73-559: Village Roadshow Pictures is an American film company founded in 1989 that co-finances and co-produces major Hollywood motion pictures. It's a division of Village Roadshow Entertainment Group ( VREG ), which in turn is majority-owned by Vine Alternative Investments and Falcon Investment Advisors, with the Australian media company Village Roadshow currently holding a 20% minority stake. The company has produced films, including as co-productions with Warner Bros. , The Matrix series,
146-497: A South Park writers' retreat, with some of his ideas making it onto South Park , and was the officiant at co-creator Trey Parker 's wedding. South Park served as a bond between Lear and his son Benjamin, who was not familiar with his more known work from the 1970s. In 2014, Lear published Even This I Get to Experience , a memoir. Lear is spotlighted in the 2016 documentary Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You . In 2017, he served as executive producer for One Day at
219-542: A $ 15 million dividend to the existing VRP shareholders and management. In 2008, Concord Music Group merged into Village Roadshow Pictures to form Village Roadshow Entertainment Group (VREG). Investors in VREG included the shareholders of Crescent, as shown above, as well as Australia's Village Roadshow Limited and Tailwind Capital. In 2012, Warner Bros. Pictures and Village Roadshow Pictures extended their co-financing first look deal through 2017. In May 2014, VRPG established
292-566: A 2014 interview with The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles journalist Rob Eshman, Lear described himself as a "total Jew" but said he was never a practicing one. In 1989, Lear founded the Business Enterprise Trust, an educational program that used annual awards, business school case studies, and videos to spotlight exemplary social innovations in American business until it ended in 1998. He announced in 1992 that he
365-534: A Girl Who Decided to Go for It . In 2020, it was announced that Lear and Act III Productions would executive produce a revival of Who's the Boss? At the time of his death in 2023, he was overseeing multiple shows in development, including a planned reboot of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman . Lear has been honored for his influence on American television and culture. Before All in the Family , television sitcoms in
438-550: A Jewish household in Connecticut and had a bar mitzvah ceremony. Both parents were of Russian-Jewish descent. When Lear was nine years old and living with his family in Chelsea, Massachusetts , his father went to prison for selling fake bonds. Lear thought of his father as a "rascal" and said that the character of Archie Bunker (whom Lear depicted as white Protestant on the show) was in part inspired by his father, and
511-430: A Time , and Good Times (which is a spinoff of Maude ). Most of these Lear sitcoms share three features: they were shot on videotape in place of film , used a live studio audience, and dealt with current social and political issues. Maude is generally considered to be based on Lear's wife Frances, which she confirmed, with Charlie Hauck serving as main producer and writer. Lear's longtime producing partner
584-494: A Time , the reboot of his 1975–1984 show of the same name that premiered on Netflix starring Justina Machado and Rita Moreno as a Cuban-American family. He hosted a podcast, All of the Above with Norman Lear , since May 1, 2017. On July 29, 2019, it was announced that Lear had teamed with Lin-Manuel Miranda and Steven Kunes to make an American Masters documentary about Moreno's life, tentatively titled Rita Moreno: Just
657-451: A change of name: Village Roadshow Limited. This allowed the company to raise more capital to fund further expansion. In the 1990s, the company diversified into complementary media and entertainment businesses. This included the purchase and development of theme parks, the purchase and integration of the Triple M and Today radio networks to create Austereo , the creation of Roadshow Music,
730-479: A company called The Gans Brothers and later sold family photos door-to-door. Throughout the 1950s, Lear and Simmons turned out comedy sketches for television appearances of Martin and Lewis , Rowan and Martin , and others. They frequently wrote for Martin and Lewis when they appeared on the Colgate Comedy Hour , and a 1953 article from Billboard magazine stated that Lear and Simmons were guaranteed
803-533: A concept for a sitcom about a blue-collar American family to ABC . They rejected the show after two pilots were taped: "Justice for All" in 1968 and "Those Were the Days" in 1969. After a third pilot was taped, CBS picked up the show, known as All in the Family . It premiered on January 12, 1971, to disappointing ratings, but it took home several Emmy Awards that year, including Outstanding Comedy Series. The show did very well in summer reruns, and it flourished in
