Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You

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-Good evening,

ladies and gentlemen.

[ Laughter ]

-Norman, that hat,

that chapeau you're wearing --

Now, is that your favorite hat?

You're known to wear hats.

-In the world,

this is my favorite --

not just my favorite hat --

This is my favorite garment.

-Why do you wear that hat?

-When I was writing

television shows,

I picked my head,

and I lost all my hair.

I had picked all my hair away.

[ Both laugh ]

- Whippoorwills call

Evening is nigh

-Do you sing, Norman?

-I sing very well.

-What's your favorite song?

- You see a smiling face,

fireplace

A cozy room, Molly and me

- Just Molly and me

- And the baby makes three

-This is me?

- We're happy in my

In my blue heaven

Just Molly and me

And the baby makes three

We're so happy

in my blue heaven

We're happy in my

- My

- Blue heaven

We're happy in my

- In my

- Blue heaven

-How about that?

People think, you know,

that, turning 90,

maybe you change,

but it's everybody else

who changes.

Suddenly, I'm extremely wise,

and everybody's

asking me for advice,

and I am sometimes applauded

for walking across a room.

But the sound and the fact of 90

has got everybody believing

I'm some kind

of special intelligence.

But, I mean,

I think about it now

as wondrous,

what I got to experience.

-You know what I like

about you, Archie?

-What's that, Maude?

-Nothing.

-I have never been

in a situation in my life,

however tragic,

where I didn't see some comedy.

-Norman Lear has changed

the face of television,

and at least

120 million Americans

watch Norman Lear shows

every week.

-Oh, no, sir,

Master Jefferson,

you done showed me the way!

-Stop it!

Stop it!

-Say "please."

-We've gone

from straight comedy

into something else,

and that other thing is satire.

And it's never been done

on television before.

-I'm telling you that whites

should only dance with whites.

You don't believe me,

look at the movies.

-Do you have a quick answer

for the people

who say the show

reinforces bigotry?

-Yes, my quick answer is "no."

-That's the quick answer?

-I gravitate to subjects

that matter,

the things

that people talk about,

and I think

America has responded.

I think human beings

are just a little foolish.

That knits us all together.

[ Applause ]

Isn't it amazing?

I've lived my life moment

to moment, day to day,

and even though I appear 93,

I never lost my childlike view

of the world.

-Norman!

-[ Laughs ] Hi.

-Oh! Hello, friend.

-Oh, how are you guys?

-Hi.

Are you ready for tonight?

-God, I like you.

-Take your time.

Please think about this.

Make this --

I need it to be long

but brief, heartfelt.

[ Laughs ]

[ Cheers and applause ]

-He has been around

approximately forever.

He is 92 years old.

He has spent the last six

of those years

writing his memoir.

It is called "Even This,

I Get to Experience."

Ladies and gentlemen,

Norman Lear.

[ Cheers and applause ]

-Yo!

-You guys know each other.

There is

a mutual admiration society.

-Do we know each other?

-Right?

-Yes.

-You have called

"All in the Family"

the best show

on television, ever.

-I think so.

My son's name is Archie.

[ Laughs ]

[ Laughter ]

-You both talk a lot

about where you came from,

about your upbringing.

You talk a lot about your dad.

Archie Bunker,

you have said,

bears no small resemblance

to your dad.

-Mm-hmm.

-True?

-We're good to go.

"When I was a boy," pickup one.

-When I was a boy,

I thought that if I could turn

a screw in my father's head

just 1/16 of an inch one way

or the other,

it might help him tell

the difference

between right and wrong.

My father was extremely outgoing

and affectionate,

but the underside

of his good nature

was not admirable.

Herman Lear was a man

of supreme optimism.

He went out into the jungle

each day with a shoeshine

and a smile,

pledging to come home,

his fortune made, in 10 days

to two weeks -- tops.

My father was about

to take a plane to Tulsa.

He was traveling on some kind

of business.

"Monkey business,"

said my mother,

who sensed the men

he had fallen in with

were not to be trusted.

"Herman, I don't like this,"

she told him,

but Herman, as always,

knew better.

"Jeanette," he screamed,

the veins in his neck bulging,

"Stifle!"

And off he went.

The next time I saw him,

he had a hat

in front of his face,

and he was manacled

to a detective,

and they were coming down

the steps of the courthouse.

Nobody explained to me.

Nobody ever talked to me,

explained to me.

My father simply went to jail.

At 9, I was forced

to become an adult.

But that kid

still existed inside me...

well through my life,

if not to this very minute.

I asked my mother, years later,

"Where the hell were you?

How come I have no memory

of you?"

And, inevitably,

the discussion

would end with, "Please!

Oh, please!"

I was shipped off to an uncle,

lived there for a while.

Shipped off to another uncle,

lived there for a while.

And I wind up

with my grandparents.

But I had to pay my own way.

-Hurry! Hurry!

Step this way!

The strangest sights

on the island!

It's just starting,

so hurry, hurry!

Look them over.

The lady without a head!

They're all inside!

-I held three jobs

at Coney Island.

I used to take photographs.

I had a photo booth,

and we sold a lot of pictures.

But I remember the, "Hey! Hey!

You ought to be in pictures,

little lady."

[ Laughs ]

That was the spiel.

I was obviously a striver.

I needed to be a good provider,

because that's

what my grandparents' generation

admired the most,

is a good provider.

Oh, I wanted to be that.

[ Chorus vocalizing ]

-When did you get your first

break in the business?

-Not long after I was here.

I was living with my wife

and my little girl

in one little room behind

another home in Hollywood.

And I had met a fellow

by the name of Ed Simmons,

who was married

to a cousin of mine.

And he wanted to be a writer,

and our wives went

to a movie one evening,

we were babysitting,

and we wrote some material

together.

They came home,

and we went out

and sold it to --

We sold this parody that we

had written for 25 bucks,

but it was $25 like that,

you know, and for having fun,

for having a good, good time

laughing and working.

And then we decided

we would continue writing.

[ Typewriter keys clacking ]

-Touch,

and you can adjust fine-tuning

to suit your taste at any time.

-"The Colgate Comedy Hour,"

starring Dean Martin

and Jerry Lewis.

-Are you ready?

-Ready.

-Ready.

-It was the beginning

of television,

and Ed Simmons and I

became the writers

on "The Dean Martin/Jerry

Lewis Colgate Comedy Hour."

-Dean and I -- well,

I especially -- love the crew.

They've been so kind,

I pour my heart out to them

because they're wonderful

to me --

-I'm sorry. Is everything

all right in there?

I'm sorry, Mr. Lewis,

but we seem to --

-This is Mr. Lear,

one of our crew members, and --

-Are we all right?

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