Richard Friedenberg
Friedenberg received two Emmy Awards for writing and coproducing and a WGA Award nomination for Best Teleplay for the Hallmark Hall of Fame production, Promise, starring James Garner and James Woods. This sensitive story of a man's love for his schizophrenic brother won the Peabody Award, and additional Emmys were awarded to the director and to stars James Woods and Piper Laurie.
Born in Westchester, New York, Friedenberg studied English literature at the University of Michigan and did graduate work at the Sorbonne in Paris. After returning to Boston, where he was raised, Friedenberg joined an educational film company where his duties included everything from writing to directing. At another educational film company in Salt Lake City, Friedenberg began directing both television and lowbudget films. After moving to Los Angeles, Friedenberg wrote Bitter Harvest, a television movie starring Ron Howard, for which he won the WGA Award for Best Teleplay and received his first Emmy nomination in the same category.
His 1991 original script Dying Young starred Julia Roberts. Friedenberg also wrote and directed the 1996 Showtime original movie Mr. and Mrs. Loving. In 1992, Friedenberg toured Somalia for the United Nations and his journal was published in The Village Voice.
Richard Friedenberg Facts
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