The Friedman Family


(Click on Thumbnail to see full-size picture)

If you want a higher-resolution copy of a photo, contact me.
I probably have one I can send you.


Grandma May's maiden name was Quicksilver; here are photos of the Quicksilvers.


My great-grandfather, my mother's maternal grandfather, Morris Quicksilver.

 

Grandma May had three sisters, Madeline, Bertha, and Stella. These pictures show some of them as girls, but I'm not sure which ones. I'm almost certain the oldest and biggest here is May. The sister on the left in pictures #1 and #2 looks like some later pictures of Madeline, so I'm guessing that's her. I don't know who the other one is.

 

From left: Abe and Bertha Finkenthal and their son Robert [Thally], May Friedman and her daughters Marj and Felicia

 

Four generations: newborn Dave enjoys the attention of his mother Marj, grandpa Harry, and great-grandma Anna (1941)

 

The Quicksilvers plus some Tutelmans and Friedmans, in 1944. In front is Francine Thally Katz and Dave. Standing, from left: Jean Thally, Mac & Madeline Gross, May Friedman, Marj Tutelman (holding newborn Bob), Robert Thally, Bertha Finkenthal, Stella Ross, Harry Friedman, Max Tutelman. I got this photo from Francine.
My father is notably absent from the picture; he's the missing person that you would have expected to be there. Knowing him, my guess is that he was behind the camera. Of course, that raises the question of why Francine had the picture and I didn't. No good answer, unless dad was using Robert or Jean's camera.


Robert Thally and daughter Francine.

 

Marj, her uncle Phil and aunt Belle, and (?) Harry's sister Sophie (1958)
 

Phil and Belle Friedman (1958)

 

Esther, Felicia, and Ellen Thompson (1958)


My cousin Ellen with husband Paul McCabe and their children. (Probably around 1990)

 

...And Ellen and Paul with their family in 2021. Now three generations! Ellen included the label with names. Names in parentheses are which McCabe child's family they are in.

Uncle Phil and Shirley Temple


Front of photo

Back of photo

Mom's uncle Phil Friedman was one of Hollywood's top casting directors. He discovered, among other names you might recognize, Shirley Temple. The picture is Shirley sitting in Uncle Phil's lap at age 4, in the process of signing her first movie contract with Fox Films. This picture was on Uncle Phil's desk in their Hollywood home.

After Phil and Belle passed away, we never again saw the picture that he kept on his desk. My wife always suspected that one of the relatives made off with it and never told anybody. My own guess was that there was an independent executor of the estate, and he/she sold the picture when the estate was converted to cash, after the specific bequests were taken care of.

Anyway, Sunday Nov 25, 2012, I was proofreading a draft of a novel by a friend who is a talented and well accepted author, and the draft mentioned Shirley Temple's "chocolate curls". I wanted to tell him that my family had some history there, and Googled "Shirley Temple Phil Friedman" to see if there was a link to the story anywhere on the Internet. Much to my surprise, an eBay listing for the photo came up. I contacted the antique dealer in Rhode Island who was selling it, and managed to buy it. How had she gotten it? It was in the estate of a big Shirley Temple fan, whose daughter was selling off mom's memorabilia collection.

The photo is now back in the family.