Find Out Norman Lear's Net Worth at the Time of His Death

Patti Greco

Norman Lear

Norman Lear's net worth at the time of his death was proof that his work as a producer, screenwriter and revolutionary TV creator paid off. (Also proof? The countless laughs he got over the course of his decades-long career.)

Lear, who died at 101, changed the trajectory of television. He created and produced All in the Family, considered to be one of the best TV sitcoms of all time, as well as a string of comedies including Sanford and Son, The Jeffersons and One Day at a Time.

Read on to learn more about how Norman Lear got his start and what he earned along the way.

Related: Stars We've Lost In 2023

How did Norman Lear get his start?

Lear's legendary career began in the 1950s, when he partnered with his first cousin Elaine's husband Ed Simmons to write sketches featured on variety show The Colgate Comedy Hour for comedic duo Martin and Lewis.

His skill as a comedy writer caught fire, leading him to find steady work in TV writing. He created his first television series, The Deputy, starring Henry Fonda in 1959, and although it lasted only two seasons, its run made clear from the jump that Lear was going places. He next pivoted to writing and producing movies, including Come Blow Your Horn and Divorce American Style, the latter of which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay. But by the 1970s, he was back to working in television, the medium that he would go on to transform over the course of that decade, starting with 1971's All in the Family. The sitcom was groundbreaking for its use of comedy to shine a spotlight on racism, gay rights, abortion and other subjects that were taboo at the time. It won 22 Emmys and remains one of three television shows to be number one in the NMR ratings for five consecutive seasons.

Following All in the Family, Lear made a number of other iconic sitcoms, including Maude, Sanford and Son, The Jeffersons and One Day at a Time, which he rebooted in 2017 with a Cuban American family at its center.

Related: Norman Lear's Greatest TV Projects of All Time

What is Norman Lear's net worth?

Lear's net worth at the time of his death was $200 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth. He earned most of his money from being a prolific television producer, writer and director, as well as a producer of movies.

His own wealth aside, Lear believed deeply in the value of writers. Just six months before his death, he showed solidarity with the then striking WGA writers with a message on Instagram. “I have been, at my core, a writer," he said in the post. “A writer who struggled and anguished to put words to paper that would provoke, create conversation, humanize us, help us see each other—words that would matter. I wrote in the very first year of television, when writers were revered. I now watch talented writers struggle to earn a living wage without the path to a career like mine.”

Norman Lear shows list

Lear was behind many TV series, whether in a writing, producing and/or developing capacity, including but not limited to:

All in the Family (1971)

Maude (1971)

Sanford and Son (1972)

The Jeffersons (1975)

One Day at a Time (1975)

Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (1976)

Good Times (1979)

The Facts of Life (1979)

How many Emmys does Norman Lear have?

Lear won six Emmy awards for his work in television, including:

  • Outstanding Variety Special (Live) - 2020 (Live In Front Of A Studio Audience: "All In The Family" And "Good Times")

  • Outstanding Variety Special (Live) - 2019 (Live In Front Of A Studio Audience: Normal Lear's "All in the Family" and "The Jeffersons")

  • Outstanding Comedy Series - 1973 ("All in the Family")

  • Outstanding Comedy Series - 1972 ("All in the Family")

  • Outsanding New Series - 1971 ("All in the Family")

  • Outstanding Series - Comedy - 1971 ("All in the Family")

Lear also has two Peabody Awards and the National Medal of Arts, which he was awarded in 1999. In February 2021, the TV icon received the Carol Burnett Award, a lifetime achievement award, at the Golden Globe Awards ceremony for his contributions to television. “At close to 99, I can tell you that I have never lived alone,” he said in his acceptance speech at the time. “I have never laughed alone and that has as much to do with my being here today as anything else I know.”

What movies did Norman Lear produce?

In the mid-eighties, Lear formed the production company Act III Communications, which produced films including Rob Reiner's The Sure Thing, Stand By Me and The Princess Bride. (Reiner played Michael a.k.a. Meathead in All in the Family.)

Who gets Normal Lear's residuals?

Any residual payments Lear was making from his work in television will now presumably go to his estate and/or whichever beneficiary or beneficiaries are chosen by his will.

Next, Norman Lear's Children Kept Him Young at Heart! All About the TV Legend's Six Kids

Advertisement