An entertainment icon on living a life of meaning
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0:01 - 0:05Eric Hirshberg: So I assume that Norman
doesn't need much of an introduction, -
0:05 - 0:06but TED's audience is global,
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0:06 - 0:07it's diverse,
-
0:07 - 0:10so I've been tasked
with starting with his bio, -
0:10 - 0:13which could easily take up
the entire 18 minutes. -
0:13 - 0:17So instead we're going to do
93 years in 93 seconds or less. -
0:17 - 0:18(Laughter)
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0:18 - 0:20You were born in New Hampshire.
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0:20 - 0:22Norman Lear: New Haven, Connecticut.
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0:22 - 0:23EH: New Haven, Connecticut.
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0:23 - 0:26(Laughter)
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0:26 - 0:27NL: There goes seven more seconds.
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0:27 - 0:29EH: Nailed it.
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0:29 - 0:31(Laughter)
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0:31 - 0:33You were born in New Haven, Connecticut.
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0:33 - 0:35Your father was a con man --
I got that right. -
0:35 - 0:38He was taken away to prison
when you were nine years old. -
0:38 - 0:41You flew 52 missions
as a fighter pilot in World War II. -
0:42 - 0:43You came back to --
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0:43 - 0:44NL: Radio operator.
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0:45 - 0:47EH: You came to LA
to break into Hollywood, -
0:47 - 0:49first in publicity, then in TV.
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0:49 - 0:51You had no training as a writer, formally,
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0:51 - 0:53but you hustled your way in.
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0:53 - 0:54Your breakthrough, your debut,
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0:54 - 0:56was a little show
called "All in the Family." -
0:56 - 0:58You followed that up with a string of hits
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0:58 - 1:01that to this day is unmatched
in Hollywood: -
1:01 - 1:03"Sanford and Son," "Maude," "Good Times,"
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1:03 - 1:04"The Jeffersons," "One Day at a Time,"
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1:05 - 1:06"Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman,"
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1:06 - 1:08to name literally a fraction of them.
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1:08 - 1:10Not only are they all commercially --
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1:10 - 1:14(Applause)
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1:14 - 1:17Not only are they all
commercially successful, -
1:17 - 1:19but many of them push our culture forward
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1:19 - 1:21by giving the underrepresented
members of society -
1:21 - 1:23their first prime-time voice.
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1:23 - 1:27You have seven shows
in the top 10 at one time. -
1:27 - 1:28At one point,
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1:28 - 1:32you aggregate an audience
of 120 million people per week -
1:32 - 1:33watching your content.
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1:33 - 1:35That's more than the audience
for Super Bowl 50, -
1:35 - 1:36which happens once a year.
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1:36 - 1:38NL: Holy shit.
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1:38 - 1:39(Laughter)
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1:39 - 1:42(Applause)
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1:42 - 1:44EH: And we're not even
to the holy shit part. -
1:44 - 1:45(Laughter)
-
1:45 - 1:48You land yourself
on Richard Nixon's enemies list -- -
1:48 - 1:49he had one.
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1:49 - 1:51That's an applause line, too.
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1:52 - 1:53(Applause)
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1:53 - 1:57You're inducted into the TV Hall of Fame
on the first day that it exists. -
1:57 - 1:58Then came the movies.
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1:58 - 2:00"Fried Green Tomatoes,"
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2:00 - 2:02"The Princess Bride," "Stand By Me,"
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2:02 - 2:03"This Is Spinal Tap."
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2:03 - 2:04(Applause)
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2:04 - 2:06Again, just to name a fraction.
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2:06 - 2:07(Applause)
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2:07 - 2:09Then you wipe the slate clean,
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2:09 - 2:13start a third act as a political activist
focusing on protecting the First Amendment -
2:13 - 2:15and the separation of church and state.
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2:15 - 2:16You start People For The American Way.
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2:16 - 2:18You buy the Declaration of Independence
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2:18 - 2:20and give it back to the people.
