Winfrey shared.
Kelly Rizzo, wife of the late Bob Saget, reflected on how Saget loved attending Lear's cigar nights. When Saget died in 2022, Rizzo said she received lengthy, supportive voicemails from Lear.
"I was just listening to all these voicemails he left me over the last couple of years and I remember at the time being so mad at myself for missing some phone calls from him," Rizzo shared. "Because how do you miss a phone call from Norman Lear? But had I answered, I now wouldn’t have these beautiful, thoughtful voicemails full of wisdom and heart that he let me that I now get to cherish forever."
Additional voices who shared special memories of Lear included Lenny Kravitz, whose mother Roxie Roker had a pivotal role in Lear's sitcom The Jeffersons, in which she portrayed one-half of the first interracial couple on primetime TV. Roker was also married to a white man in real life, and Kravitz explained how special it was to have his mother's role on screen reflect his own upbringing.
"It’s a strange twist of fate that you are representing the same thing in your personal life and in your professional life," Kravitz noted.
In addition to the stars who contributed specifically to the tribute, the show featured several clips of Hollywood heavyweights who noted the impact of Lear on American society. A clip of Jerry O'Connell from a recent episode of The Talk showed the actor discussing how his career was shaped by Lear's generosity. Noting that he "wouldn't be sitting here without Norman Lear," O'Connell recalled that Lear put up the necessary money to produce the 1986 coming-of-age film Stand By Me, which was directed by All in the Family star Rob Reiner. O'Connell played the young Vern in the film.
"It didn’t have the funding, and Rob Reiner went to Norman, who put $8 million into the movie," recalled O'Connell. The film went on to be a runaway hit.
Another clip featured George Clooney discussing how Lear purchased a piece of the Declaration of Independence in 2000. Lear sent the piece of history out on tour in 100 cities to inspire young people to vote. The move was a success: Lear got 4 million young people to register.
"He felt he had such a responsibility to make sure that kids saw it and understood from where they came and what this meant and what these people were fighting for," Clooney said.
Lear's family shares memories from his last days
While Lear was known for bringing diverse families into the homes of television viewers, he also had a supportive family of his own. Married to his wife Lynn, Lear was the father of six children and a grandfather to four. Lear's son-in-law, Jon Lapook, recalled in the tribute that the family spent Lear's final days singing in unison.
"We were singing songs from Les Mis, and some of the songs from his TV shows," Lapook shared, adding that one of the tunes the family sang together was "the theme song from All in the Family."
One of Lear's final requests before he passed was that fans and followers contribute to People for the American Way, a progressive advocacy organization, which he started in 1981.
