Bruce Jay Friedman

Bruce Jay Friedman published his first short story in The New Yorker in 1953 when he was 23. He went on to hold the record for most short stories published in Esquire during its golden age. Many of his tightly packed early stories contain a science fiction element with twist endings.

From Stern being the first “Freudian” novel, to the first appearance of the Jewish Mother, in A Mother’s Kisses, Friedman also created the trope of the Jewish schlemiel. A byproduct of his 1967 hit, Scuba Duba, was the first use of “obscenity” and nudity on the New York stage. Likewise, his 1970 hit play, Steambath, (where God materializes as a Puerto Rican steambath attendant), became a TV sensation several years later, ushering the first nudity on national TV.

Friedman edited the anthology Black Humor in 1965, coining a term that Time magazine christened a literary movement. But he never used the term Black Humor again. Through the 1950s and early 60s, he edited four men’s adventure magazines, mentoring a hard-typing fraternity of war and adventure writers at Magazine Management (epitomized by Mario Puzo).

Screenplays written by Bruce Jay Friedman include Splash and Stir Crazy. Others, like The Heartbreak Kid (original film) and The Lonely Guy were based on his work.