'Transformers' and 'G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero' Writer Ron Friedman Has Passed Away At The Age Of 93

TV & Film

Sep 24

Friedman giving an interview for Television Academy Foundation — Image Source: Television Academy Foundation

Ronald I. Friedman passed away at the age of 93 on September 15 at the Motion Picture and Television Fund in Woodland Hills. He died from cardiopulmonary arrest. Friedman was born in 1932 in West Virginia and then raised in Pittsburgh. He attended Carnegie Mellon and received a B.A. in architecture. Friedman had an expensive career in writing. As a member of the Writers Guild of America, he contributed to classic shows like The Andy Griffith Show, Bewitched, Gilligan’s Island, The Odd Couple, Happy Days, My Favorite Martian, Get Smart, I Dream of Jeannie, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, The Partridge Family, The Good Guys, and That’s My Mama.

Friedman’s work on The Danny Kaye Show earned him a Primetime Emmy in 1966. His career continued with the television shows Chico and the Man, Starsky and Hutch, The Fall Guy, and Fantasy Island. In the 80s and 90s, Friedman became well-known as a writer for animated projects such as The Transformers: The Movie, Marvel Action Hour, G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, and Marvel’s Fantastic Four and Iron Man series, both released in 1994, as well as the animated sitcom Taz-Mania, which ran for four years from 1991 to 1995. Friedman is survived by his wife, Val.