Mike Milligan, screenwriter and producer of “The Jeffersons” and “All in the Family,” dies at 77

Mike Milligan, an American television screenwriter and producer whose credits include “All in the Family” and “The Jeffersons,” has died. He was 77 years old.

Milligan died of acute respiratory failure at his home in West Hills, California, on December 20, according to a public relations representative.

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Milligan was a noted member of the Writers Guild of America for more than 50 years. With writing partner Jay Moriarty, Milligan wrote and produced such hit television shows as “Good Times,” “What’s Happening Now,” “Maude,” “Dear John,” “Here and Now” and “Melba.” .

Both Milligan and Moriarty received an NAACP Image Award for their writing and producing work on the Emmy Award-winning sitcom “The Jeffersons.” The show was one of the first American sitcoms to tackle topics such as suicide, transgender identity, and white supremacy.

In 1992, the duo served as co-writers and executive producers on NBC’s “Here and Now” with Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Charles Brown, Daryl Mitchell and Rachael Crawford. In 2019, an episode of “All in the Family” titled “The Draft Dodger”, originally written and created as a holiday episode in 1976, was retold verbatim in the ABC special “Live in Front of a Studio Audience” with Norman. Lear and Jimmy Kimmel. The TV show, which starred Woody Harrelson as Archie Bunker and Morisa Tomei as Edith, received an Emmy for Outstanding Variety Special.

Milligan was born in Los Angeles on January 28, 1947. A graduate of Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, he joined the Air Force as a typist to stay ahead of the draft during the Vietnam War.

Milligan is survived by his wife Jill, his son John, his sister Jeri and his five granddaughters.

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