# Peter Friedman
**Peter Friedman** (born 1949) is an American stage, screen, and television actor whose career spans more than five decades, from his 1972 Broadway debut in [Eugene O'Neill](https://www.edgepedia.org/eugene-oneill)'s *The Great God Brown* to the role of Frank Vernon, vice chairman of Waystar Royco, in all four seasons of HBO's *Succession*.[1](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/stars-on-stage/peter-friedman) He originated the role of Tateh in the musical *Ragtime* on Broadway, earning a 1998 Tony Award nomination, and returned to Broadway in 2024 as Loyd in the two-hander *Job*.[2](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Peter-Friedman/) • [3](https://www.tdf.org/on-stage/tdf-stages/why-peter-friedmans-new-role-is-a-dream-job/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1949, New York City, New York, USA[4](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0295334/) |
| Broadway debut | *The Great God Brown* by Eugene O'Neill, December 1972[1](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/stars-on-stage/peter-friedman) |
| Signature stage role | Tateh in *Ragtime*, originated in the Toronto world premiere and on Broadway; 1998 Tony nomination for Best Actor in a Musical and Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical[2](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Peter-Friedman/) |
| Television fame | Frank Vernon in all four seasons of *Succession* (2018–2023); George in the final season of *The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel*[1](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/stars-on-stage/peter-friedman) |
| Major awards | Obie Award (2010) for *Circle Mirror Transformation*; Drama Desk Award (2014) for Outstanding Ensemble Performance for *The Open House*[2](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Peter-Friedman/) • [5](https://playbill.com/person/peter-friedman) |
| Recent Broadway | *Job* at the Hayes Theater (2024) as Loyd, after an Off-Broadway run at the Connelly Theater[3](https://www.tdf.org/on-stage/tdf-stages/why-peter-friedmans-new-role-is-a-dream-job/) |
| Family | Formerly married to actress Joan Allen (1990–2002); one daughter, Sadie Friedman[6](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0295334/bio/) |
## Stage career
Friedman made his Broadway debut in December 1972 in *The Great God Brown*, and has since appeared in more than 30 productions on and off Broadway.[1](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/stars-on-stage/peter-friedman) His early Broadway credits include *The Visit*, *Chemin de Fer*, and *Holiday* in 1973 and 1974, followed by *The Tenth Man* (1989) and the original Broadway production of Wendy Wasserstein's *The Heidi Chronicles* (1989), where he played Scoop Rosenbaum.[5](https://playbill.com/person/peter-friedman) • [7](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/peter-friedman-67562)
**Ragtime.** The defining stage role of his career is Tateh, a Jewish immigrant from Latvia, in the musical *Ragtime*. He originated the part in the show's world premiere in Toronto and then on Broadway, where the production opened in January 1998 and he departed in December 1998.[8](https://lortelaward.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/2014-Lortel-Awards-Program-FINAL.pdf) • [5](https://playbill.com/person/peter-friedman) The performance brought him a Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical and an Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical.[2](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Peter-Friedman/) He returned to the role for the 2024 *Ragtime* all-star reunion concert.[9](https://www.archytele.com/person/peter-friedman/movies-and-tv-shows)
**Off-Broadway and later Broadway work.** Friedman has been closely associated with new American playwriting, appearing in original New York productions of works by Wendy Wasserstein, Annie Baker, Amy Herzog, Will Eno, and many others.[2](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Peter-Friedman/) He won a Performance Obie Award in 2010 for Annie Baker's *Circle Mirror Transformation* and shared the 2014 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Ensemble Performance for Max Posner's *The Open House*, which also brought a Lucille Lortel nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Play.[2](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Peter-Friedman/) • [5](https://playbill.com/person/peter-friedman) Other nominations include Drama Desk nods for *The Common Pursuit* (1987), *The Heidi Chronicles* (1989), *Body Awareness* (2009), *The Great God Pan* (2013), and *Fly By Night* (2015), and a Lucille Lortel nomination for *The Treasurer* (2018).[5](https://playbill.com/person/peter-friedman) On Broadway he played Juror Ten in the 2004 revival of *Twelve Angry Men*, a production that was extended seven times.[5](https://playbill.com/person/peter-friedman) • [6](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0295334/bio/)
**Job.** In 2024 Friedman returned to Broadway after a two-decade hiatus in *Job*, Max Wolf Friedlich's psychological thriller, playing Loyd, a crisis therapist confronted by a troubled content moderator holding him at gunpoint.[3](https://www.tdf.org/on-stage/tdf-stages/why-peter-friedmans-new-role-is-a-dream-job/) The play moved from a downtown run at the Soho Playhouse and the Connelly Theater on the [Lower East Side](https://www.edgepedia.org/lower-east-side) to the Hayes Theater, helped by attention on TikTok, a platform Friedman does not use.[10](https://forward.com/culture/581352/peter-friedman-job-succession-brooklyn-bridge-jewish/) • [3](https://www.tdf.org/on-stage/tdf-stages/why-peter-friedmans-new-role-is-a-dream-job/) His daughter Sadie, who knew one of the young producers from Hebrew school, recommended the script to him.