David Freedman (April 26, 1898 – December 8, 1936) (aged 38) was a Romanian-born American playwright and biographer who became known as the "King of the Gag-writers" in the early days of radio.
David Freedman was born in Botoşani, Romania, as the first child and only son of Sara and Israel Freedman. Israel, a political refugee, immigrated with his young family to the United States in 1900, where four years later, David's sister Sophie became the first Freedman born in the U.S.
Freedman graduated from the City College of New York in 1918, the first in his family to complete a formal education beyond high school. In September 1918, he married Beatrice (née Rebecca Goodman), a fellow New Yorker, who was born in the city on September 27, 1899 (her parents had fled from Kishinev, Russian Empire). Within five years they had three sons, Benedict (1919–2012), Noel (1922–2008, later adopted name David Noel), and Toby (1924–2011). A decade later their only daughter, who is now known as Laurie Hayden, arrived.
From 1924 on, Freedman was a self-employed writer. He created sketches for musicals and had shows on Broadway almost every year from 1926 through 1937. His novel Mendel Marantz (1925) featured a Jewish father who frequently made witty remarks. His first play, Mendel, Inc., debuted in 1929. When radio replaced vaudeville, Freedman—who already enjoyed a reputation as a popular, versatile writer—was ready for the new medium. He was prolific, creating as many as six entertainment programs a week for several years, and eventually worked in movies as well.
Freedman was also a biographer and wrote about industry insiders. His first biography, the Eddie Cantor memoir My Life Is in Your Hands (1928, "as told to" Freedman by Cantor), became a bestseller. Freedman and Cantor collaborated on a biography of showman Florenz Ziegfeld; Ziegfeld: the Great Glorifier (1934) was used for the film Ziegfeld Follies (1945). Similarly, Phantom Fame which he co-authored with the impresario Harry Reichenbach (1931) became the basis for the movie The Half-Naked Truth (1932).
In the mid-1930s Freedman contributed scripts for short comedies produced by Educational Pictures in New York. The best known is probably Blue Blazes (1936), starring Buster Keaton as an inept fireman.
Freedman suffered a massive heart attack on the evening of Monday, December 7, 1936. By the morning of the 8th, he was dead, leaving Beatrice, his partner of 18 years, and their four children, who ranged in age from just under 17 to just under 2 years.
LegacyEdit
According to his son, David Noel Freedman, it is unlikely that contemporary audiences would appreciate most of David Freedman's work (though his jokes about the stock market still ring true), because most of his jokes played on the peculiarities and sensitivities of his era. Freedman's stories, however, have a timeless quality. As the years passed, his family honored his memory with the posthumous publication of The Intellectual Lover (1940, repr. 2007), a collection of short stories that were originally published individually between 1922 and 1928.
Of the countless pieces Freedman wrote between 1920 and 1936, Mendel, Inc. (1929) is the only fully realized play. A product of the beginning of his brief career, it embodies the mature thoughts of a humorist/playwright. On June 2, 2004, this classic comedy about an immigrant Jewish family living in the uncertain times of 1929 of the Lower East Side was read to a packed house at the North Coast Repertory Theatre in Solana Beach, California. Mendel, Inc. was used as the basis for the 1932 Warner Brothers movie The Heart of New York. a vehicle for Jewish-dialect comedians Smith and Dale, with comedian George Sidney as Mendel Marantz.
Four books by Freedman were translated into Russian and published by Ogonyok in 1926; they enjoyed tremendous popularity for a short period, and Mendel's witty "definitions" were quoted everywhere, but within a year they were eclipsed by the comic writings of Ilf and Petrov and Mikhail Zoshchenko, and soon were forgotten, although Anatoly Rybakov has a character quote Mendel in Children of the Arbat (set in 1933).[1] His novel Mendel Marantz was republished as an audiobook in Russian in 2011, narrated by noted actors Klara Novikova, Leonid Kanevsky and others.[2]
A fictionalized version of David Freedman appears as Harry Goldhandler in the novel Inside, Outside by Herman Wouk.
