Biography
Gil Friesen was an American music executive and film producer. He served as president of A&M Records from 1977 until the label's sale in 1990, having joined the company early in its history after starting in the mailroom at Capitol Records.
He established A&M Films in 1981 and worked as executive producer on The Breakfast Club (1985), Better Off Dead... (1985) and One Crazy Summer (1986). Friesen produced Blaze (1989) and the documentary 20 Feet from Stardom (2013), which he initiated and which won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature after his death.
Friesen died of leukaemia on 13 December 2012.
