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.
— Publishers Weekly
Journalist Whetsell explores the life, work, and enduring impact of the legendary comedy writer and producer Norman Lear, who died in 2023 at 101 after a career spanning seven decades. Born in 1922 to a con man father and a remote mother, Lear obtained a scholarship to Emerson College, but after Pearl Harbor was attacked in 1941, he enlisted in the army air corps. In the 1950s, Lear turned his ambitions to Hollywood, partnering with his cousin’s husband to write for variety shows before teaming up with Bud Yorkin. It was Yorkin who first came across the British comedy that inspired Lear to create the now-classic 1970s comedy, All in the Family, centered around Archie Bunker, a conservative and bigoted working-class man who clashed with his liberal son-in-law and others in his life. Known for his sharp social commentary, Lear left an indelible impression on the landscape of television comedy with shows such as Maude, Sanford and Son, and One Day at a Time (which was rebooted in 2017 to critical acclaim). An extensive and comprehensive look at a comedic legend.
— Booklist
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.
— Marc Eliot, bestselling author of Nicholson
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.
— Alanna Nash, author of The Colonel: The Extraordinary Story of Tom Parker and Elvis Presley and Golden Girl: The Story of Jessica Savitch
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.
— Brian McDonald, author of Last Call at Elaine’s and Five Floors Up
A remarkably dense biography that does justice to one of television’s most remarkable figures, Norman Lear: His Life and Times is a must.
— Kliph Nesteroff, Author of The Comedians: Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels, and the History of American Comedy