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2:20 - 2:22You stay active in both
entertainment and politics -
2:22 - 2:24until the ripe old of age of 93,
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2:24 - 2:25when you write a book
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2:25 - 2:27and make a documentary
about your life story. -
2:27 - 2:28And after all that,
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2:28 - 2:31they finally think
you're ready for a TED Talk. -
2:31 - 2:33(Laughter)
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2:33 - 2:37(Applause)
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2:37 - 2:39NL: I love being here.
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2:39 - 2:42And I love you for agreeing to do this.
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2:42 - 2:44EH: Thank you for asking. It's my honor.
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2:44 - 2:46So here's my first question.
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2:46 - 2:48Was your mother proud of you?
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2:48 - 2:50(Laughter)
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2:50 - 2:51NL: My mother ...
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2:51 - 2:53what a place to start.
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2:55 - 2:57Let me put it this way --
-
2:57 - 2:59when I came back from the war,
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2:59 - 3:04she showed me the letters
that I had written her from overseas, -
3:04 - 3:07and they were absolute love letters.
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3:10 - 3:12(Laughter)
-
3:12 - 3:13This really sums up my mother.
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3:14 - 3:15They were love letters,
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3:15 - 3:17as if I had written them to --
-
3:17 - 3:18they were love letters.
-
3:21 - 3:26A year later I asked my mother
if I could have them, -
3:26 - 3:30because I'd like to keep them
all the years of my life ... -
3:30 - 3:32She had thrown them away.
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3:32 - 3:36(Laughter)
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3:37 - 3:38That's my mother.
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3:38 - 3:41(Laughter)
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3:41 - 3:47The best way I can sum it up
in more recent times is -- -
3:47 - 3:50this is also more recent times --
-
3:50 - 3:51a number of years ago,
-
3:51 - 3:55when they started the Hall of Fame
to which you referred. -
3:55 - 3:56It was a Sunday morning,
-
3:56 - 4:02when I got a call from the fellow who ran
the TV Academy of Arts & Sciences. -
4:02 - 4:05He was calling me to tell me
they had met all day yesterday -
4:05 - 4:09and he was confidentially telling me
they were going to start a hall of fame -
4:09 - 4:12and these were the inductees.
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4:15 - 4:17I started to say "Richard Nixon,"
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4:17 - 4:19because Richard Nixon --
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4:19 - 4:21EH: I don't think he was on their list.
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4:21 - 4:23NL: William Paley, who started CBS,
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4:23 - 4:27David Sarnoff, who started NBC,
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4:27 - 4:28Edward R. Murrow,
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4:28 - 4:32the greatest of the foreign
correspondents, -
4:32 - 4:33Paddy Chayefsky --
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4:33 - 4:36I think the best writer
that ever came out of television -- -
4:36 - 4:38Milton Berle, Lucille Ball
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4:38 - 4:39and me.
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4:39 - 4:40EH: Not bad.
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4:40 - 4:43NL: I call my mother
immediately in Hartford, Connecticut. -
4:43 - 4:45"Mom, this is what's happened,
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4:45 - 4:46they're starting a hall of fame."
-
4:46 - 4:48I tell her the list of names and me,
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4:48 - 4:49and she says,
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4:49 - 4:52"Listen, if that's what they
want to do, who am I to say?" -
4:52 - 4:55(Laughter)
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4:56 - 4:58(Applause)
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4:58 - 5:00That's my Ma.
-
5:00 - 5:02I think it earns that kind of a laugh
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5:02 - 5:04because everybody
has a piece of that mother. -
5:04 - 5:05(Laughter)
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5:05 - 5:08EH: And the sitcom Jewish mother
is born, right there. -
5:08 - 5:13So your father also played
a large role in your life, -
5:13 - 5:15mostly by his absence.
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5:15 - 5:16NL: Yeah.
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5:16 - 5:19EH: Tell us what happened
when you were nine years old. -
5:19 - 5:24NL: He was flying to Oklahoma
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5:24 - 5:26with three guys that my mother said,
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5:26 - 5:28"I don't want you to have
anything to do with them, -
5:28 - 5:29I don't trust those men."
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5:30 - 5:31That's when I heard,
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5:31 - 5:33maybe not for the first time,
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5:33 - 5:37"Stifle yourself, Jeanette, I'm going."