WritingsEdit
BooksEdit
The Intellectual Lover and Other Stories (1940 and 1986)
Ziegfeld: the Great Glorifier (1934)
Your Next President! (1932)
Phantom Fame: The Anatomy of Ballyhoo (1931)
Yoo-Hoo Prosperity! The Eddie Cantor Five-year Plan (1931)
Between the Acts (1930)
Caught Short! a Saga of Wailing Wall Street (1929)
^Alexander Lazarovich, "Забытый писатель – Давид Фридман December 18, 2018, at the Wayback Machine" (A forgotten writer – David Freedman), Vestnik, May 22, 2001.
^A. Mokrousov, Review of D. Freedman's Mendel Marantz
SourcesEdit
Auerbach, Arnold, Funny Men Don't Laugh (Doubleday, NY, 1965); this book is a memoir, largely covering Auerbach's period of apprenticeship with Freedman, but the name "Lou Jacobs" is substituted in place of "David Freedman"
Bercovici, Konrad, introduction to The Intellectual Lover and Other Stories by David Freedman.
Morris Buckley, Patricia, "Long-lost Play Resurrected for Jewish Arts Festival", North County Times, May 26, 2004.
Additional sources include the credits listed in the items in the Select Anthology and confirmation of the contents of this article by Herman Wouk (December 2004, Palm Springs, CA), David Noel Freedman (December 2004, La Jolla, CA, and other members of the Freedman family in 2005), and members of the Cantor family (2006).
External linksEdit
David-Freedman.info
David Freedman (I) at IMDb The Internet Movie Database entry for David Freedman
October 15, 2023
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Not to be confused with David Freedman screenwriter For other people named David Freedman see David Freedman disambiguation An editor has performed a search and found that sufficient sources exist to establish the subject s notability These sources can be used to expand the article and may be described in edit summaries or found on the talk page The article may include original research or omit significant information about the subject Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources David Freedman news newspapers books scholar JSTOR August 2022 Learn how and when to remove this template message David Freedman April 26 1898 December 8 1936 aged 38 was a Romanian born American playwright and biographer who became known as the King of the Gag writers in the early days of radio Contents 1 Biography 2 Legacy 3 Writings 3 1 Books 3 2 Shows 3 3 Movies 4 References 5 Sources 6 External linksBiography EditDavid Freedman was born in Botosani Romania as the first child and only son of Sara and Israel Freedman Israel a political refugee immigrated with his young family to the United States in 1900 where four years later David s sister Sophie became the first Freedman born in the U S Freedman graduated from the City College of New York in 1918 the first in his family to complete a formal education beyond high school In September 1918 he married Beatrice nee Rebecca Goodman a fellow New Yorker who was born in the city on September 27 1899 her parents had fled from Kishinev Russian Empire Within five years they had three sons Benedict 1919 2012 Noel 1922 2008 later adopted name David Noel and Toby 1924 2011 A decade later their only daughter who is now known as Laurie Hayden arrived From 1924 on Freedman was a self employed writer He created sketches for musicals and had shows on Broadway almost every year from 1926 through 1937 His novel Mendel Marantz 1925 featured a Jewish father who frequently made witty remarks His first play Mendel Inc debuted in 1929 When radio replaced vaudeville Freedman who already enjoyed a reputation as a popular versatile writer was ready for the new medium He was prolific creating as many as six entertainment programs a week for several years and eventually worked in movies as well Freedman was also a biographer and wrote about industry insiders His first biography the Eddie Cantor memoir My Life Is in Your Hands 1928 as told to Freedman by Cantor became a bestseller Freedman and Cantor collaborated on a biography of showman Florenz Ziegfeld Ziegfeld the Great Glorifier 1934 was used for the film Ziegfeld Follies 1945 Similarly Phantom Fame which he co authored with the impresario Harry Reichenbach 1931 became