The famous Budd M. Friedman was an American actor and comedian, as well as the founder and original proprietor and MC of the Improvisation Comedy Club, which opened in 1963, on West 44th Street near the SE corner of 9th Avenue, in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan.
Friedman served in the infantry in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. He was wounded by an enemy grenade during his first day in action in the summer of 1953 while his unit was assaulting Pork Chop Hill.
Budd Friedman dies: Cause of death revealed
In 1963 he changed the world of comedy by creating the first comedy club for the masses to come together in laughter. In 1963 he changed the world. He went global. He was a pioneer. He was a gentleman. He was a luminary.
Friedman’s legacy will be carried on by the 22 improv locations, including the New York flagship at West 44th Street and Ninth Avenue which was founded in 1963.
He was awarded the Purple Heart and the Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB). The ceasefire went into effect while he was still recuperating in the hospital. Friedman died in Los Angeles on November 12, 2022, at the age of 90 from heart failure.
