Norman “King” Lear was born Norman Milton Lear in 1922 in New Haven, Connecticut to a Jewish-American family. At a young age, as he says on Forward, he discovered that “people disliked me because of my Jewishness,” continuing, “My sympathies, my empathy went out to people who are automatically disliked just because of who they are.” This, plus his parent’s household repartee, as The Famous People tells us, formed the foundation of Lear’s comedic outlook. He continued, “I was the class prophet, so I wrote the class play in high school. I also wrote a humor column, ‘Notes to You From King Lear,’ in the Weaver High School newspaper.” And yet, Lear never really considered writing comedically as a career.
Lear enrolled in Emerson College in Boston upon completing high school, but never got the chance to finish because World War II broke out. He dropped out of school in 1942 to enlist in the United States Air Force against his mother’s wishes. In an interview on AR Gunners, Lear said, “it was that time of life in America we were so in love with the country we, speaking for myself, I had to be there.” Lear wound up flying 52 missions and dropping 33 bombs, and for this, he received the Air Medal with four Oak Leaf Clusters.
Read Related Also: Crime Stories with Nancy Grace: Massachusetts Mom Searches ‘Ways to Kill,’ Strangles Her 3 Tots Dead With Exercise Bands
After being discharged in 1945, Lear moved to California, where he more or less fell into the work that would define his life.