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5:37 - 5:38And he went.
-
5:38 - 5:43It turns out he was picking up
some fake bonds, -
5:43 - 5:47which he was flying
across the country to sell. -
5:48 - 5:51But the fact that he was going
to Oklahoma in a plane, -
5:51 - 5:55and he was going to bring me
back a 10-gallon hat, -
5:55 - 6:01just like Ken Maynard,
my favorite cowboy wore. -
6:02 - 6:07You know, this was a few years
after Lindbergh crossed the Atlantic. -
6:07 - 6:11I mean, it was exotic
that my father was going there. -
6:11 - 6:12But when he came back,
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6:12 - 6:14they arrested him as he got off the plane.
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6:15 - 6:19That night newspapers
were all over the house, -
6:19 - 6:22my father was with his hat
in front of his face, -
6:22 - 6:23manacled to a detective.
-
6:24 - 6:27And my mother was selling the furniture,
because we were leaving -- -
6:27 - 6:31she didn't want to stay
in that state of shame, -
6:31 - 6:34in Chelsea, Massachusetts.
-
6:35 - 6:38And selling the furniture --
-
6:38 - 6:40the house was loaded with people.
-
6:41 - 6:43And in the middle of all of that,
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6:43 - 6:49some strange horse's ass
put his hand on my shoulder and said, -
6:49 - 6:51"Well, you're the man of the house now."
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6:53 - 6:59I'm crying, and this asshole says,
"You're the man of the house now." -
6:59 - 7:02And I think that was the moment
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7:02 - 7:06I began to understand the foolishness
of the human condition. -
7:08 - 7:10So ...
-
7:11 - 7:15it took a lot of years to look back at it
and feel it was a benefit. -
7:16 - 7:18But --
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7:18 - 7:20EH: It's interesting
you call it a benefit. -
7:20 - 7:22NL: Benefit in that it gave
me that springboard. -
7:22 - 7:26I mean that I could think
-
7:26 - 7:29how foolish it was to say
to this crying nine-year-old boy, -
7:29 - 7:31"You're the man of the house now."
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7:31 - 7:35And then I was crying, and then he said,
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7:35 - 7:37"And men of the house don't cry."
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7:38 - 7:39And I ...
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7:39 - 7:41(Laughter)
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7:41 - 7:42So ...
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7:44 - 7:46I look back, and I think
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7:46 - 7:50that's when I learned the foolishness
of the human condition, -
7:50 - 7:53and it's been that gift that I've used.
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7:54 - 7:57EH: So you have a father who's absent,
-
7:57 - 8:00you have a mother for whom
apparently nothing is good enough. -
8:00 - 8:05Do you think that starting out as a kid
who maybe never felt heard -
8:05 - 8:07started you down a journey
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8:07 - 8:08that ended with you being an adult
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8:09 - 8:11with a weekly audience
of 120 million people? -
8:12 - 8:15NL: I love the way you put that question,
-
8:15 - 8:19because I guess
I've spent my life wanting -- -
8:19 - 8:21if anything, wanting to be heard.
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8:25 - 8:26I think --
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8:29 - 8:30It's a simple answer, yes,
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8:30 - 8:32that was what sparked --
-
8:34 - 8:36well, there were other things, too.
-
8:36 - 8:38When my father was away,
-
8:38 - 8:44I was fooling with a crystal radio set
that we had made together, -
8:45 - 8:49and I caught a signal that turned out
to be Father Coughlin. -
8:50 - 8:51(Laughter)
-
8:53 - 8:54Yeah, somebody laughed.
-
8:54 - 8:56(Laughter)
-
8:56 - 8:57But not funny,
-
8:57 - 8:59this was a horse's --
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8:59 - 9:00another horse's ass --
-
9:00 - 9:03who was very vocal
about hating the New Deal -
9:03 - 9:05and Roosevelt and Jews.
-
9:06 - 9:10The first time I ran into an understanding
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9:10 - 9:13that there were people
in this world that hated me -
9:13 - 9:14because I was born to Jewish parents.
