Bruce Jay Friedman, a novelist, playwright and screenwriter who specialized in dark humor and satire - largely about the rich target known as the male psyche - has passed away. He was 90.
Among his most familiar work are the screenplays for Splash and Stir Crazy … the play "Steambath" … "The Lonely Guy’s Book of Life,” a book turned by Neil Simon into the screenplay for the film The Lonely Guy … and a short story called "A Change of Plan," which was turned by Simon into a screenplay for 1972's The Heartbreak Kid, directed by Elaine May and starring (hilariously) Charles Grodin, Cybill Shepherd, Eddie Albert and Jeannie Berlin.
- KC's View:
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I have such fond memories of the original version of The Heartbreak Kid, one of the funniest and most observant comedies of that era. If you've never seen it, you should - and avoid the execrable 2007 remake, which proved yet again why some movies are so perfect that they never should be remade.
