California Breeder/Owner Ed Friendly Dies

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Photo: Benoit

Ed Friendly in a 2004 photo.

(from an edited release)

Ed Friendly, who founded the Thoroughbred Owners of California, died June 17 at his home in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., after a year-long battle with cancer. He was 85.

Friendly's interest in horses stemmed from summers spent as a youth in Idaho, where he participated in rodeos. He purchased his first horse in partnership with his close friend, Lorne Greene (Ben Cartwright of "Bonanza"), at the Del Mar yearling sale in 1970. His racing operation later expanded to a point where he and his late wife, Natalie, owned on average over 60 horses.

Friendly, either alone or with Natalie, raced grade I winners Friendly Michelle and Vivid Angel, plus such other graded winners as Goldigger's Dream (a homebred), Gray Slewpy, and Purely Cozzene.

In 1993, Friendly founded and established the Thoroughbred Owners of California, the organization that represents 9,000 licensed California Thoroughbred Owners. He served as president of the organization until April 1996 and as its chairman until June 1997. He previously served as president of the California Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association, and also was a founding member, director, and vice chairman of the National Thoroughbred Association, the forerunner of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association on which he served as a founding director.

A veteran of World War II, Friendly entered the service as a private and emerged as an infantry captain, having served in various parts of the Pacific theater. Upon his return, he landed his first job at the advertising agency of Batten, Barton, Durstine & Osborn, better known as BBD&O, where he achieved his ambition to become a director for radio and television. He moved on from there to ABC as director of sales, to CBS as a contract producer, and eventually to NBC as vice president of special programs.

In 1967, Friendly moved to California and formed his own production company, Ed Friendly Productions, Inc. Under that banner he co-created and co-produced the multiple award-winning television series "Laugh-In" and created and produced "Little House on the Prairie." Friendly credited Natalie's determination and inspiration that landed them the rights to the beloved Laura Ingalls Wilder Little House books.

Friendly also produced and created scores of specials, movies for TV, and mini-series. He has been a member of many industry organizations and served on the Steering Committee of the Caucus of Producers, Directors and Writers, as well as being co-chairman of that prestigious organization.

Throughout his years as an independent producer, Friendly was honored on numerous occasions for his contributions to television. He received multiple Emmys for "Laugh-In," was named Producer of the Year by the Producers Guild of America, and also was a recipient of the Golden Globe Award from the Hollywood Foreign Press. He twice was honored by the National Cowboy Hall of Fame, receiving its Western Heritage Award for both "Little House on the Prairie" and the television motion picture "Peter Lundy & the Medicine Hat Stallion," which also received an Emmy. His nine-hour mini-series, "Backstairs at the White House," received 11 Emmy nominations. Additionally, for his work in television the International Radio & Television Society awarded Friendly its Gold Medal of Honor.

Friendly's survivors include his second wife, Paula Reddish Zinnemann; a son, Edwin S. "Trip" Friendly III; and a daughter, Brooke.

Services will be private. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial donations be made to Venice Family Clinic, Development Department, 604 Rose Avenue, Venice, Calif., 90291, (www.venicefamilyclinic.org), or to San Diego Hospice Foundation, 4311 Third Avenue, San Diego, Calif., 92103.

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