"The most important thing about a TV set is to get it back against something and not out in the middle of a room where it's like a somber fellow making electronic judgments on you." -- Bruce Jay Friedman
Bruce Jay Friedman (born April 26, 1930) is an American novelist, screenwriter, playwright, and actor.
Raised in the Bronx by Irving and Mollie (Liebowitz) Friedman, Bruce Jay Friedman graduated from DeWitt Clinton High School. 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. In 1988, he appeared in a film by Woody Allen, "Another Woman." His latest collection of short fiction, Three Balconies, appeared in September 2008, from Biblioasis.
"A Code of Honor: Never approach a friend's girlfriend or wife with mischief as your goal. There are just too many women in the world to justify that sort of dishonorable behavior. Unless she's really attractive.""Never be possessive. If a female friend lets on that she is going out with another man, be kind and understanding. If she says she would like to go out with the Dallas Cowboys, including the coaching staff, the same rule applies."
Friedman had three children with wife Ginger Howard: writer, musician Josh Alan Friedman, cartoonist Drew Friedman, and photographer Kipp Friedman. He has one daughter...writer Molly Friedman...with second wife Patricia J. O'Donohue. Friedman currently resides in New York City.