---
name: "Joel Freeman"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/joel-freeman"
fi1m_id: "joel-freeman"
imdb_id: "nm0293446"
tmdb_id: 6568
roles: ["Producer"]
born: "12 June 1922"
died: "21 January 2018"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 3
average_as: "producer"
average_over: 1
updated: "2026-09-26T17:25:08.787583+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Joel Freeman

## Identity

Joel Freeman

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/joel-freeman
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** joel-freeman
- **IMDb ID:** nm0293446
- **TMDB ID:** 6568
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0293446/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/6568

Producer. Born 12 June 1922 in Irvington, New Jersey, USA. Died 21 January 2018.

## Details

- **Work:** Producer
- **Born:** 12 June 1922, Irvington, New Jersey, USA
- **Died:** 21 January 2018
- **Active:** 1949–1971
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 3: 1 producing, 2 crew
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1940s 82 (1), 1950s 86 (1), 1970s 72 (1)
- **Elsewhere:** https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0293446/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/6568

## Streaming the US now

- **The Roku Channel:** [*Shaft*](https://film.one/film/shaft.md) (72)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Biography

Joel Freeman was an American film producer and production executive. Born in Irvington, New Jersey, he began his career at MGM as a messenger in the 1940s and worked as an assistant director and production supervisor on numerous films, including *Bad Day at Black Rock* (1955) and *Camelot* (1967). He was the nephew of MGM production head Dore Schary and served in the US Air Force during the Second World War with the First Motion Picture Unit.

As a producer, Freeman is best known for *Shaft* (1971), for which he received the NAACP Image Award as Producer of the Year. He also produced or executive-produced *The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter* (1968), *Love at First Bite* (1979), *The Octagon* (1980) and *Soapdish* (1991). He received a Directors Guild of America award for his work on *Bad Day at Black Rock* and a lifetime membership award from the Producers Guild of America.

Freeman died in Sherman Oaks, California, in 2018.

*Sources: hollywoodreporter.com, variety.com, deadline.com, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (3)

### Produced (1) — the average rests on these

- *Shaft* (1971), Fi1m 72, Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/shaft.md)

### Crew (2)

- *Bad Day at Black Rock* (1955), Fi1m 86, Assistant Director — [page](https://film.one/film/bad-day-at-black-rock.md)
- *Adam's Rib* (1949), Fi1m 82, Assistant Director — [page](https://film.one/film/adams-rib.md)

## Complete filmography (37)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Soapdish* (1991), Co-Producer, Unit Production Manager
- *The Kindred* (1987), Executive Producer
- *The Octagon* (1980), Producer
- *Love at First Bite* (1979), Producer
- *It Happened One Christmas* (1977), Executive In Charge Of Production
- *Trouble Man* (1972), Producer
- *Shaft* (1971), Producer — Fi1m 72, [page](https://film.one/film/shaft.md)
- *Weekend of Terror* (1970), Producer
- *Camelot* (1967), Associate Producer, Production Supervisor
- *Not With My Wife, You Don't!* (1966), Associate Producer
- *A Big Hand for the Little Lady* (1966), Associate Producer, Production Supervisor
- *Rendezvous in Space* (1964), Assistant Director
- *Act One* (1963), Production Supervisor
- *12 to the Moon* (1960), Production Supervisor
- *Lonelyhearts* (1959), Production Supervisor
- *Tea and Sympathy* (1956), Assistant Director
- *It's a Dog's Life* (1955), Assistant Director
- *Bad Day at Black Rock* (1955), Assistant Director — Fi1m 86, [page](https://film.one/film/bad-day-at-black-rock.md)
- *Green Fire* (1954), Assistant Director
- *Valley of the Kings* (1954), Assistant Director
- *Men of the Fighting Lady* (1954), Assistant Director
- *Tennessee Champ* (1954), Assistant Director
- *The Long, Long Trailer* (1954), Assistant Director
- *The Affairs of Dobie Gillis* (1953), Assistant Director
- *Cry of the Hunted* (1953), Assistant Director
- *Jeopardy* (1953), Assistant Director
- *Plymouth Adventure* (1952), Assistant Director
- *Desperate Search* (1952), Assistant Director
- *Holiday for Sinners* (1952), Assistant Director
- *The Tall Target* (1951), Assistant Director
- *The Magnificent Yankee* (1950), Assistant Director
- *Summer Stock* (1950), Assistant Director
- *Adam's Rib* (1949), Assistant Director — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/adams-rib.md)
- *Easy Living* (1949), Assistant Director
- *The Set-Up* (1949), Assistant Director
- *Station West* (1948), Assistant Director
- *Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House* (1948), Assistant Director

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/joel-freeman