But what the legendary producer really relishes is going to work, and at age 97, Lear is enjoying yet another career renaissance. He won an Emmy on Sept. 14 (making him the oldest winner ever) for "Live in Front of a Studio Audience," which ABC recently renewed for two more specials. His "One Day at a Time" remake, which had been canceled by Netflix, scored a fourth season at new home Pop TV and is back in production. And with partner Brent Miller, he's got a number of projects in the pipeline — both original ideas and fresh takes on his classic library.

Lear and Miller have been so prolific that Sony, which owns much of the Lear catalog (through Columbia Pictures' 1985 acquisition of his Embassy Communications), recently renewed its overall deal with Lear's Act III Prods. That will keep him busy, and ensconced on the studio's Culver City lot, right up to his 100th birthday.

"He's not resting on his laurels," says Sony Pictures Entertainment CEO Tony Vinciquerra. "Whenever I see him, every few weeks, he always asks me, 'What more can we do? What should we be doing with our library?'"