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#1732801050299876-594: A first look deal with Village Roadshow Pictures. On September 27, 2021, Bruce Berman announced that he would step down as CEO of the company. On December 14, 2021, the company had signed a pact with Fox Entertainment to distribute pictures for Tubi and partnered with Kevin Garrett to launch Black Noir Cinema. Village Roadshow Village Roadshow Pty Limited is an Australian company which operates cinemas and theme parks, and produces and distributes films. Before being acquired by private equity company BGH Capital ,
949-540: A group led by Act III Communications , Norman Lear and his partner Hal Gaba purchased 50% of Village Roadshow Pictures (VRP). Their entity, Crescent Film Group, included long-time colleague Michael Lambert through Lambert Media Group and Clarity Partners as investors. Crescent invested $ 115 million for its interest in VRP. Village Roadshow Pictures used the $ 115 million invested by Crescent to repay an inter-company loan of $ 100 million owed to its parent company, as well as pay
1022-423: A joint venture, Australian Theatres , with Amalgamated Holdings Limited , owners of Greater Union and several other cinema brands. The original founding business, Village Cinemas , is part of the joint venture. In 2008, Village Roadshow and Concord Music Group, co-owned by television producer Norman Lear , said they had completed a merger, forming a new company to exploit their film and music assets. Investors in
1095-503: A less stereotypical role, a high school teacher, but also invoke serious contemporary issues, with the Television Academy Foundation stating that "A season and a half before Norman Lear made "relevant" programming a dominant genre with the introduction of programs like All in the Family and Maude, Room 222 was using the form of the half-hour comedy to discuss serious contemporary issues. During its five seasons on
1168-510: A press agent. That's the only role model I had. So all I wanted was to grow up to be a guy who could flip a quarter to a nephew." Lear decided to move to California to restart his career in publicity, driving with his toddler daughter across the country. His first night in Los Angeles, Lear stumbled upon a production of George Bernard Shaw 's Major Barbara at the 90-seat theater-in-the-round Circle Theater off Sunset Boulevard. One of
1241-614: A press release and on the Today show that his intent was to tour the document around the United States so that the country could experience its "birth certificate" firsthand. Through the end of 2004, the document traveled throughout the United States on the Declaration of Independence Road Trip, which Lear organized, visiting several presidential libraries, dozens of museums, as well as the 2002 Olympics , Super Bowl XXXVI , and
1314-588: A record-breaking $ 52,000 (equivalent to $ 590,000 in 2023) each to write for five additional Martin and Lewis appearances on the Colgate Comedy Hour that year. In a 2015 interview with Variety , Lear said that Jerry Lewis had hired him and Simmons as writers for Martin and Lewis three weeks before the comedy duo made their first appearance on the Colgate Comedy Hour in 1950. Lear also acknowledged in 1986 that he and Simmons were
1387-444: A supplementary co-financing production deal with Sony Pictures Entertainment which commenced with the release of The Equalizer and Annie . A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available capital. In 2013, Concord Music Group was sold to Wood Creek Capital, an affiliate of MassMutual , for approximately $ 120 million. In 2015, VREG, the holding company of Village Roadshow Pictures and Village Roadshow Television,
1460-657: The Sherlock Holmes series, the Happy Feet series, the Ocean's series, The Lego Movie , and Joker . The films in the Village Roadshow library have achieved 34 number-one U.S. box office openings and received 50 Academy Award nominations, 19 Oscars , and six Golden Globe Awards . Village Roadshow Pictures self-distributes its filmed entertainment through affiliates in several territories around
1533-566: The ASX . Norman Lear Norman Milton Lear (July 27, 1922 – December 5, 2023) was an American screenwriter and producer who produced, wrote, created, or developed over 100 shows. Lear created and produced numerous popular 1970s sitcoms , including All in the Family (1971–1979), Maude (1972–1978), Sanford and Son (1972–1977), One Day at a Time (1975–1984), The Jeffersons (1975–1985), and Good Times (1974–1979). His shows introduced political and social themes to
