Peg Yorkin

Peg Yorkin, a self-described 1950s housewife who transformed herself into a leading feminist organizer and philanthropist, campaigning to expand access to abortion and to elect more women to political office, died June 25 2023 at her home in Malibu, Calif. She was 96. She had dementia, said her daughter, Nicole Yorkin. As the longtime chair and co-founder of the Feminist Majority Foundation, or FMF, Ms. Yorkin called on women to “turn our rage into direct action,” urging supporters to join her in promoting women’s equality and empowerment, including through access to safe and affordable reproductive health care. As chair of the FMF, which is headquartered in Arlington, Va., Ms. Yorkin worked on a host of feminist projects. Ms. Yorkin helped launch the group’s Feminization of Power campaign in 1987. Drawing on her own personal fortune, which stemmed from a divorce settlement with the television writer and producer Bud Yorkin, Ms. Yorkin also donated to individual candidates. Ms. Yorkin was born in New York City on April 16, 1927, to Frank and Dora Diem, a photographer and an actress. She enrolled at Barnard College at 16, dropped out after two years and trained at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre, learning from instructors including Martha Graham and Sanford Meisner before landing small roles on television and in summer stock theater. After her marriage in 1950 to Newton Arnold, she moved to Los Angeles, where her husband became an assistant director. They divorced in 1952. Two years later, she married Bud Yorkin. While he worked on movies and TV specials, she focused on their children, David and Nicole. While her husband forged an acclaimed partnership with Norman Lear, working on 1970s sitcoms including “All in the Family” and “The Jeffersons,” Ms. Yorkin became involved in the local arts scene. Then, in 1984, her marriage unraveled. Her husband said he wanted a divorce, and two years later they finalized their separation. In addition to her daughter, survivors include her son and four grandchildren.