the basis for the movie The Half Naked Truth 1932 In the mid 1930s Freedman contributed scripts for short comedies produced by Educational Pictures in New York The best known is probably Blue Blazes 1936 starring Buster Keaton as an inept fireman Freedman suffered a massive heart attack on the evening of Monday December 7 1936 By the morning of the 8th he was dead leaving Beatrice his partner of 18 years and their four children who ranged in age from just under 17 to just under 2 years Legacy EditAccording to his son David Noel Freedman it is unlikely that contemporary audiences would appreciate most of David Freedman s work though his jokes about the stock market still ring true because most of his jokes played on the peculiarities and sensitivities of his era Freedman s stories however have a timeless quality As the years passed his family honored his memory with the posthumous publication of The Intellectual Lover 1940 repr 2007 a collection of short stories that were originally published individually between 1922 and 1928 Of the countless pieces Freedman wrote between 1920 and 1936 Mendel Inc 1929 is the only fully realized play A product of the beginning of his brief career it embodies the mature thoughts of a humorist playwright On June 2 2004 this classic comedy about an immigrant Jewish family living in the uncertain times of 1929 of the Lower East Side was read to a packed house at the North Coast Repertory Theatre in Solana Beach California Mendel Inc was used as the basis for the 1932 Warner Brothers movie The Heart of New York a vehicle for Jewish dialect comedians Smith and Dale with comedian George Sidney as Mendel Marantz Four books by Freedman were translated into Russian and published by Ogonyok in 1926 they enjoyed tremendous popularity for a short period and Mendel s witty definitions were quoted everywhere but within a year they were eclipsed by the comic writings of Ilf and Petrov and Mikhail Zoshchenko and soon were forgotten although Anatoly Rybakov has a character quote Mendel in Children of the Arbat set in 1933 1 His novel Mendel Marantz was republished as an audiobook in Russian in 2011 narrated by noted actors Klara Novikova Leonid Kanevsky and others 2 A fictionalized version of David Freedman appears as Harry Goldhandler in the novel Inside Outside by Herman Wouk Writings EditBooks Edit The Intellectual Lover and Other Stories 1940 and 1986 Ziegfeld the Great Glorifier 1934 Your Next President 1932 Phantom Fame The Anatomy of Ballyhoo 1931 Yoo Hoo Prosperity The Eddie Cantor Five year Plan 1931 Between the Acts 1930 Caught Short a Saga of Wailing Wall Street 1929 My Life Is in Your Hands 1928 and 2000 Mendel Marantz 1925 and 1986 Shows Edit Betsy Crazy Quilt Forward March Life Begins at 8 40 Mendel Inc The Show is On Sweet and Low White Horse Inn Ziegfeld Follies of 1934 Ziegfeld Follies of 1936 Lucky FredMovies Edit Ziegfeld Follies The Half Naked Truth The Heart of New York Palmy DaysReferences Edit Alexander Lazarovich Zabytyj pisatel David Fridman Archived December 18 2018 at the Wayback Machine A forgotten writer David Freedman Vestnik May 22 2001 A Mokrousov Review of D Freedman s Mendel MarantzSources EditAuerbach Arnold Funny Men Don t Laugh Doubleday NY 1965 this book is a memoir largely covering Auerbach s period of apprenticeship with Freedman but the name Lou Jacobs is substituted in place of David Freedman Bercovici Konrad introduction to The Intellectual Lover and Other Stories by David Freedman Morris Buckley Patricia Long lost Play Resurrected for Jewish Arts Festival North County Times May 26 2004 Additional sources include the credits listed in the items in the Select Anthology and confirmation of the contents of this article by Herman Wouk December 2004 Palm Springs CA David Noel Freedman December 2004 La Jolla CA and other members of the Freedman family in 2005 and members of the Cantor family 2006 External links EditDavid Freedman info David Freedman I at IMDb The Internet Movie Database entry for David Freedman Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title David Freedman amp oldid 1116016436, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
