Born in New Haven, CT; educated at Emerson College. Returning from WW II service with the USAAF, he entered the TV industry as a comedy writer in 1945 and later wrote, produced and directed many early television programs. In 1959 he entered a partnership with Bud Yorkin that resulted in a number of light feature films (usually with Yorkin directing and Lear producing and writing) and several highly successful TV series that featured families that regularly confronted major political and social issues of the day, including "All in the Family," "Maude" and "Sanford and Son." Lear scored an unexpected success in 1976 with his innovative nighttime soap opera parody "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman." Long a renowned supporter of liberal political causes, Lear changed his party registration to Republican in 1980 and endorsed John Anderson for President, after calling the administration of Jimmy Carter a "complete disaster." In 1986, he divorced his wife of 30 years, Frances Lear, and she received a $112 million settlement. Lear was a producer on the feature films COME BLOW YOUR HORN (1963), DIVORCE AMERICAN STYLE (1967), THE NIGHT THEY RAIDED MINSKY'S (1968), START THE REVOLUTION WITHOUT ME (1970) and COLD TURKEY (1971), and he was executive producer on THE PRINCESS BRIDE (1987), FRIED GREEN TOMATOES (1991) and WAY PAST COOL (2000).  Nominated for Writing (Best Story and Screenplay written directly for the screen) 1967: DIVORCE AMERICAN STYLE (w. Robert Kaufman) 1 nomination