| Ed Friendly | |
|---|---|
| |
| Ed Friendly served as an executive producer for the NBC-TV series Little House on the Prairie. | |
| Personal Information | |
| Also known as: | "Ed" (nickname) |
| Sex/Gender: | Male |
| Birthname: | Edwin Samson Friendly, Jr.[1] |
| Alias(es): | "Ed" (nickname) |
| Born: | April 8, 1922 |
| Birthplace: | New York City, NY, U.S. |
| Died: | June 17, 2007 (aged 85) |
| Deathplace: | Rancho Santa Fe, CA, U.S. |
| Occupation: | Television producer |
| Years active: | 1949-2005 |
| Best known for: | also co-creating/creating and developing Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In and Backstairs at the White House series |
| Family/Relatives: | daughter Brooke, son Edwin III, 3 grandchildren with Coulson |
| Spouse (s): | Paula Zinnemann (2003 - 2007) (his death) Natalie Brooks Coulson[1] (1952 - 2002) (her death) (2 children) |
| Series Information | |
| Job on/with series/film: | Executive producer |
| Appeared on/involved with: | Little House on the Prairie |
| Episodes involved with/appearances: | all 205 in series |
Ed Friendly (born April 8, 1922-died June 17, 2007) served as co-executive producer of NBC-TV's Little House on the Prairie series with creator Blanche Hanalis and series co-star Michael Landon. He was responsible for creating several successful television programs including NBC-TV's Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In comedy-variety series, and Backstairs at the White House miniseries.[2]
Life and career[]
Born Edwin Samson Friendly in New York City, Ed Friendly served with the United States Army in the Pacific Theater of Operations during World War II. After the war, he worked at the advertising agency of Batten, Barton, Durstine & Osborn. He began his television career in 1949, working for ABC as director of sales before moving to CBS as a contract producer and then, in 1959, to NBC as vice president of special programs.[2]
Friendly moved to California in 1967 where he co-formed, with wife Natalie, his own production company, Ed Friendly Productions, Inc. He received the Western Heritage Award from the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in 1975 for Little House on the Prairie and in 1978 for Peter Lundy and the Medicine Hat Stallion, an adaptation of the 1972 children's novel San Domingo, the Medicine Hat Stallion by Marguerite Henry.
Personal/Family life[]
With his wife Natalie, Friendly was well known on the Southern California Thoroughbred racing circuit. Among his successful horses were Friendly Michelle, Gray Slewpy and Vivid Angel. He had purchased his first racehorse about 1970 in partnership with his close friend, actor Lorne Greene, and later often owned more than 60 horses at a time. [2]
Ed married Natalie, formerly Natalie Brooks Coulson[1] on January 31, 1952; the couple remained married for 50 years, until her death on May 9, 2002. They had 2 children; their daugher, Brooke Friendly, [3] is the director of the Ashland Center for Theatre Studies at Southern Oregon University.
Their son Edwin S. Friendly III, who is known as "Trip", is a former Ticketmaster International executive who had been developing projects with his father. [2] After his first wife's passing, Friendly married the former Zinnemann on November 27, 2003; they remained married until his death.
Death[]
Friendly died in 2002 at his home in Rancho Santa Fe, CA [2] He was survived by his second wife, Paula, his children, and three granddaughters. [3]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Natalie (Brooks) Coulson Friendly Obituary. geni.com.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Los Angeles Times, "Ed Friendly, 85; helped bring 'Laugh-In' and 'Little House' to TV" June 20, 2007
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 LA Times Obituary: Natalie B. Friendly. Los Angeles Times (www.legacy.com) (May 19, 2002).
External links[]
Ed Friendly at the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)
- Ed Friendly article at Wikipedia
