Mr. Friedman entered the theatre determined to be an actor, but after a chance shutterbug assignment while working under showman Mike Todd, he turned to photography. Following service in World War II, he joined forces with Joseph Abeles, a portrait photographer. A freelancer, Mr. Freidman's specialty was production photos. He caught shows on film for both producers, who hired him to take official shots for musicals and plays, and for the publications covering those shows.
Over a long career, he photographed 800 shows, including legendary titles like My Fair Lady, Barefoot in the Park, Fiddler on the Roof, Cabaret, Bye Bye Birdie, The Entertainer, I Can Get It For You Wholesale, The Music Man, Purlie Victorious and Coco.
Of all the Friedman images that live in the collective consciousness of the American theatregoing public, the most famous is probably his indelible shot of West Side Story stars Carol Lawrence and Larry Kert running exuberantly through the tenement streets of New York's Hell's Kitchen.
His My Fair Lady photos included the familiar image of Rex Harrison's inquisitive Henry Higgins, notebook in hand, peering wonderingly and condescendingly down at the dirty, but offended flower girl Eliza Doolittle played by Julie Andrews.
