User:Joshwand/sandbox/Jerrold Freedman
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Jerrold Freedman (aka J.F. Freedman) is an award-winning film-maker and international best-selling author.
As a film-maker, he has written, directed, and produced numerous television and theatrical movies and television series, including The X-Files, Kojak, The Bold Ones, and Night Gallery, and the pilot for the original MacGyver.
Writing under his initials, J. F. Freedman, he has published a dozen novels which have been translated into more than twenty languages and have sold over a million copies.
Early Life and Education[edit]
Jerrold Frank Freedman was born on October 29, 1941, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is the oldest of three children; his brother is David Freedman, a lawyer, and his sister is Sara Freedman, an educator.
In 1947, the Freedman family relocated to the town of Bladensburg, in Prince Georges County, Maryland. Freedman attended the local schools for twelve years, graduating from high school in 1959. He then went to the University of Pennsylvania, receiving a BA in English Literature and an MA in Communications from the university’s Annenberg School of Communication. As an undergraduate he shared the school’s creative writing award with MacArthur Genius Grant winner John Edgar Wideman. One of his classmates and friends at Annenberg was famed photographer Mary Ellen Mark. During his time at Annenberg, Freedman directed public service programs at television station WHYY. After graduation he served in the U.S. Army as a medical lab technician, stationed at Ft. Knox, KY.
Television and Movies[edit]
After leaving the Army, Freedman was hired by the head of Universal Studios, Lew Wasserman, to be a television production trainee. Among his mentors were renowned film-maker John Cassavetes, director Stuart Rosenberg (Cool Hand Luke), producer Roy Huggins (Maverick, The Fugitive), and Emmy and Academy Award-winning writer Abby Mann (Judgment at Nuremberg, Atlanta Child Murders). Four years later, Sidney Sheinberg, head of Universal Television, selected Freedman to produce The Protectors, part of The Bold Ones television cycle. At that time he was the youngest producer in television.
When The Protectors ended, Freedman wrote the pilot script for the television series The Psychiatrist. The teleplay was nominated for an Emmy for Best Writing for a Drama Series. Freedman produced the series. He also wrote and directed episodes of the show, one of which, Par For The Course, which he co-wrote with his associate producer, Bo May, won the Writer’s Guild of America award for best dramatic episode. During that period Freedman also wrote and directed episodes of The Senator, Night Gallery and Kojak.
(Par For The Course was directed by a young friend of Freedman’s, Steven Spielberg. They met when Spielberg was seventeen. A few years later, Spielberg signed a long-term directing deal with Universal. After directing a segment of the Night Gallery pilot, Spielberg wasn’t able to get other producers to hire him, until Freedman did for The Psychiatrist. From there Spielberg went on to direct the landmark television movie Duel, which led to his association with the Zanuck/Brown production company, and Jaws followed.)
After leaving Universal, Freedman wrote, directed, and produced over twenty theatrical and television films. Among the notable actors Freedman directed were Robert Mitchum, Charles Bronson, Ben Johnson, Eli Wallach, Joanne Woodward, Ed Harris, Hal Holbrook, Oprah Winfrey, Elizabeth McGovern, Matt Dillon, Robert Urich, Wilford Brimley, and Geraldine Page.
Literary Career[edit]
In 1987, Freedman took a creative writing extension course at UCSB. Over the next three years, when not working on television and film projects, Freedman completed the novel he’d started in the class. In 1990, Against The Wind was sold to Penguin Books after a spirited auction [1]. An article in the Wall Street Journal stated that the advance payment Against The Wind was the highest ever given to a first-time novelist. It became an international best-seller. Since then, Freedman has published many highly-regarded best-selling books, including House Of Smoke, The Disappearance, Above The Law, and Bird’s-Eye View. His most recent book, The Deer Killer, was published in 2020.
Personal Life[edit]
Freedman and his wife, award-winning novelist Christine Bell (The Perez Family, Grievance), live on the central California coast.
Books[edit]
| Year | Title |
|---|---|
| 2020 | The Deer Killer |
| 2014 | Turn Left at Doheny |
| 2008 | In My Dark Dreams |
| 2006 | A Killing in the Valley |
| 2003 | Fallen Idols |
| 2001 | Bird's-Eye View |
| 2000 | Above the Law |
| 1998 | The Disappearance |
| 1997 | Key Witness |
| 1996 | House of Smoke |
| 1994 | The Obstacle Course |
| 1991 | Against the Wind |
Film and Television[edit]
Awards[edit]
| Year | Award | Work | Nominated/Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | Primetime Emmy - Outstanding Writing Achievement in Drama | The Psychiatrist (1970) | Nominated |
| 1972 | Writers Guild of America Award - Episodic Drama | The Psychiatrist (1970) | Won |
| 1974 | Edgar Allan Poe Awards - Best Television Episode | Kojak (1973) | Nominated |
Director[edit]
| Year | Type | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | TV Movie | The O.J. Simpson Story | (as Alan Smithee) |
| 1993-1994 | TV Series | The X-Files | (2 episodes) |
| 1992 | TV Movie | Condition: Critical | |
| 1990 | TV Movie | Goodnight Sweet Wife: A Murder in Boston | |
| 1989 | TV Movie | Night Walk | |
| 1989 | TV Movie | The Comeback | |
| 1988 | TV Movie | Unholy Matrimony | |
| 1987 | TV Movie | Family Sins | |
| 1986 | Film | Native Son | |
| 1986 | TV Movie | Thompson's Last Run | |
| 1986 | TV Series | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | (1 episode) |
| 1985 | TV Series | MacGyver | (1 episode) |
| 1985 | TV Movie | Seduced | |
| 1984 | TV Movie | Best Kept Secrets | |
| 1984 | TV Movie | The Seduction of Gina | |
| 1983 | TV Movie | Legs | |
| 1982 | TV Movie | Victims | |
| 1980 | Film | Borderline | |
| 1980 | TV Movie | The Boy Who Drank Too Much | |
| 1979 | TV Movie | The Streets of L.A. | |
| 1979 | TV Movie | Some Kind of Miracle | |
| 1978 | TV Movie | Lawman Without a Gun | |
| 1974 | TV Movie | The Last Angry Man | |
| 1973 | TV Movie | Blood Sport | |
| 1973 | TV Movie | A Cold Night's Death | |
| 1972 | Film | Kansas City Bomber |
Writer[edit]
| 1983 | TV Movie | Legs | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Film | Borderline | |
| 1978 | TV Movie | Lawman Without a Gun | |
| 1978 | TV Movie | Betrayal | |
| 1973 | TV Series | Kojak | (story - 1 episode, 1977) (written by - 1 episode, 1973) |
| 1973 | TV Movie | Blood Sport | |
| 1972 | TV Series | Jigsaw | |
| 1971 | TV Series | Night Gallery | (teleplay - 1 episode) |
| 1970 | TV Series | The Psychiatrist | (2 episodes, 1971) (teleplay - 1 episode, 1970) |
| 1971 | TV Series | The Bold Ones: The Senator | (writer - 1 episode) |
| 1969-1970 | TV Series | The Bold Ones: The Protectors | (story - 2 episodes) |
Producer[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ Reynolds, Christopher (6 September 1991). "Writes of Passage : It Looks As If Director Jerry Freedman Has Another Hit: His Novel". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
External links[edit]