-
9:15 - 9:19And that had an enormous
effect on my life. -
9:20 - 9:22EH: So you had a childhood
-
9:22 - 9:25with little in the way
of strong male role models, -
9:25 - 9:27except for your grandfather.
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9:27 - 9:29Tell us about him.
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9:29 - 9:30NL: Oh, my grandfather.
-
9:31 - 9:36Well here's the way I always
talked about that grandfather. -
9:38 - 9:39There were parades,
-
9:39 - 9:41lots of parades when I was a kid.
-
9:41 - 9:43There were parades on Veteran's Day --
-
9:43 - 9:44there wasn't a President's Day.
-
9:44 - 9:46There was Abraham Lincoln's birthday,
-
9:46 - 9:48George Washington's birthday
-
9:48 - 9:51and Flag Day ...
-
9:52 - 9:54And lots of little parades.
-
9:54 - 9:55My grandfather used to take me
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9:55 - 9:57and we'd stand on the street corner,
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9:57 - 9:58he'd hold my hand,
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9:58 - 10:01and I'd look up and I'd see a tear
running down his eye. -
10:04 - 10:06And he meant a great deal to me.
-
10:06 - 10:12And he used to write presidents
of the United States. -
10:12 - 10:13Every letter started,
-
10:13 - 10:16"My dearest, darling Mr. President,"
-
10:16 - 10:21and he'd tell him something
wonderful about what he did. -
10:21 - 10:24But when he disagreed
with the President, he also wrote, -
10:24 - 10:26"My dearest, darling Mr. President,
-
10:26 - 10:28Didn't I tell you last week ...?"
-
10:28 - 10:29(Laughter)
-
10:30 - 10:35And I would run down the stairs
every now and then -
10:35 - 10:36and pick up the mail.
-
10:36 - 10:37We were three flights up,
-
10:37 - 10:3974 York Street, New Haven, Connecticut.
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10:41 - 10:48And I'd pick up a little white envelope
reading, "Shya C. called at this address." -
10:51 - 10:55And that's the story I have told
about my grandfather -- -
10:55 - 10:57EH: They wrote him back
on the envelopes -- -
10:57 - 10:59NL: They wrote back.
-
11:01 - 11:05But I have shown them myself,
-
11:05 - 11:10going way back to Phil Donahue
and others before him, -
11:10 - 11:15literally dozens of interviews
in which I told that story. -
11:16 - 11:21This will be the second time I have said
the whole story was a lie. -
11:24 - 11:28The truth was my grandfather
took me to parades, -
11:28 - 11:30we had lots of those.
-
11:30 - 11:32The truth is a tear came down his eye.
-
11:33 - 11:37The truth is he would write
an occasional letter, -
11:37 - 11:39and I did pick up those little envelopes.
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11:41 - 11:44But "My dearest darling Mr. President,"
-
11:44 - 11:46all the rest of it,
-
11:46 - 11:51is a story I borrowed from a good friend
-
11:51 - 11:57whose grandfather was that grandfather
who wrote those letters. -
11:59 - 12:05And, I mean, I stole
Arthur Marshall's grandfather -
12:05 - 12:07and made him my own.
-
12:09 - 12:10Always.
-
12:10 - 12:13When I started to write my memoir --
-
12:13 - 12:14"Even this --"
-
12:14 - 12:15How about that?
-
12:15 - 12:18"Even This I Get to Experience."
-
12:19 - 12:21When I started to write the memoir
-
12:21 - 12:22and I started to think about it,
-
12:22 - 12:23and then I --
-
12:24 - 12:25I --
-
12:27 - 12:30I did a reasonable amount of crying,
-
12:30 - 12:34and I realized how much
I needed the father. -
12:35 - 12:38So much so that I appropriated
Arthur Marshall's grandfather. -
12:40 - 12:42So much so, the word "father" --
-
12:43 - 12:45I have six kids by the way.
-
12:45 - 12:47My favorite role in life.
-
12:49 - 12:52It and husband to my wife Lyn.
