Stephen J. Friedman (producer)
Stephen J. Friedman | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 15, 1937 Brooklyn, New York |
| Died | October 4, 1996 (aged 59) |
| Occupation | Film producer |
Stephen Jay Friedman (March 15, 1937 – October 4, 1996) was an American film producer known for The Last Picture Show (1971) and The Big Easy (1986). In 1980, he formed Kings Road Entertainment[1]—named after the West Hollywood street where he lived—making him one of the first independent film producers to raise substantial film funding through a publicly traded company.
Early life
Born in Brooklyn, New York, Friedman graduated from Midwood High School in Brooklyn, the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and then obtained a law degree at Harvard University.[2] He began his legal career with the Federal Trade Commission,[1] then went to work as an entertainment attorney for Columbia Pictures and Paramount Studios.[3]
Career
Anxious to be a producer, Friedman acquired the film rights to the 1966 novel The Last Picture Show by Larry McMurtry. The film was nominated for eight Oscars, including the Academy Award for Best Picture. Three years later he scripted and produced Lovin' Molly, also adapted from a McMurtry novel, and followed this with producing credits on Slap Shot (1977), Fast Break (1979), Hero at Large (1980), Little Darlings (1980), The Incubus (1981), and Eye of the Needle (1981).
Friedman's first film produced in conjunction with Kings Road Entertainment was All of Me with Steve Martin and Lily Tomlin. Additional credits at Kings Road include The Best of Times (1986) with Robin Williams and Kurt Russell, The Big Easy (1987, nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Film) with Dennis Quaid and Ellen Barkin, Jacknife (1989) with Robert De Niro and Ed Harris, and Kickboxer (1989) with Jean-Claude Van Damme. His final project was Mother (1996) with Albert Brooks and Debbie Reynolds.
Death
Friedman died of multiple myeloma at home in Brentwood, California at the age of 59.[3]
Selected filmography
- The Last Picture Show (1971)
- Lovin' Molly (1974)
- Slap Shot (1977)
- Bloodbrothers (1978)
- The President's Mistress (1978)
- Fast Break (1979)
- Hero at Large (1980)
- Little Darlings (1980)
- Eye of the Needle (1981)
- The Incubus (1982)
- All of Me (1984)
- Creator (1985)
- Enemy Mine (1985)
- Touch and Go (1986)
- The Big Easy (1986)
- Morgan Stewart's Coming Home (1987)
- The Night Before (1988)
- There Goes the Neighborhood (1992)
- Mother (1996)
References
- ^ a b "Kings Road Entertainment website". Archived from the original on May 2, 2009. Retrieved February 25, 2009.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ [1]
- ^ a b New York Times obituary, October 14, 1996
External links
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
- Film producers from New York (state)
- New York (state) lawyers
- American male screenwriters
- People from Brooklyn
- Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania alumni
- Harvard Law School alumni
- Deaths from multiple myeloma
- 1937 births
- 1996 deaths
- Deaths from cancer in California
- 20th-century American businesspeople
- Screenwriters from New York (state)
- 20th-century American male writers