Emerson Los Angeles Hosts Pride LIVE! Tribute to TV Pioneer Norman Lear ‘44

Pride LIVE! Hollywood, a month-long celebration of LGBTQ+ pop culture, kicked off with a Tribute to Norman Lear ’44, LHD ‘68 at Emerson College Los Angeles on Wednesday, June 11. Writers, actors, producers, and other talent that worked with Lear gathered to celebrate the Emerson legend’s groundbreaking contributions to LGBTQ+ representation on television.

“The history of gay culture in Los Angeles is similar to the history of television, so we’re doing programming that parallels both,” said Adam Newman, co-founder of Pride LIVE! “Norman Lear is the punk rock of all of this because he did things in the ’70s that were unheard of. Many of the shows that he produced are very relevant to what’s going on politically and culturally today.”

Read: Remembering Norman Lear ’44, a Titan of Comedy

Organizers showed clips from various shows that Lear created and produced at the start of the evening, highlighting some of the creative and groundbreaking ways he explored LGBTQ+ issues and featured gay and transgender characters in his shows. Shows represented included Sanford and Son, All in the Family, Maude, The Jeffersons, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, All That Glitters, Clean Slate, and the reboot of One Day at a Time. 

During the event, Marty Kaplan, founding director of the Norman Lear Center for the study of the impact of entertainment on society, reflected on his 40-year friendship with the pioneer, and discussed his impact.

“Over the 40 years that I knew Norman, one of the things that we almost always did around 6 in the morning, after reading the papers, was to call one another and say, ‘Did you see that?’ Norman was usually outraged and I didn’t try to calm him down, but I think right now I wish I could say to Norman, ‘Can you see this?’ This [event] is so great,” said Kaplan. “I know he’d love it.”

Pride LIVE! includes screenings and panels with the creators behind groundbreaking TV shows and films, as well as rooftop parties and family-friendly community events at venues throughout Hollywood. It was created by the Infinity Festival co-founders Mark Lieber and Newman, hosted and curated by authors Frank DeCaro and Jim Colucci, and produced by Jeroen Hallaert.

“[Adam and I] are just both huge fans of Norman Lear. We felt that he changed the face of culture in many ways and Pride LIVE! is a pop culture festival. He’s had so many groundbreaking television shows that we’re honored to celebrate him at his alma mater here in Los Angeles,” said Lieber.

Among the many attendees of the evening was producer Steven Solomon ’88. 

“When I was kid and people would say, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up,’ I would say I want to be Norman Lear. I want to be someone who goes into television, makes a lot of money, and then uses that money to change the world,” said Solomon.

Solomon fondly recalls meeting Lear during a career tribute, where he was able to tell his hero how he inspired him.

“That was one of the most exciting days of my life,” said Solomon. “He was so generous of spirit and kind and took the time to talk.”

To close out the evening, a panel discussion moderated by Calucci featured writers, producers, actors, and other talent who worked with Lear. Panelists included: All in the Family actors Lynne Moody and Liz Torres; One Day at a Time actor Isabella Gomez and showrunner Mike Royce; The Jeffersons showrunner Jay Moriarty; Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman creator Gail Parent; Sanford and Son and Fernwood 2 Nite writer Bob Illes; Greg Cope White, author of The Pink Marine, the basis for the upcoming Netflix series Boots; Clean Slate co-creator Dan Ewen; Brent Miller, Norman’s producing partner at Act III Television; and Cindy Villa, Norman’s longtime assistant. 

Each panelist shared stories and offered insight into what it was like working with Lear. Gomez, who played activist teen Elena on One Day at a Time, reflected on what it meant to be playing a character who came out as lesbian during the course of the series.  

“When you’re an actor, your dream is to work, period. And then your bigger dream is to work in something that people will watch, but I had never even thought to dream about being part of something that would matter to people,” said Gomez. “Still to this day, I get people coming up to me, tears running down their faces, talking about how much Elena meant to them.” 

Miller, who was a co-executive producer on the One Day at a Time reboot and the Amazon series Clean Slate, shared insight into the long process to get the latter series onto the screen. The show, about a woman (Laverne Cox) who reunites with her father, whom she has not seen since her gender transition, was one of the last produced by Lear. It was sold to a network, but then given back to Miller and company after a year and a half. Amazon Prime bought the show, but it took years to develop.

“Suddenly, Norman was approaching his 100th birthday. I thought, Jesus Christ, it’s been this long? I wrote to the heads of Amazon and added everybody in the chain and I just said, ‘Can we please just give him Clean Slate for his birthday present,'” said Miller. 

That week, the series got the green light. 

At the end of the evening, Cope White reflected on Lear’s final project, Boots. It is based on Cope White’s memoir, The Pink Marine, which tells the story of how a gay teenage boy who doesn’t fit the traditional definition of manliness finds acceptance and self-worth in Marine Corps boot camp. It was sold to Netflix as a series, with Lear and Miller serving as executive producers. 

“When I came to work for Norman in 1992, I came with the story. We didn’t know how to tell it… He always supported the story and saw the value in it,” said Cope White, a producer and screenwriter. “The element he loved the most is the fact that I enlisted in the Marine Corps, accidentally, with my straight best friend. That friendship has lasted now for 50-something years. Norman loved the idea, the examining of two best friends, one straight, one gay, on the same playing field.” 

Boots is scheduled to stream in Fall 2025. 

“One thing that I loved hearing from everybody was remembering how Norman fought for things. How he fought for jokes, or moments, or the abortion issue. Norman was the father of television, but he raised hundreds of TV babies,” said Cope White.

“I believe that the thing that we saw when he watched him do those fights was [that] we became involved and we’re all carrying that forward. We continue those fights. That’s where his legacy is.”