STORY: Legendary television writer and producer Norman Lear, whose groundbreaking hit comedies including "All in the Family" and "The Jeffersons" introduced political and social commentary to the American sitcom, died on Tuesday, at the age of 101.
His family said in a Facebook post on Wednesday that Lear died at his Los Angeles home of natural causes, adding that he was "surrounded by his family as we told stories and sang songs until the very end."
In interviews with Reuters over the last decade, Lear often stressed the importance of living for the moment.
"If you look at these people and their long careers, you'd watch them having fun being alive always. If there's a secret and people always ask, 'What's your secret?,' If there's a secret then it is living in the moment and enjoying it."
One of the most influential people in television, Lear won six Emmy Awards for his work, which he continued well into his 90s.
Lear dominated the country's TV screens in the 1970s and '80s with his sitcoms, which also included "Sanford and Son" and "Maude," shows that addressed race, abortion and other social issues that had been rarely seen on American television at the time.
At one point in the 1970s, Lear had eight shows on the air with an estimated 120 million viewers, according to Time magazine.
In the '80s, Lear shifted focus to establish the liberal activist group People for the American Way to boost voting rights and fight against right-wing extremism.
"There's no place on Earth I'd rather be than here, this moment. [FLASH] And I have a telephone call (laughs)."
His online obituary said Lear, who was convinced laughter had lengthened his own life, used humor to enrich the lives of others.
