Lear enlisted in the United States Army in September 1942. Lear graduated from Weaver High School in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1940 and subsequently attended Emerson College in Boston, but dropped out in 1942 to join the United States Army Air Forces. Lear has also said he would hear more of Coughlin's radio sermons over time, and found out that Coughlin would at times find different ways to promote anti-semitism by also targeting people whom Jews considered to be "great heroes," such as US President Franklin Roosevelt. However, Lear has said the moment which inspired his lifetime of advocacy was another event which he experienced at the age of nine, when he first came across infamous anti-semitic Catholic radio priest Father Charles Coughlin while tinkering with his crystal radio set. Lear thought of his father as a "rascal" and said that the character of Archie Bunker (whom Lear depicted as white Protestant on the show) was in part inspired by his father, while the character of Edith Bunker was in part inspired by his mother. When Lear was nine years old, he lived in Chelsea, MA when his father went to prison for selling fake bonds. His mother was originally from Ukraine, while his father's family was from Russia. Lear grew up in a Jewish household in Connecticut and had a Bar Mitzvah ceremony. He had a younger sister, Claire Lear Brown (1925–2015). Lear was born in New Haven, Connecticut, the son of Jeanette ( née Seicol) and Hyman "Herman" Lear, a traveling salesman. In 1980, Lear founded the advocacy organization People for the American Way to counter the influence of the Christian right in politics, and in the early 2000s, he mounted a tour of the Declaration of Independence. Lear is also known for his political activism and funding of liberal and progressive causes and politicians. He is a member of the Television Academy Hall of Fame. Lear has received many awards, including five Emmys, the National Medal of Arts, and the Kennedy Center Honors. Lear continued to actively produce television, including the 2017 remake of One Day at a Time and the Netflix revival of Good Times in 2021. Lear is known for many popular 1970s sitcoms, including All in the Family, Maude, Sanford and Son, One Day at a Time, The Jeffersons, and Good Times. Norman Milton Lear (born July 27, 1922) is an American television writer and film and television producer who has produced, written, created, or developed over 100 shows.