Norman Lear's cause of death revealed

Norman Lear's cause of death has been revealed as cardiac arrest.

According to a Los Angeles County death certificate obtained by TMZ on Monday, the TV sitcom legend died from cardiopulmonary arrest on 5 December aged 101.

The certificate named congestive heart failure as an underlying cause of his death.

Earlier this month, the screenwriter and producer's publicist announced that Norman had died of natural causes at his Beverly Hills home.

"Norman lived a life of creativity, tenacity and empathy," read a statement from his family at the time. "He deeply loved our country and spent a lifetime helping to preserve its founding ideals of justice and equality for all. Knowing and loving him has been the greatest of gifts."

The entertainment veteran produced, wrote or developed more than 100 shows over the course of his career and was best known for the 1970s sitcoms All in the Family, Maude, Sanford and Son, One Day at a Time, The Jeffersons, and Good Times.

Lear was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 1999, feted at the Kennedy Center Honors in 2017, and bestowed the Carol Burnett Award at the Golden Globes in 2021. He was also a member of the Television Academy Hall of Fame.

He is survived by his third wife Lyn Davis and six children.