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#17328010502991606-545: The Air Medal with four oak leaf clusters. Lear was discharged from the Army Air Forces in 1945. His World War II crew members are featured in the book Crew Umbriago by Daniel P. Carroll. After World War II Lear had a career in public relations . The career choice was inspired by his Uncle Jack: "My dad had a brother, Jack, who flipped me a quarter every time he saw me. He was a press agent so I wanted to be
1679-716: The Christian right . PFAW ran several advertising campaigns opposing the interjection of religion in politics. PFAW and other like-minded groups succeeded in their efforts to block Reagan's 1987 nomination of Robert Bork to the Supreme Court . Lear, a longtime critic of the Religious Right, was an advocate for the advancement of secularism . Prominent right-wing Christians including Pat Robertson , Jerry Falwell , and Jimmy Swaggart have accused Lear of being an atheist and holding an anti-Christian bias. In
1752-636: The Kids' WB series Channel Umptee-3 . The cartoon was notable for being the first television show to meet the Federal Communications Commission 's then-new educational programming requirements. In 2003, Lear appeared on South Park during the " I'm a Little Bit Country " episode, providing the voice of Benjamin Franklin . He also served as a consultant on the episodes "I'm a Little Bit Country" and " Cancelled ". He attended
1825-798: The Live 8 concert in Philadelphia. Lear and Rob Reiner produced a filmed, dramatic reading of the Declaration of Independence—the last project filmed by famed cinematographer Conrad Hall —on July 4, 2001, at Independence Hall in Philadelphia . The film is introduced by Morgan Freeman and Kathy Bates , Benicio del Toro , Michael Douglas , Mel Gibson , Whoopi Goldberg , Graham Greene , Ming-Na Wen , Edward Norton , Winona Ryder , Kevin Spacey , and Renée Zellweger appear as readers. It
1898-645: The Melbourne suburb of Croydon . The drive-in was adjacent to a shopping strip called "Croydon Village"; hence the company adopted the "Village" name. The company later expanded into traditional cinemas in major areas, though it still operates the Coburg Drive-In in Coburg , Melbourne. In 1968, the company expanded to start its film distribution business with Roadshow (once a 50-50 joint venture with Greater Union ) and moved into film production in 1971 with
1971-675: The United States Army Air Forces . Lear enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces in September 1942. He served in the Mediterranean theater as a radio operator and gunner on Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers with the 772nd Bomb Squadron , 463rd Bomb Group of the Fifteenth Air Force ; in a 2014 interview, he talked about bombing Germany. He flew 52 combat missions and received
2044-635: The proposed nuclear agreement between Iran and six world powers led by the United States. The letter called for the passage of the bill and warned that the ending of the agreement by Congress would be a "tragic mistake". Lear was married three times. His first marriage was to Charlotte Rosen in 1943. They divorced in 1956. He was married to Frances Loeb , from 1956 to 1985. They separated in 1983, with Loeb eventually receiving $ 112 million from Lear in their divorce settlement, part of which she used to found Lear's magazine. In 1987, he married Lyn Davis, who survived him. When she met Lear in 1984, Lyn
2117-432: The 1950s and 1960s generally portrayed white American family life as comfortable and avoided raising issues such as racial discrimination and patriarchy. Beginning in 1971, All in the Family openly discussed current social and political topics and became the country's most popular show for five straight years. Lear's subsequent shows widened television's representation of racial and gender diversity, such as Good Times ,
2190-600: The 1971–72 season, becoming the top-rated show on TV for the next five years. After falling from the No. 1 spot, All in the Family still remained in the top ten, with the exception of the 1976-1977 television season where it ranked No. 12, and eventually became Archie Bunker's Place . The show was based loosely on the British sitcom Till Death Us Do Part , about an irascible working-class Tory and his socialist son-in-law. Lear's second big TV sitcom, Sanford and Son ,
2263-574: The Avco was dropped, and the combined entity was renamed as Embassy Communications, Inc. Embassy Pictures was led by Alan Horn and Martin Schaeffer, later co-founders of Castle Rock Entertainment with Rob Reiner . In March 1982, Lear produced an ABC television special titled I Love Liberty , as a counterbalance to groups like the Moral Majority . Among the many guests who appeared on
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2336-546: The January 21, 1987, issue of The Christian Century , Lear associate Martin E. Marty (a Lutheran professor of church history at the University of Chicago Divinity School between 1963 and 1998) rejected those allegations, stating the television producer honored religious moral values and complimenting Lear's understanding of Christianity. Marty noted that while Lear and his family had never practiced Orthodox Judaism ,
