Norman Lear: His Life and Times

An in-depth telling of the Norman Lear's seven-decade career that Publishers Weekly calls a "lovingly detailed portrait" and "a fitting tribute to a consequential figure in television history” and Booklist praises as an "extensive and comprehensive look at a comedic legend." Beginning in the 1970s, writer and producer Norman Lear forever altered the television landscape with such groundbreaking situation comedies as All in the Family, Maude, Good Times, Sanford and Son, The Jeffersons, and One Day at a Time. For over half a century his body of work boldly tackled race, class, sexuality, politics, and religion—topics previously considered too taboo to be the subject of comedy on the small screen. Norman Lear: His Life and Times is the unforgettable story of an extraordinary seven-decade career. Veteran author and entertainment journalist Tripp Whetsell offers an intimate portrait of Lear that is the product of years of research and numerous interviews. Whetsell shows how Lear created the gold standard for television comedies, producing shows that were the first to give underrepresented members of society an authentic prime-time voice, while encouraging audiences to confront their own humanity and shortcomings. In the process, he explores one of television’s most transformative periods, detailing Lear’s legacy as one of its chief architects and catalysts. This affectionate and candid tribute combines show-business history with an illuminating consideration of the inner workings of “the man in the white hat”—a figure who singlehandedly redefined an entire medium by reflecting the world around him.

About the Author :
Tripp Whetsell is a bestselling author, entertainment journalist, show-business historian, and adjunct media studies professor at Emerson College in Boston. His previous books include The Improv: An Oral History of the Comedy Club that Revolutionized Stand-Up. As a journalist, he has covered TV, film, comedy, music, theater, and other aspects of popular culture for more than two decades. His articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Vulture, and Variety, Vanity Fair,The Los Angeles Times, The Hollywood Reporter and TV Guide, among others. He lives in Manhattan.

Review :
Journalist Whetsell paints a lovingly detailed portrait of the late producer of such seminal sitcoms as All in the Family.... Whetsell scrupulously catalogues the intimate details of Lear’s personal and professional life, including his many ‘creative battles’ with actor Carroll O’Connor, who played Archie Bunker, and multiple marriages. Throughout, Whetsell persuasively argues that Lear helped shift a sitcom landscape full of ‘white picket fences, cardigan-sweater- and pearl-necklace-wearing parents... and virtually nonexistent problems’ into something more reflective of American culture. It’s a fitting tribute to a consequential figure in television history. There are different schools of thought on biographies, with some writers trying for a grand narrative interpretation of the life of an important figure, while others work from a steady accumulation of details meant to bring the subject into focus. Norman Lear: His Life and Times takes the latter route through a meticulous accounting of Lear's life, including details like the street Lear's family lived on, and the names of his high school friends, as well as specific conversations between Lear and network executives about his various shows. Tripp Whetsell’s soup-to-nuts biography of TV legend Norman Lear hits all the right notes in presenting this most remarkable, rags-to-riches life. Well researched and extremely readable, it will appeal to fans of Mr. Lear, lovers of TV sitcoms and comedy of all types. I highly recommend it. In spotlighting a litany of social issues seldom discussed in nighttime television entertainment—bigotry, racism, homophobia, sexism (and the toilet flush heard ‘round the world)—Lear turned the mirror on the American public and shockingly showed them the full ugliness of their reflection. Tripp Whetsell’s painstaking biography of the man behind it all—including such revolutionary sitcoms as Maude, The Jeffersons and Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman—explains what shaped Lear’s lifelong advocacy and determination, and the sheer miracle of his television reign. Tripp Whetsell knows where the funny bones are buried. Through the lens of Norman Lear’s life, Tripp gives us the very history of television comedy. A monumental work, Lear is essential reading for sitcom aficionados and casual fans alike. A remarkably dense biography that does justice to one of television’s most remarkable figures, Norman Lear: His Life and Times is a must.