Andrea Fay Friedman (born June 1, 1970) is an American film and

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

, who has

Down syndrome Down syndrome or Down's syndrome, also known as trisomy 21, is a genetic disorder caused by the presence of all or part of a third copy of chromosome 21. It is usually associated with physical growth delays, mild to moderate intellectual dis ...

Early life

Friedman attended West Los Angeles Baptist High School and

Santa Monica College Santa Monica College (SMC) is a public, community college in Santa Monica, California. Founded as a junior college in 1929, SMC enrolls over 30,000 students in more than 90 fields of study. Although initially serving primarily pre-college high sc ...

. In 1992, she portrayed Amanda, the girlfriend (and later wife) of the character Charles "Corky" Thacher, on the TV show '' Life Goes On'' for two seasons. In 1993 she appeared in an episode of ''

Baywatch ''Baywatch'' is an American action drama television series about lifeguards who patrol the beaches of Los Angeles County, California, and Hawaii, starring David Hasselhoff. It was created by Michael Berk, Douglas Schwartz, and Gregory J. Bo ...

'', in which

Mary Lou Retton Mary Lou Retton (born January 24, 1968) is an American retired gymnast. At the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, she won a gold medal in the individual all-around competition, as well as two silver medals and two bronze medals. Her performanc ...

organizes a

Special Olympics Special Olympics is the world's largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities and physical disabilities, providing year-round training and activities to 5 million participants and Unified Sports partners in ...

-like event. She starred in the 1997 film ''Smudge'' as Cindy, a girl in a group home for people with disabilities who attempts to hide her puppy, Smudge. The film won the 1998

Humanitas Prize The Humanitas Prize is an award for film and television writing, and is given to writers whose work explores the human condition in a nuanced and meaningful way. It began in 1974 with Father Ellwood "Bud" Kieser—also the founder of Paulist P ...

in the Children's Live Action category.

Career

Friedman voiced Ellen, a character with Down syndrome, in the '' Family Guy'' episode " Extra Large Medium", her first role as a voice actress. In the episode, Friedman's character stated "My dad's an accountant and my mom is the former Governor of Alaska", referencing Sarah Palin, who has a son, Trig, who has Down syndrome. However, per Friedman, "Sarah Palin said that was insensitive and cruel" and Friedman felt "it was only a joke".Andrea Friedman — Sarah Palin and the Family Guy Feud
, ABILITY Magazine, Regina Hall Issue, April/May 2010. In an email concerning Palin's criticism of the episode, she said, "I guess former Governor Palin does not have a sense of humor." She concluded, "In my family we think laughing is good. My parents raised me to have a sense of humor and to live a normal life." Friedman also had main roles in episodes of '' Law and Order: SVU'', "Competence", playing a pregnant young woman named Katie. and ''

Walker, Texas Ranger ''Walker, Texas Ranger'' is an American action crime television series created by Leslie Greif and Paul Haggis. It was inspired by the film '' Lone Wolf McQuade'', with both this series and that film starring Chuck Norris as a member of the ...

'', "Special Witness", where she played a young woman in the

who witnessed Trent Malloy being stabbed.

Personal life

A 48-minute documentary about her life, ''A Possible Dream: The Andrea Friedman Story'' with narration by

Joanne Woodward Joanne Gignilliat Trimmier Woodward (born February 27, 1930) is an American actress. A star since the Golden Age of Hollywood, Woodward made her career breakthrough in the 1950s and earned esteem and respect playing complex women with a charact ...

premiered in 2009. As of 2010, Friedman had been working at a law firm, in the accounting department, for 20 years. She also occasionally works as an assistant teacher for the Pathway program of the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California S ...

, where she helps teach students how to live independently. She has traveled to India and Japan, and speaks some Japanese. She also enjoys bowling and skiing.

References

External links

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Andrea Friedman, Actress with Down Syndrome, is Asked About the R word
ABILITY Magazine {{DEFAULTSORT:Friedman, Andrea Fay American television actresses 1970 births Living people Santa Monica College alumni American film actresses Actors with Down syndrome Actresses from California 21st-century American women