2409-419: The actors in the play was Sydney Chaplin , the son of actors Charlie Chaplin and Lita Grey . Charlie Chaplin, Alan Mowbray , and Dame Gladys Cooper sat in front of Lear, and after the show was over, Charlie Chaplin performed. Lear had a first cousin in Los Angeles, Elaine, who was married to an aspiring comedy writer named Ed Simmons . Simmons and Lear teamed up to sell home furnishings door-to-door for
2482-554: The advocacy organization People for the American Way to counter the influence of the Christian right in politics, and in the early 2000s, he mounted a tour with a copy of the Declaration of Independence . Norman Milton Lear was born on July 27, 1922, in New Haven, Connecticut , to Jeanette ( née Seicol) and Hyman "Herman" Lear, a traveling salesman. He had a younger sister, Claire Lear Brown (1925–2015). Lear grew up in
2555-499: The air, the show included episodes that dealt with such topics as racism, sexism, homophobia, dropping out of school, shoplifting, drug use among both teachers and students, illiteracy, cops in school, guns in school, Vietnam war veterans, venereal disease, and teenage pregnancy". In 1999, President Bill Clinton awarded Lear the National Medal of Arts , noting: "Norman Lear has held up a mirror to American society and changed
2628-972: The character of Edith Bunker was in part inspired by his mother. However, Lear has said the moment which inspired his lifetime of advocacy was another event which he experienced at the age of nine, when he first heard antisemitic Catholic radio priest Father Charles Coughlin while tinkering with his crystal radio set. After hearing more of Coughlin's radio sermons, Lear said he found Coughlin would promote antisemitism by targeting people whom Jews considered to be "great heroes", such as US President Franklin Roosevelt. Lear attended Samuel J. Tilden High School in Brooklyn , New York, graduated from Weaver High School in Hartford, Connecticut , in 1940 and attended Emerson College in Boston , but dropped out in 1942 to join
2701-458: The company underwent restructuring with Michael Lake joined the company as managing director. In October 1997, Yoram Gross-Village Roadshow signed a co-production alliance with EM.TV & Merchandising a Munich-based distribution and merchandising company to partner on 10 animated series over the next five years. In December 1997, Village Roadshow Pictures and Warner Bros. signed an agreement to co-finance and distribute at least 20 movies over
2774-527: The company was listed on the Australian Securities Exchange and majority owned by Village Roadshow Corporation, with members of founder Roc Kirby 's family in the top roles. Village Roadshow originally started operations as Village Drive-Ins (later known as "Village Drive-ins and Cinemas" before becoming today's "Village Cinemas" brand), in 1954, when founder Roc Kirby began running one of Australia's first drive-in cinemas in
2847-415: The creation of Village Roadshow Pictures , and the commencement of a co-production deal with Warner Bros. Village Roadshow has scaled back its international cinema markets to Australia and Singapore. The company merged its Village Roadshow Pictures arm with Concord Music Group to form a Los Angeles-based diversified entertainment division, Village Roadshow Entertainment Group. In 2003, the company formed
2920-498: The establishment of Hexagon Productions , and the company expanding into a longstanding relationship with Warner Bros. to distribute films in the Australian market. The original cinema chain now became one of several businesses the company was involved in. In the 1980s, Village Roadshow was one of the leading forces in creating state of the art multiplex cinema complexes. Innovations brought in during this period included using stadium-style seating, sophisticated sound systems and
2993-455: The existing Roadshow Distributors theatrical branch with Greater Union's own theatrical branch, Greater Union Film Distributors to set up new separate-branding labels, Roadshow Greater Union Distributors and Greater Union Distributors, and RGUD continue to handle the existing suppliers, which included Warner Bros , Orion Pictures and New World Pictures . In 1988, Village Roadshow took over De Laurentiis Entertainment Group , which brought on
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3066-466: The first television show centered on an African-American nuclear family; Television screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky said that Lear "put the American people [on screen] ... he took the audience and put them on the set". However, it has been acknowledged that James L. Brooks TV series Room 222 , which was not made by Lear and which debuted before Lear's shows debuted, was also among the first shows to not only feature an African American lead character in
