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Bruce Jay Friedman

 
American Author: Bruce Jay Friedman
Home > Library > Literature & Language > American Authors

  • Born: April 26, 1930
  • Birthplace: New York, NY

Bruce Jay Friedman has published seven novels, four collections of short stories, four plays, and numerous articles, but he is best known for his screenplays. Some of the more famous ones include, Stir Crazy (1981), Doctor Detroit (1983), and Splash (1984), for which he won an Academy Award nomination and the New York Film Critics Circle Award. He is known for his black humor and satiric, surrealistic style. His book, The Lonely Guy’s Book of Life (1982), provided the basis for Steve Martin’s film, The Lonely Guy (1984). Friedman has also written for television, and has acted in Husbands and Wives (1992), Celebrity (1998), and You've Got Mail (1998).

Most Famous Works

  • Stern (19620
  • Steambath (1970)
  • The Owl and the Pussycat (screenplay – 1971)
  • Splash (1984)
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Works: Works by Bruce Jay Friedman
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(b. 1930)

1962Stern. The New York City native's first novel introduces his characteristic black humor in looking at the lives of American Jews. It would be followed by his first story collection, Far from the City of Class (1963), as well as A Mother's Kiss (1964) and The Dick (1970).
1968Scuba Duba. Friedman's first produced play wins the Obie Award for its comic deflation of a Jewish liberal intellectual whose wife is having an affair. It would be followed in 1970 by Steambath, in which God is portrayed by a Puerto Rican steamroom attendant.
1996A Father's Kisses. Friedman's story of a dim-witted widower who becomes a professional hit man is a witty and modern comic novel.

Wikipedia: Bruce Jay Friedman
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Bruce Jay Friedman (born April 26, 1930) is an American novelist, screenwriter, and playwright.

Raised in the Bronx by Irving and Mollie (Liebowitz) Friedman, Bruce Jay Friedman graduated from DeWitt Clinton High School.[1] He then attended the University of Missouri as a journalism major, then served as a First Lieutenant in the United States Air Force from 1951 to 1953. In 1954, he married the model (now an acting coach and writer) Ginger Howard. In the same year, Friedman worked for many of the era's famous men's magazines through Magazine Management Company. Friedman ended up as an executive editor in charge of the magazines Men (not the present magazine of the same title), Male, and Man's World.

In 1962, Friedman published Stern, the first of his eight novels. His latest collection of short fiction, Three Balconies, appeared in September 2008, from Biblioasis.

Contents

Personal life

With former wife Ginger, Friedman had three children: writer and musician Josh Alan Friedman, cartoonist Drew Friedman, and photographer Kipp Friedman. With his second wife, educator Patricia J. O'Donohue, Friedman has one daughter, writer Molly Friedman. Friedman currently resides in New York City.

Bibliography

Novels

  • A Father's Kisses (1996)
  • The Current Climate (1989)
  • Tokyo Woes (1985)
  • About Harry Towns (1974)
  • The Dick (1970)
  • A Mother's Kisses (1964)
  • Stern (1962) - named by John Kennedy Toole, author of A Confederacy of Dunces, as his favourite modern novel.
  • Violencia!: A Musical Novel (2002)

Short fiction

  • Let's Hear It for a Beautiful Guy
  • Black Angels
  • Far from the City of Class
  • Black Humor: Anthology
  • The Collected Short Fiction of Bruce Jay Friedman
  • Sexual Pensees
  • Three Balconies: Stories and a Novella (2008)
  • A Change of Plan (filmed as The Heartbreak Kid)

For the screen

For the stage

  • Scuba Duba
  • Steambath
  • Have You Spoken to Any Jews Lately?

Non-fiction

References

  1. ^ Greenfield, Josh. "Bruce Jay Friedman Is Hanging by His Thumbs", The New York Times, January 14, 1968. Accessed September 15, 2009. "While attending DeWitt Clinton High School, Friedman became interested in writing for the first time."

External links


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