A lifetime achievement award will be presented to the American Jewish TV producer Norman Lear at this year’s Golden Globes ceremonies on Feb. 28, and it may be time to wonder whether Lear’s fierce optimism was fully deserved by the nation he has devoted himself to for almost a century.
Born in 1922, Lear was the presiding force behind such landmark sitcoms as “All in the Family,” “Sanford and Son,” “The Jeffersons,” “Good Times” and “Maude.”
The resolve that Lear showed in flying combat missions as a radio operator/gunner on B-17 Flying Fortress bombers during World War II was later expressed in broaching controversial racial and gender issues.