Ed Friendly

Ed Friendly was born in New York on 8 April 1922 and spent the summers of his youth in Idaho where he participated in rodeos. After Pearl Harbor he joined the United States Army as a private and emerged as an infantry captain. Friendly served in various parts of the Pacific Theater during World War II. After the war, Friendly joined the advertising agency Batten, Barton, Durstine & Osborne (BBD&O) where he apprenticed as a director for radio and television. After succeeding, he moved on to ABC where he was the Director of Advertising Sales. Later he became a contract producer with CBS and then he went to NBC where he was the Vice President of Special Programs. In 1967 Friendly relocated to Los Angeles where he launched his own production company, Ed Friendly Productions Inc. Together with George Schlatter he produced the groundbreaking sketch comedy series "Laugh-In" which went on to win several Emmys and popularized the phrase "Sock it to me." One of his other major credits was as producer on "Little House On The Prairie". In partner with his close friend Lorne Greene, Friendly purchased his first race horse in 1970 at the Del Mar yearling sale. Together with his first wife Natalie they owned on average over 60 horses. Among their winning horses were Friendly Michelle, Vivid Angel, Goldigger's Dream, Gray Slewpy and Purely Cozzene. In 1993 Friendly founded the Throughbred Owners of California. He served as president of the California's Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association and was a founding member of the National Thoroughbred Association (now known as the National Thoroughbred Racing Association).