3139-564: The influential and award-winning 1981 film The Wave about Ron Jones ' social experiment. Lear also developed the cult favorite TV series Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman ( MH MH ) which was turned down by the networks as "too controversial" and placed it into first run syndication with 128 stations in January 1976. A year later, he added another program into first-run syndication along with MH MH , All That Glitters . He planned in 1977 to offer three hours of prime-time Saturday programming directly having stations place his production company in
3212-487: The latest in projection technologies. The cinemas of that era were the forerunners to the multiplexes of today. It was expanded in 1987 when it signed a partnership with rival cinema chain Greater Union to see 200 screens expanded to their circuits by 1990 and having both companies to develop $ 100 million in their equipment. The venture was expanded in September 1987 when Roadshow and Greater Union agreed to combine
3285-643: The lawsuit, blacklisted Monte and labeled him too difficult to work with. In 1980, Lear founded the organization People for the American Way for the purpose of counteracting the Christian right group Moral Majority which had been founded in 1979. In the fall of 1981, Lear began a 14-month run as the host of a revival of the classic game show Quiz Kids for the CBS Cable Network. In January 1982, Lear and Jerry Perenchio bought Avco Embassy Pictures from Avco Financial Corporation. In January 1982, after merging with company with T.A.T. Communications,
3358-604: The legal defense of Daniel Ellsberg who had released the Pentagon Papers , and they backed the struggling progressive magazine The Nation to keep it afloat. In 1975, they formed the Energy Action Committee to oppose Big Oil 's powerful lobby in Washington. In 1981, Lear founded People for the American Way (PFAW), a progressive advocacy organization formed in reaction to the politics of
3431-430: The main writers for The Martin and Lewis Show for three years. In 1954, Lear was enlisted as a writer and asked to salvage the new CBS sitcom starring Celeste Holm , Honestly, Celeste! , but the program was canceled after eight episodes. During this time he became the producer of NBC 's short-lived (26 episodes) sitcom The Martha Raye Show , after Nat Hiken left as the series director. Lear also wrote some of
3504-428: The new company included Michael Lambert and private equity firms Tailwind Capital Partners and Clarity Partners . Then, on March 25, 2013, a Wood Creek Capital led investor group purchased Concord Music Group from Village Roadshow Entertainment Group . In late 2019, company veteran Graham Burke stepped down as CEO and became a non-executive director, with Clark Kirby his successor as CEO. In 2020, Village Roadshow
3577-574: The next five years. Under the deal, Village Roadshow would produce the films and Warner Bros. would market and release them worldwide, except in Australia and New Zealand. Bruce Berman , the former Warners’ theatrical production president, signed on as chairman and CEO of the company. In 1998, Village Roadshow Pictures announced that it would sell its television division in a management buyout to Greg Coote and Jeffrey Hayes, who renamed Village Roadshow Pictures Television to Coote/Hayes Productions. Around
3650-445: The opening monologs for The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show which aired from 1956 to 1961. In 1959, Lear created his first television series, a half-hour western for Revue Studios called The Deputy , starring Henry Fonda . Starting out as a comedy writer, then a film director (he wrote and produced the 1967 film Divorce American Style and directed the 1971 film Cold Turkey , both starring Dick Van Dyke ), Lear tried to sell
3723-619: The position of an occasional network . In 1977, African-American screenwriter Eric Monte filed a lawsuit accusing ABC and CBS producers Norman Lear, Bud Yorkin , and others of stealing his ideas for Good Times , The Jeffersons , and What's Happening!! Monte received a $ 1-million settlement and a small percentage of the residuals from Good Times and one percent ownership of the show. Monte, due to his lack of business knowledge and experience as well as legal representation, would not receive royalties for other shows that he created. However, Lear and other Hollywood producers, outraged over
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#17328010502993796-544: The same time, the company announced it was shutting down the international sales unit. As part of its exit plan from the sales business, Roadshow sold international rights to its Western productions to Icon Entertainment International and the Australian films to Beyond Films Limited . Also that year, Village Roadshow Pictures sold off its 50% stake in the Yoram Gross animated studio venture to EM.TV & Merchandising, which would become Yoram Gross-EM.TV. In 2006, through
