Gil Friesen was born on March 19, 1937 in Pasadena, California, USA. He is known for his work on The Breakfast Club (1985), Better Off Dead... (1985) and Twenty Feet from Stardom (2013). He was married to Janet. He died on December 13, 2012 in Brentwood, Los Angeles, California.
Was a founding partner in mid-1990s of the Classic Sports cable-TV channel, sold in 1997 to ESPN for $175 million.
2
His last film project, a documentary about backup singers entitled "Twenty Feet from Stardom (2013)", is scheduled to open at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah in January 17th, 2013.
3
While not a musician himself, he grew up in a musical family and attended UCLA. He began his career by working in the mail room of Capitol Records. Later at A&M he helped establish its reputation as a haven for young talent such as The Carpenters and The Police, as well as Janet Jackson, Carole King and Barry White.
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Was one of the very first employees hired by A&M Records founders' Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Later it was he ho persuaded Alpert & Moss to launch a film division. In 1977 he was named president of A&M, which eventually grew into an international corporation with over 500 employees that was bought by PolyGram in 1990 for some $500 million.
Producer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Twenty Feet from Stardom
2013
Documentary producer
Crooked Hearts
1991
producer
Blaze
1989
producer
Worth Winning
1989
producer
The Beast of War
1988
executive producer
One Crazy Summer
1986
executive producer
Better Off Dead...
1985
executive producer
The Breakfast Club
1985
executive producer
Love It or Leave It
1971
Documentary executive producer
Miscellaneous
Title
Year
Status
Character
Mad Dogs & Englishmen
1971
Documentary production coordinator: A&M
Thanks
Title
Year
Status
Character
We Are The World: The Story Behind The Song
1985
TV Movie documentary special thanks
Self
Title
Year
Status
Character
The 86th Annual Academy Awards
2014
TV Special
Himself - Winner: Best Documentary Feature (credit only)
$200,000
