---
name: "Stephen J. Friedman"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/stephen-j-friedman"
roles: ["Producer"]
born: "15 March 1937"
died: "4 October 1996"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
updated: "2026-09-16T10:17:24.075928+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."
---

# Stephen J. Friedman

Producer. Born 15 March 1937 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. Died 4 October 1996.

## Details

- **Work:** Producer
- **Born:** 15 March 1937, Brooklyn, New York, USA
- **Died:** 4 October 1996

## Biography

Stephen J. Friedman was an American film producer. Born in Brooklyn, New York, he graduated from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard Law School. He began his career as an entertainment attorney for studios including Columbia Pictures and Paramount before moving into production.

Friedman acquired the rights to Larry McMurtry's novel and produced *The Last Picture Show* (1971), which received eight Academy Award nominations including Best Picture. He went on to produce films such as *Slap Shot* (1977), *All of Me* (1984), *Enemy Mine* (1985) and *The Big Easy* (1986). In 1980 he founded Kings Road Entertainment, one of the first independent production companies to raise substantial funding through a publicly traded entity.

Friedman died in Brentwood, California, in 1996.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, nytimes.com.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *The Last Picture Show* (1971), Fi1m 89, Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/the-last-picture-show.md)

## Also known for

- *Enemy Mine* (1985), Producer
- *Slap Shot* (1977), Producer
- *All of Me* (1984), Producer
- *Eye of the Needle* (1981), Producer
- *The Big Easy* (1986), Producer
- *Kickboxer 2: The Road Back* (1991), Producer
- *Kickboxer 4: The Aggressor* (1994), Producer
- *Kickboxer 3: The Art of War* (1992), Producer

---
© 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/stephen-j-friedman