3869-659: The sitcom format. Lear received many awards, including six Primetime Emmy Awards , two Peabody Awards , the National Medal of Arts in 1999, the Kennedy Center Honors in 2017, and the Golden Globe Carol Burnett Award in 2021. He was a member of the Television Academy Hall of Fame . Lear was known for his political activism and funding of liberal and progressive causes and politicians. In 1980, he founded
3942-558: The special was conservative icon and the 1964 U.S. presidential election's Republican nominee Barry Goldwater . On June 18, 1985, Lear and Perenchio sold Embassy Communications to Columbia Pictures (then owned by The Coca-Cola Company ), which acquired Embassy's film and television division (including Embassy's in-house television productions and the television rights to the Embassy theatrical library) for $ 485 million of shares of The Coca-Cola Company. The brand Tandem Productions
4015-436: The television producer was a follower of Judaism. In a 2009 interview with US News journalist Dan Gilgoff, Lear rejected claims by right-wing Christian nationalists that he was an atheist and prejudiced against Christianity. Lear held religious beliefs and integrated some evangelical Christian language into his Born Again American campaign. He believed that religion should be kept separate from politics and policymaking. In
4088-690: The way we look at it." That year, he and Bud Yorkin received the Women in Film Lucy Award in recognition of excellence and innovation in creative works that have enhanced the perception of women through the medium of television. The Producers Guild of America awarded Lear its Achievement Award in Television in 2006; by the next year, the honor was named the Norman Lear Achievement Award in Television . In 2017, he
4161-505: The world, including Australia , New Zealand , and Singapore (the latter through Golden Village ). JPMorgan Chase and Rabobank also provide funding for the company’s film slate with Warner Bros. Village Roadshow Pictures had a second slate co-financing with agreement with Sony Pictures , which ended in 2016. Village Roadshow Pictures was founded in 1989 by Greg Coote, who served as president, when it purchased certain assets of De Laurentiis Entertainment Group . The company’s first film
4234-420: Was The Delinquents and its first hit was Fortress in 1992. In 1993, Village Roadshow Pictures expanded into television production with the launch of its first television series Paradise Beach . In 1995, Village Roadshow Pictures launched a television division headed by Jeffrey Hayes. Also that year, the company started an international sales division called Village Roadshow Pictures International, which
4307-433: Was Bud Yorkin , who also produced All in the Family , Sanford and Son , What's Happening!! , Maude , and The Jeffersons . Yorkin split with Lear in 1975. He started a production company with writers and producers Saul Turteltaub and Bernie Orenstein ; however, only two of their shows lasted longer than a year: What's Happening!! and Carter Country . The Lear/Yorkin company was known as Tandem Productions and
4380-484: Was a trustee of The Paley Center for Media . In 2001, Lear and his wife, Lyn, purchased a Dunlap broadside —one of the first published copies of the United States Declaration of Independence —for $ 8.1 million. John Dunlap printed about 200 copies of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. Twenty-five copies survive today and only four of those are in private hands. Lear said in
4453-521: Was abandoned in 1986 with the cancellation of Diff'rent Strokes , and Embassy ceased to exist as a single entity in late 1986, having been split into different components owned by different entities. Coca-Cola sold the film division to Dino De Laurentiis and the home video arm to Nelson Holdings (led by Barry Spikings). The TV properties continued under the Columbia Pictures Television banner. Lear's Act III Communications
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#17328010502994526-499: Was also based on a British sitcom, Steptoe and Son , about a west London junk dealer and his son. Lear changed the setting to the Watts section of Los Angeles and the characters to African Americans, and the NBC show Sanford and Son was an instant hit. Numerous hit shows followed thereafter, including Maude , The Jeffersons (both spin-offs of All in the Family ), One Day at
4599-681: Was an outspoken supporter of First Amendment and liberal causes. The only time that he did not support the Democratic candidate for president was in 1980 when he supported John Anderson over Jimmy Carter because he considered the Carter administration to be "a complete disaster". Lear was one of the wealthy Jewish Angelenos known as the Malibu Mafia . In the 1970s and 1980s, the group discussed progressive and liberal political issues, and worked together to fund them. They helped to fund
