‘All In The Family’ and ‘The Jeffersons’ Legend Dies: Mike Milligan Was 77

Mike Milligan, a TV writer and producer whose credits include hit shows like All in the Family and The Jeffersons, has died. Milligan died of acute respiratory failure at his home in West Hills, California on Friday, Dec. 20, his representative confirmed to Deadline. He was 77.

Born Bernard Michael Milligan on Jan. 28, 1947, in Los Angeles, Milligan graduated from Loyola Marymount University and later served in the Air Force, where he was stationed in Massachusetts and served as a clerk typist. He eventually found his way into TV writing and producing and was a member of the Writers Guild of America for more than 50 years.

Together with his writing partner Jay Moriarty, Milligan received an NAACP Image Award for their writing and producing work on The Jeffersons. The Emmy-winning sitcom premiered on CBS in 1975 as one of the first American sitcoms to tackle such topics such as suicide and white supremacy. The series also featured the first-ever TV episode to feature a trans character. The series, which won two Emmys, ran until 1985.

The Jeffersons served as a spinoff to Lear’s All In the Family, which Milligan and Moriarty had also served as writers for and had aired for nine seasons from 1971 until 1979. Four decades after the series wrapped, the pair’s All in the Family Season 7, Episode 15 script titled “The Draft Dodger,” originally written and premiered as a Christmas episode in 1976, was read verbatim in the 2019 ABC TV special, Live in Front of a Studio Audience by Lear and Jimmy Kimmel. The telecast also featured Woody Harrelson as Archie Bunker and Morisa Tomei as Edith, and received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Special.

Milligan and Moriarty also served as co-writers and executive producers on NBC’s Here and Now. Starring Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Charles Brown, Daryl Mitchell and Rachael Crawford, the series premiered in 1992. The pair also wrote and produced hit shows like Good Times, What’s Happening Now, Maude, Dear John, and Melba. Milligan also created and wrote the original Telemundo series Los Beltrán with Carlos Bermudez. The show, which ran from 1990 until 2001, received an Alma Award for best comedy series, a Golden Eagle Award for outstanding comedy series, an Imagen Foundation Award for best comedy series, and a GLADD Award nomination.

Milligan is survived by his wife Jill; his son John, his stepdaughters, Dionn Avant and Mischon Beneda; his sister Jeri; and his five granddaughters.