-
12:56 - 13:00But I stole the man's identity
because I needed the father. -
13:01 - 13:05Now I've gone through a whole lot of shit
-
13:05 - 13:07and come out on the other side,
-
13:07 - 13:09and I forgive my father --
-
13:09 - 13:10the best thing I --
-
13:10 - 13:11the worst thing I --
-
13:12 - 13:15The word I'd like to use about him
and think about him is -- -
13:15 - 13:16he was a rascal.
-
13:17 - 13:22The fact that he lied
and stole and cheated -
13:22 - 13:23and went to prison ...
-
13:25 - 13:29I submerge that in the word "rascal."
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13:30 - 13:36EH: Well there's a saying that amateurs
borrow and professionals steal. -
13:36 - 13:38NL: I'm a pro.
-
13:38 - 13:39EH: You're a pro.
-
13:39 - 13:40(Laughter)
-
13:40 - 13:43And that quote is widely
attributed to John Lennon, -
13:43 - 13:45but it turns out
he stole it from T.S. Eliot. -
13:46 - 13:47So you're in good company.
-
13:47 - 13:48(Laughter)
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13:51 - 13:53EH: I want to talk about your work.
-
13:53 - 13:56Obviously the impact of your work
has been written about -
13:56 - 13:58and I'm sure you've heard
about it all your life: -
13:58 - 13:59what it meant to people,
-
13:59 - 14:01what it meant to our culture,
-
14:01 - 14:04you heard the applause when I just
named the names of the shows, -
14:04 - 14:07you raised half the people
in the room through your work. -
14:07 - 14:11But have there ever been any stories
about the impact of your work -
14:11 - 14:12that surprised you?
-
14:13 - 14:14NL: Oh, god --
-
14:14 - 14:19surprised me and delighted me
from head to toe. -
14:21 - 14:27There was "An Evening with Norman Lear"
within the last year -
14:27 - 14:30that a group of hip-hop impresarios,
-
14:30 - 14:34performers and the Academy put together.
-
14:36 - 14:38The subtext of "An Evening with ..."
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14:38 - 14:42was: What do a 92-year-old Jew --
-
14:42 - 14:43then 92 --
-
14:43 - 14:45and the world of hip-hop have in common?
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14:45 - 14:48Russell Simmons
was among seven on the stage. -
14:49 - 14:53And when he talked about the shows,
-
14:53 - 14:58he wasn't talking about the Hollywood,
-
14:58 - 15:01George Jefferson in "The Jeffersons,"
-
15:01 - 15:04or the show that was a number five show.
-
15:05 - 15:10He was talking about a simple
thing that made a big -- -
15:13 - 15:15EH: Impact on him?
-
15:15 - 15:16NL: An impact on him --
-
15:17 - 15:19I was hesitating over the word, "change."
-
15:19 - 15:22It's hard for me to imagine,
-
15:22 - 15:24you know, changing somebody's life,
-
15:24 - 15:26but that's the way he put it.
-
15:26 - 15:32He saw George Jefferson
write a check on "The Jeffersons," -
15:32 - 15:35and he never knew that a black man
could write a check. -
15:37 - 15:42And he says it just
impacted his life so -- -
15:42 - 15:43it changed his life.
-
15:43 - 15:47And when I hear things like that --
-
15:47 - 15:49little things --
-
15:49 - 15:52because I know that there isn't
anybody in this audience -
15:52 - 15:58that wasn't likely responsible today for
some little thing they did for somebody, -
15:58 - 16:04whether it's as little as a smile
or an unexpected "Hello," -
16:04 - 16:06that's how little this thing was.
-
16:07 - 16:11It could have been the dresser of the set
-
16:11 - 16:13who put the checkbook on the thing,
-
16:13 - 16:17and George had nothing to do
while he was speaking, so he wrote it, -
16:17 - 16:18I don't know.
-
16:18 - 16:19But --
-
16:20 - 16:23EH: So in addition to the long list
I shared in the beginning, -
16:23 - 16:25I should have also mentioned
that you invented hip-hop. -
16:25 - 16:26(Laughter)
-
16:26 - 16:28NL: Well ...
-
16:29 - 16:30EH: I want to talk about --
-
16:30 - 16:32NL: Well, then do it.