4672-591: Was awarded the fourth annual Woody Guthrie Prize presented by the Woody Guthrie Center , recognizing an artist whose work represents the spirit of Woody Guthrie "as a positive force for social change". He became the oldest recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors later that year at the age of 95. Lear's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is located at 6615 Hollywood Boulevard . He received other numerous honorary accolades, including: Lear
4745-433: Was cremated. Numerous celebrities paid tribute to Lear, including Jimmy Kimmel , Bill Clinton , Tyler Perry , George Clooney , John Leguizamo , Jon Stewart , Valerie Bertinelli , Bob Iger , Rob Reiner , John Amos , Billy Crystal , Quinta Brunson , Rita Moreno , Mark Hamill , Ben Stiller , Albert Brooks and more. The Simpsons' episode 9 from the 35th season ends with the words "In memory of Norman Lear" and
4818-524: Was directed by Arvin Brown and scored by John Williams . In 2004, Lear established Declare Yourself which is a national nonpartisan, nonprofit campaign created to empower and encourage eligible 18- to 29-year-olds in America to register and vote. It has registered almost 4 million young people. Lear was one of 98 "prominent members of Los Angeles' Jewish community" who signed an open letter supporting
4891-457: Was founded in 1958. Lear and talent agent Jerry Perenchio founded T.A.T. Communications ("T.A.T." stood for the Yiddish phrase tuchus affen tisch , "putting one's ass on the line". ) in 1974, which co-existed with Tandem Productions and was often referred to in periodicals as Tandem/T.A.T. The Lear organization was one of the most successful independent TV producers of the 1970s. TAT produced
4964-766: Was founded in 1986 and in the following year, Thomas B. McGrath was named president and chief operating officer of ACT III Communications Inc after previously serving as senior vice president. On February 2, 1989, Norman Lear's Act III Communications formed a joint venture with Columbia Pictures Television called Act III Television to produce television series instead of managing. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Act III Communications purchased several business journals, including Channels magazine that had been founded by Les Brown , former New York Times TV correspondent. Channels closed in 1990, by which time Act III and Brown published and edited Television Business International ( TBI ). In 1997, Lear and Jim George produced
5037-538: Was in talks with private equity firm BGH Capital about a takeover offer. The offer was lowered after the COVID-19 pandemic closed theme parks and cinemas. In 2022, Antenna Group announced that it was to acquire the Greek cinema chains from Village Roadshow Operations. In 2023, Village Roadshow renamed their company from Village Roadshow Limited to Village Roadshow Pty Limited, due to them no longer being listed on
5110-404: Was in the process of earning a doctorate in clinical psychology . She later became a documentary filmmaker through her production company Lyn Lear Productions. From his three marriages, he had six children. He was a godparent to actress and singer Katey Sagal . Lear died at his Los Angeles home on December 5, 2023, from cardiac arrest, as a complication of heart failure. He was 101. His body
5183-404: Was led by Bobby Myers. In 1996, Village Roadshow Pictures Television and Yoram Gross formed a joint venture focused on animation. In April 1997, Village Roadshow Pictures and Intermedia formed a joint venture called Village Intermedia Pictures. The deal ended several months later when Village Roadshow Pictures and Intermedia decided to cut ties and became independent again. In September 1997,
5256-508: Was recapitalized with a $ 480 million investment that included funds from Falcon Investment Advisors and Vine Alternative Investments. Vine Alternative Investments and Falcon Investment Advisors added additional capital in April 2017 to take a controlling stake in the company. This was to fund a new strategic plan for an expanded film slate and add production of television programs and other content offerings. More recently, Phantom Four Films signed
5329-724: Was reducing his political activism. In 2000, he provided an endowment for a multidisciplinary research and public policy center, the Norman Lear Center , that explored the convergence of entertainment, commerce, and society at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism . Lear served on the National Advisory Board of the Young Storytellers Foundation . He wrote articles for The Huffington Post . He
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