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The AARP Andrus Award is named in honor of Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus, who founded AARP. Dr. Andrus was a dynamic woman who recognized the value of older people. Her pioneering efforts to enrich

and improve the quality of life for older Americans have prompted millions to emulate her philosophy: To serve, not to be served. The AARP Andrus Award pays tribute to individuals who, like

our founder, have generated positive social change in the world around them and whose work and achievements reflect AARP’s vision of bringing lifetimes of experience and leadership to serve

all generations. AARP is proud to present its 2009 Andrus Award to Norman Lear. NORMAN LEAR, TELEVISION PIONEER AND SOCIAL INNOVATOR Norman Lear has enjoyed a long career combining socially

transformative television and film work with political and social activism and philanthropy. Mr. Lear began his television writing career in 1950 when he and his partner, Ed Simmons, were

signed to write for "The Ford Star Revue," starring Jack Haley. After only four shows, they were hired away by Jerry Lewis to write for the "Martin and Lewis Colgate Comedy

Hour," for which they continued to write until 1953. Mr. Lear then began writing on his own for comedy shows, including "_The Martha Raye Show_," "_The George Gobel

Show,"_ and "_The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show_." In 1958, Mr. Lear teamed with director Bud Yorkin to form Tandem Productions. Together they produced several feature films, with

Mr. Lear taking on roles as executive producer, writer, and director. He was nominated in 1967 for an Academy Award for his script for "_Divorce American Style_." In 1970, CBS

signed with Tandem to produce "_All in the Family_," which first aired on January 12, 1971 and ran for nine seasons. It earned four Emmy Awards for Best Comedy Series and the

Peabody Award in 1977. Lear followed "_All in the Family_" with a succession of other hit TV shows, including "_Maude_," "_Sanford and Son_," "_The

Jeffersons_," "_One Day at a Time_," "_Good Times_," and "_Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman_." Concerned about the growing influence of radical religious

evangelists, Mr. Lear decided to leave television in 1980 and formed People For the American Way, a nonprofit organization designed to speak out for the Bill of Rights guarantees in the

Constitution and to monitor violations of constitutional freedoms. People For remains an influential and effective voice for freedom. In 1982, he produced a two-hour television special,

"_I Love Liberty_," with a cast of stars and an audience that filled the Los Angeles Sports Arena. Mr. Lear’s business career continued in 1984 when he and his business partners

created T.A.T. Communications, later known as Embassy Communications, which was sold in 1985. Mr. Lear then created and is currently chairman of Act III Communications, a multimedia holding

company with interests in the recording, motion picture, broadcasting, publishing, and licensing industries, including Concord Music Group and Village Roadshow Pictures Group. In addition to

People for the American Way, Mr. Lear has founded other nonprofit organizations, including the Norman Lear Center at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for

Communication (2000-present), a multidisciplinary research and public policy center dedicated to exploring the convergence of entertainment, commerce, and society; the Business Enterprise

Trust (1989-2000) to spotlight exemplary social innovations in American business; and with his wife, Lyn, cofounded the Environmental Media Association (1989-present), to mobilize the

entertainment industry to become more environmentally responsible. In 1999, President Clinton bestowed the National Medal of Arts on Mr. Lear, noting that "Norman Lear has held up a

mirror to American society and changed the way we look at it." He has the distinction of being among the first seven TV pioneers inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame

(1984).   ***************     In addition to his awards for "All in the Family," he has been honored by the International Platform Association (1977), the Writers Guild of America

(1977) and many other professional and civic organizations. In 2001, Lyn and Norman Lear created the Declaration of Independence Road Trip, a four-year educational initiative and national

multimedia tour of one of the surviving original copies of the Declaration, which they purchased to share with the American people. As part of the project, Mr. Lear launched Declare

Yourself, a nonpartisan youth-voter initiative that registered well over four million new young voters in the 2004, 2006, and 2008 elections. At the Presidential Inauguration in 2009,

Declare Yourself premiered BornAgainAmerican.org, featuring an inspiring music video that millions across the country have viewed. It is part of an ongoing drive to promote active and

thoughtful citizenship, as embodied in the Declaration of Independence, which continues to tour. Mr. Lear is married to Lyn Davis Lear and resides in Los Angeles. He has six children: Ellen,

Kate, Maggie, Benjamin, Brianna, and Madeline, and four grandchildren: Daniel, Noah, Griffin, and Zoë.