Born in New York City. Early in his career, Friedman worked for a NYC company called Magazine Management that among other things actually wrote fake celebrity stories for fan magazines. His co-workers there included not just one but two other writers who went on to pen their own best-sellers, Mario Puzo and Dorothy Gallagher. Friedman has written a number of plays (e.g., Scuba Duba, 1967 and Steambath, 1970). as well as short stories, novels and screenplays. Notable screen credits include THE HEARTBREAK KID (1972 & 2007 - story "A Change of Plan"), FORE PLAY (1975 - story), STIR CRAZY (1980), DOCTOR DETROIT (1983 - story) and THE LONELY GUY (1984 - book The Lonely Guy's Book of Life), and the screen story and screenplay for SPLASH (1984). Friedman has appeared on-camera in ANOTHER WOMAN (1988), HUSBANDS AND WIVES (1992), and 54, CELEBRITY, and YOU'VE GOT MAIL (all 1998). Father of actor Josh Alan Friedman.  Nominated for Writing (Best Screenplay written directly for the screen) 1984: SPLASH (w. Lowell Ganz, Babaloo Mandel & Brian Grazer) 1 nomination