[3](https://www.tdf.org/on-stage/tdf-stages/why-peter-friedmans-new-role-is-a-dream-job/) In 2026 he starred as Dad in Clare Barron's *You Got Older* off Broadway at the Cherry Lane Theatre, directed by Anne Kauffman, in a cast led by [Alia Shawkat](https://www.edgepedia.org/alia-shawkat).[1](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/stars-on-stage/peter-friedman) • [11](https://playbill.com/production/you-got-older-off-broadway-cherry-lane-theatre-2026)
## Screen career
Friedman's film work began with roles in the horror feature *You Better Watch Out* (1980), *Prince of the City* (1981), and the drama *Daniel* (1983), and continued through *Single White Female* (1992), [Todd Haynes](https://www.edgepedia.org/todd-haynes)'s *[Safe](https://www.edgepedia.org/safe-1995-film)* (1995), *I Shot Andy Warhol* (1996), *The Savages* (2007), *Synecdoche, New York* (2008), *Love & Other Drugs* (2010), *Side Effects* (2013), and *She Said* (2022), in which he played [Lanny Davis](https://www.edgepedia.org/lanny-davis).[12](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/1005478-peter_friedman) • [9](https://www.archytele.com/person/peter-friedman/movies-and-tv-shows)
On television he was a voice performer on *The Muppet Show* and appeared on *Sesame Street* early in his career, and was a regular on the series *Brooklyn Bridge* (1991–1993), playing George Silver in a show about a Jewish family in mid-1950s Brooklyn.[2](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Peter-Friedman/) • [10](https://forward.com/culture/581352/peter-friedman-job-succession-brooklyn-bridge-jewish/) Later credits include *Law & Order* in several roles, *The Path*, *High Maintenance*, *The Affair*, and a six-episode arc as George, a late-night talk show producer, in the final season of *The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel*.[2](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Peter-Friedman/) • [10](https://forward.com/culture/581352/peter-friedman-job-succession-brooklyn-bridge-jewish/)
**Succession.** Friedman's widest television exposure came as Frank Vernon, vice chairman of the media conglomerate Waystar Royco, in all four seasons of HBO's *Succession* (2018–2023).[1](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/stars-on-stage/peter-friedman) He accepted the part on the strength of the pilot script alone, uncertain how the series would use the character after Frank is fired in the first episode; once HBO picked up the show, Frank was made a series regular.[10](https://forward.com/culture/581352/peter-friedman-job-succession-brooklyn-bridge-jewish/) With David Rasche, who played fellow executive Karl, he formed a long-running double act that critics and viewers took to as one of the show's quiet centerpieces.[13](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2023/05/succession-karl-frank-peter-friedman-david-rasche)
## Recognition
Friedman's awards record centers on New York theater. Beyond the Obie and Drama Desk wins, his nominations include the 1998 Tony for *Ragtime*, multiple Drama Desk nominations across plays and musicals, and Lucille Lortel nominations for *The Open House* (2014) and *The Treasurer* (2018).[2](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Peter-Friedman/) • [5](https://playbill.com/person/peter-friedman) In 2026 he was honored as a Legend of Off Broadway at the Off Broadway Alliance Awards.[2](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Peter-Friedman/) Interviewers have described him as a New York-born character actor who made his name in the theater and came to broad television fame late in a career of more than five decades.[14](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/may/28/succession-finale-peter-friedman-frank-interview) • [10](https://forward.com/culture/581352/peter-friedman-job-succession-brooklyn-bridge-jewish/)
## References
1. [Peter Friedman On Stage, New York Theatre Guide](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/stars-on-stage/peter-friedman)
2. [Peter Friedman, BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Peter-Friedman/)
3. [Why Peter Friedman's New Role Is a Dream 'Job', TDF Stages](https://www.tdf.org/on-stage/tdf-stages/why-peter-friedmans-new-role-is-a-dream-job/)
4. [Peter Friedman (I), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0295334/)
5. [Peter Friedman (Performer), Playbill](https://playbill.com/person/peter-friedman)
6. [Peter Friedman Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0295334/bio/)
7. [Peter Friedman, IBDB](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/peter-friedman-67562)
8. [2014 Lucille Lortel Awards Program](https://lortelaward.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/2014-Lortel-Awards-Program-FINAL.pdf)
9. [Peter Friedman Filmography, Archytele](https://www.archytele.com/person/peter-friedman/movies-and-tv-shows)
10. [From a Jewish home in Queens to 'Sesame Street,' Broadway, 'Succession' and 'Job', The Forward](https://forward.com/culture/581352/peter-friedman-job-succession-brooklyn-bridge-jewish/)
11. [You Got Older (Off-Broadway, Cherry Lane Theatre, 2026), Playbill](https://playbill.com/production/you-got-older-off-broadway-cherry-lane-theatre-2026)
12. [Peter Friedman, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/1005478-peter_friedman)
13. [Succession's Frank and Karl Bonded Over Watching Logan "Ruin His Children", Vanity Fair](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2023/05/succession-karl-frank-peter-friedman-david-rasche)
14. ['Brian Cox can be frightening!': Peter Friedman on the thrill of playing Succession's Frank, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/may/28/succession-finale-peter-friedman-frank-interview)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › American actors: 1970s to 1990s › Surnames Ev to F*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license