Groundbreaking TV producer Bud Yorkin dies at 89

Lear noted that his former partner garnered early acclaim as a writer-director, including two Emmy Awards for writing and directing the 1959 special “An Evening with Fred Astaire”.

A family spokesman for Yorkin says the film and TV producer best known for his work on the pioneering sitcom “All in the Family” has died on Tuesday, August 18, 2015.

He died at his home in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles.

Yorkin also directed movies including “Arthur 2: On The Rocks”, “Start The Revolution Without Me” and “Come Blow Your Horn“. He was a co-executive producer for 1982’s Blade Runner, and was slated to produce its upcoming Denis Villeneuve-directed sequel.

Yorkin is survived by wife Cynthia, sons David and Michael, daughters Nicole and Jessica, and 4 grandchildren.

Yorkin was best known for developing the groundbreaking sitcom “All in the Family“, which introduced Americans to the openly bigoted, blue-collar worker, Archie Bunker, and the use of television comedy as a medium for social commentary. Nicole Yorkin is a prominent writer-producer and showrunner.

Yorkin was born in the coal mining town of Washington, Pennsylvania in 1926, and discovered a passion for writing while serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II.

He began his partnership with producer Norman Lear in 1959. In 1956, he became the producer and director of Tennessee Ernie Ford’s NBC half-hour comedy/variety program, The Ford Show.

After his split with Lear, Yorkin went on to form Bud Yorkin Productions.

After “All in the Family” became an unexpected hit with its unvarnished take on race and other social issues, they followed up with a string of hits: “The Jeffersons“, “Sanford and Son” and “Maude“. In 1979, Toy Productions was acquired by Columbia Pictures, the same studio that would acquire Lear’s Embassy Communications in 1985. In 2002, Yorkin was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame.