Variety.com reports that Ron Friedman, writer of the animated "The Transformers: The Movie", passed away on September 15, 2025 as a result of cardiopulmonary arrest. He was 93.
Friedman graduated with a BA in Architecture from Carnegie Mellon University and made a name for himself in writing and production, writing what would become more than 700 hours of written content as a member of the Writer's Guild of America. These credits include work on "Happy Days", "The Andy Griffith Show", "Starsky and Hutch", and "The Odd Couple", including Emmy award-nominated work on "The Danny Kaye Show", and later on animated fare like the 80s Transformers cartoon, its contemporary GI Joe (and the movies for both), and Bionic Six, among others. In the 90s, Ron contributed to "Taz-Mania", the 90's Marvel animated "Iron Man", and "Fantastic Four: The Animated Series".
Transformers fans will recognize his name from the early Generation 1 cartoon seasons, indulging in light world-building in namedropping Cybertronian flora and fauna as well as infusing dialogue with characterful quirks like Warpath's BLAM! POW! speech. Beyond that, Friedman is perhaps most notable in the fandom as having penned the 1986 animated movie (his initial draft being reworked by Flint Dille), from where Friedman gained the dubious honor of being "the man who killed Optimus Prime" -- despite having, by his own account, tried to talk Hasbro out of it. Nonetheless, Friedman took the infamy of his involvement in a formative step for this iconic 80s brand in stride, even titling his memoir "I Killed Optimus Prime" and writing from the heart about his lifetime of written work for various media.
Friedman graduated with a BA in Architecture from Carnegie Mellon University and made a name for himself in writing and production, writing what would become more than 700 hours of written content as a member of the Writer's Guild of America. These credits include work on "Happy Days", "The Andy Griffith Show", "Starsky and Hutch", and "The Odd Couple", including Emmy award-nominated work on "The Danny Kaye Show", and later on animated fare like the 80s Transformers cartoon, its contemporary GI Joe (and the movies for both), and Bionic Six, among others. In the 90s, Ron contributed to "Taz-Mania", the 90's Marvel animated "Iron Man", and "Fantastic Four: The Animated Series".
Transformers fans will recognize his name from the early Generation 1 cartoon seasons, indulging in light world-building in namedropping Cybertronian flora and fauna as well as infusing dialogue with characterful quirks like Warpath's BLAM! POW! speech. Beyond that, Friedman is perhaps most notable in the fandom as having penned the 1986 animated movie (his initial draft being reworked by Flint Dille), from where Friedman gained the dubious honor of being "the man who killed Optimus Prime" -- despite having, by his own account, tried to talk Hasbro out of it. Nonetheless, Friedman took the infamy of his involvement in a formative step for this iconic 80s brand in stride, even titling his memoir "I Killed Optimus Prime" and writing from the heart about his lifetime of written work for various media.
"I believe I’m obliged to take anybody who buys anything I wrote away from their cares of the day and give them something new so they can come away satisfied and entertained. That’s what keeps the world going. Think of a world without books, comic books, without iconic figures, without music, and without entertainment. Horrendous! It’s why the Romans said, “art is long, life is short.” I’m in the art business for popular consumption and hope that I give some value in addition to the entertainment and maybe something to think about."
-- Ron Friedman, on his life as a writer for entertainment (from an interview with Todd Matthy)
-- Ron Friedman, on his life as a writer for entertainment (from an interview with Todd Matthy)
