Benedict Freedman dies at 92

Benedict Freedman, a mathematics professor at L.A.'s Occidental College who also penned movie and TV scripts, as well as novels, died Feb. 24 in Corte Madera, Calif. He was 92.Freedman wrote 10 books with his wife, Nancy, one of which, the bestseller "Mrs. Mike," was adapted into a 1949 feature film starring Dick Powell and Evelyn Keyes. The book and film were based on the true story of a Mountie and his wife in Canada's remote far north. "Mrs. Mike" is still in print.By the time he was married in 1941, Freedman was already a showbiz veteran. He dropped out of Columbia U. at the age of 16 to help support his family, going to work as a comedy writer for radio. The couple met at MGM, where Freedman was a writer and Nancy a young actress.His bigscreen efforts included the 1954 sci-fi comedy "The Atomic Kid," scripted by Freedman and John Fenton Murray from a story by Blake Edwards. It saw Mickey Rooney's character remade by the force of a nuclear blast. Freedman paired again with Murray on the original script for 1956 B-movie adventure "Jaguar" and again on 1961 comedy "Everything's Ducky," starring Rooney and Buddy Hackett as sailors who sneak a talking duck onto their ship.Freedman wrote scripts for television shows including "The Mickey Rooney Show," "The Red Skelton Hour," "The Andy Griffith Show" and "My Favorite Martian."He was born in NY City, to David Freedman, a writer for radio and Broadway, and his wife, Beatrice, a violinist.He became a mathematician only after returning to college, this time UCLA, in his late 40s.Nancy died in 2010. Freedman is survived by three children; eight grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; and a sister. Contact Variety Staff at news@variety.com