{{short description|American theater producer}} '''Edgar''' "'''Buddy'''" '''Freitag''' (1932 – May 30, 2012) was an American Broadway theatre producer, especially from 2007 to 2012. Freitag produced numerous Broadway musicals and shows in partnership with his wife, producer Barbara Freitag. His most recent credits included the 2011 Broadway revival of ''Porgy and Bess'', ''Nice Work If You Can Get It'' in 2012, ''End of the Rainbow'' in 2012, and Memphis in 2009.<ref name="playbill">{{cite news|url=http://www.playbill.com/news/article/166522-Broadway-Producer-Edgar-Freitag-Is-Dead-at-80-|title=Broadway Producer Edgar Freitag Is Dead at 80|author-link1=Robert Simonson|last=Simonson|first=Robert|date=2012-05-31|work=Playbill.com|access-date=2012-06-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130105062051/http://www.playbill.com/news/article/166522-Broadway-Producer-Edgar-Freitag-Is-Dead-at-80-|archive-date=2013-01-05|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=wp>{{cite news|title=Deaths of note: Edgar 'Buddy' Freitag, Michael O'Neill, Jim Paratore |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/2012/05/31/gJQAwEKz4U_story.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=2012-05-31 |access-date=2012-06-17}}</ref>
Freitag earned a bachelor's degree from Baruch College in 1953.<ref name=playbill/> He served in the United States Army for two years following his graduation from Baruch.<ref name=playbill/> Freitag then launched a long career in advertising and mortgage banking.<ref name=wp/> He worked in New York advertising for seventeen years, becoming the vice president of the Grey Advertising.<ref name=playbill/> Freitag then left the ad industry and co-founded United Financial of America, Inc., a brokerage and commercial mortgage firm.<ref name=playbill/>
Buddy and Barbara Freitag did not begin their joint careers in theater production until he sold United Financial of America.<ref name=playbill/> The couple initially produced shows both on and Off Broadway. Their early credits included ''The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?'', ''West Side Story'', ''Dirty Rotten Scoundrels'', ''In the Heights'', ''Legally Blonde'', and ''Anna in the Tropics''.<ref name=playbill/><ref name=wp/>
Buddy Freitag finally became a full Broadway producer in 2007 with the opening of the Broadway revival, ''The Homecoming''.<ref name=playbill/> Freitag then produced or co-produced ''Blithe Spirit'', ''The Miracle Worker'', ''Catch Me If You Can'', and ''Passing Strange''.<ref name=playbill/>
Freitag died from complications of a brain tumor in New York City on May 30, 2012, at the age of 80. He was survived by his wife and professional partner, Barbara, and their four children – Larry Freitag, Eve Freitag, Harry Falk, Liz Freitag Dranoff.<ref name=playbill/>
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Freitag, Buddy}} Category:2012 deaths Category:American theatre managers and producers Category:American advertising executives Category:Baruch College alumni Category:1932 births