-
16:32 - 16:36(Laughter)
-
16:38 - 16:40EH: You've lead a life of accomplishment,
-
16:40 - 16:42but you've also built a life of meaning.
-
16:43 - 16:45And all of us strive to do
both of those things -- -
16:45 - 16:47not all of us manage to.
-
16:48 - 16:52But even those of us who do manage
to accomplish both of those, -
16:52 - 16:54very rarely do we figure out
how to do them together. -
16:55 - 17:00You managed to push culture
forward through your art -
17:00 - 17:04while also achieving world-beating
commercial success. -
17:04 - 17:05How did you do both?
-
17:11 - 17:17NL: Here's where my mind goes when I hear
that recitation of all I accomplished. -
17:19 - 17:23This planet is one of a billion,
-
17:23 - 17:25they tell us,
-
17:25 - 17:31in a universe
of which there are billions -- -
17:31 - 17:32billions of universes,
-
17:32 - 17:36billions of planets ...
-
17:36 - 17:38which we're trying to save
-
17:38 - 17:40and it requires saving.
-
17:42 - 17:43But ...
-
17:44 - 17:47anything I may have accomplished is --
-
17:48 - 17:52my sister once asked me
what she does about something -
17:52 - 17:55that was going on
in Newington, Connecticut. -
17:55 - 17:58And I said, "Write your alderman
or your mayor or something." -
17:58 - 18:01She said, "Well I'm not
Norman Lear, I'm Claire Lear." -
18:02 - 18:06And that was the first time
I said what I'm saying, -
18:06 - 18:11I said, "Claire. With everything
you think about what I may have done -
18:11 - 18:12and everything you've done," --
-
18:12 - 18:15she never left Newington --
-
18:15 - 18:16"can you get your fingers close enough
-
18:16 - 18:20when you consider the size
of the planet and so forth, -
18:20 - 18:24to measure anything I may have done
to anything you may have done?" -
18:24 - 18:25So ...
-
18:26 - 18:30I am convinced we're all responsible
-
18:30 - 18:33for doing as much
as I may have accomplished. -
18:35 - 18:37And I understand what you're saying --
-
18:37 - 18:39EH: It's an articulate deflection --
-
18:39 - 18:43NL: But you have to really buy into
the size and scope -
18:43 - 18:45of the creator's enterprise, here.
-
18:45 - 18:47EH: But here on this planet
you have really mattered. -
18:47 - 18:49NL: I'm a son of a gun.
-
18:49 - 18:51(Laughter)
-
18:51 - 18:54EH: So I have one more question for you.
-
18:54 - 18:56How old do you feel?
-
18:57 - 19:02NL: I am the peer
of whoever I'm talking to. -
19:03 - 19:04EH: Well, I feel 93.
-
19:04 - 19:11(Applause)
-
19:11 - 19:12NL: We out of here?
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19:12 - 19:14EH: Well, I feel 93 years old,
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19:14 - 19:18but I hope to one day feel as young
as the person I'm sitting across from. -
19:18 - 19:19Ladies and gentlemen,
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19:19 - 19:20the incomparable Norman Lear.
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19:20 - 19:26(Applause)
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19:26 - 19:27NL: Thank you.
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19:27 - 19:33(Applause)
- Title:
- An entertainment icon on living a life of meaning
- Speaker:
- Norman Lear
- Description:
-
In the 1970s (and decades following), TV producer Norman Lear touched the lives of millions with culture-altering sitcoms like "All in the Family," "The Jeffersons" and "Good Times," pushing the boundaries of the era and giving a primetime voice to underrepresented Americans. In an intimate, smart conversation with Eric Hirshberg, he shares with humility and humor how his early relationship with "the foolishness of the human condition" shaped his life and creative vision.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 19:46
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for An entertainment icon on living a life of meaning | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for An entertainment icon on living a life of meaning | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for An entertainment icon on living a life of meaning | ||
Brian Greene approved English subtitles for An entertainment icon on living a life of meaning | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for An entertainment icon on living a life of meaning | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for An entertainment icon on living a life of meaning | ||
Krystian Aparta accepted English subtitles for An entertainment icon on living a life of meaning | ||
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for An entertainment icon on living a life of meaning |