Kinky Friedman

About Kinky Friedman

Who is it?: Country Singer, Songwriter, Novelist
Birth Day: November 01, 1944
Birth Place: Chicago, United States
Birth Sign: Sagittarius
Political party: Democratic (2009–present)
Other political affiliations: Republican (Before 2004) Independent (2004–2009)
Alma mater: University of Texas, Austin
Website: kinkyfriedman.com

Kinky Friedman Net Worth

Kinky Friedman was born on November 01, 1944 in Chicago, United States, is Country Singer, Songwriter, Novelist. Kinky Friedman is a man who dons several hats. He started out as a country musician and achieved cult fame for his satirical and Jewish-themed lyrics. Blessed with a great sense of humour he has the ability to drive home important messages in a humorous and lighthearted manner. Born as Richard Samet Friedman, he acquired the nickname ‘Kinky’ due to his mop of curly, unruly hair. He formed a band called Kinky Friedman and The Texas Jewboys, and gave each of his band members funny nicknames like Snakebite Jacob and Rainbow Colours. One of his most famous songs is ‘They Ain't Makin' Jews Like Jesus Anymore’ in which he berates a white racist who insults blacks, Greeks and Jews. A highly creative and talented man, he took to writing novels once his musical career stalled. His novels were primarily detective stories in which a fictionalized version of himself would solve crimes in New York City. In a bid to fulfill his political aspirations, Friedman ran for the position of Governor of Texas in 2006 but he lost. A devoted animal lover, he founded the Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch where abused and aging animals are cared for.
Kinky Friedman is a member of Writers

💰Kinky Friedman Net worth: $2 Million

Some Kinky Friedman images

Biography/Timeline

1962

Friedman graduated from Austin High School in Austin, Texas in 1962 and earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Texas at Austin in 1966, majoring in Psychology. He took part in the Plan II Honors program and was a member of the Tau Delta Phi fraternity. During his freshman year, Chinga Chavin gave Friedman the nickname "Kinky" because of his curly hair.

1966

Other Friedman tunes include "The Ballad of Charles Whitman," in which Friedman lampooned Charles Whitman's sniper attack from the University of Texas at Austin's Main Building tower on August 1, 1966. His cover of Chinga Chavin's "Asshole from El Paso", a parody of Merle Haggard's "Okie from Muskogee" is, perhaps, his most famous song.

1971

By 1971, Friedman had formed his second band, Kinky Friedman and The Texas Jewboys, which many took to be a play on the name of the famous band Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys. In keeping with the band's satirical nature, each member had a comical name: in addition to Kinky there were Little Jewford, Big Nig, Panama Red, Wichita Culpepper, Sky Cap Adams, Rainbow Colours, and Snakebite Jacobs. More conventionally named roadie Jack Slaughter and road manager Dylan Ferrero rounded out the crew and provided most of the driving of the "tour bus", a Cadillac with 10-year-old expired license plates and a nasty predilection for going into a coma at the most inconvenient moment (but, according to Friedman, her talent lay in her ability to stop on a dime and pick up the change).

1973

One of Friedman's most infamous concerts was a 1973 performance in Buffalo, New York; upon performing "Get Your Biscuits in the Oven and Your Buns in the Bed" (a song that lampoons feminism), a group of what Friedman described as "cranked-up lesbians" entered into a fight with the band and forced the concert to end early while Friedman and the band were escorted off stage. The National Organization for Women awarded Friedman the "Male Chauvinist Pig Award" later that year, an award Friedman took with pride. Friedman would not return to Buffalo until 2012.

1975

In 1975, Friedman and his band taped an Austin City Limits show which was never aired. According to the show's executive Producer, Terry Lickona, this is the first and only time in the show's long history that an episode went unaired. Lickona told the Austin Chronicle "I've seen it many times – it's a very popular party tape among friends. I think it was a great show, and it might be as offensive today as it was back then."

1976

Friedman is given brief praise in Joseph Heller's 1976 novel, Good as Gold, in which a governor (meant to satirize Lyndon B. Johnson), tells the main character, Bruce Gold: "Gold, I like you. You remind me a lot of this famous country singer from Texas I'm crazy about, a fellow calls himself Kinky Friedman, the Original Texas Jewboy. Kinky's smarter, but I like you more."

1980

After his music career stalled in the 1980s, Friedman shifted his creative focus to writing detective novels. His books have similarities to his song lyrics, featuring a fictionalized version of himself solving crimes in New York City and dispensing jokes, wisdom, recipes, charm and Jameson's whiskey in equal measure. They are written in a straightforward style which owes a debt to Raymond Chandler. To date, he has written two novels that do not star the Kinky Friedman character: Kill Two Birds and Get Stoned and The Christmas Pig.

1986

In 1986, Friedman ran for Justice of the Peace in Kerrville, Texas, as a Republican but lost the election.

2001

Friedman is friends with Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, and he has visited both at the White House. He wrote about his friendships with them in his November 2001 column ("Hail to the Kinkster") for Texas Monthly.

2004

Friedman appeared in the 2004 documentary film Barbecue: A Texas Love Story by Austin-based Director Chris Elley. In the film, narrated by Governor Ann Richards, Kinky exclaims that "Jesus loved Barbecue" and analyzes the speech patterns of Texans versus New Yorkers. Raw footage from Friedman's interview appears in the 2005 DVD release of the film. He has appeared in other movies as well including Loose Shoes and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2.

2005

According to his official Web site, Friedman's answer to the question "How does Kinky feel about abortion?" is "Kinky believes in a woman's right to choose." In person, he hedges his bet, saying "I'm not pro-life, and I'm not pro-choice. I'm pro-football." On social issues he has supported gay marriage, answering an Associated Press reporter's question on the subject on Feb. 3, 2005, "I support gay marriage. I believe they have a right to be as miserable as the rest of us." (Friedman himself has never been married.)

2007

In an August 23, 2007 interview with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and a February 10, 2009 interview with the Associated Press, Friedman stated that if he did run in 2010, he would run as a Democrat, citing that "God probably couldn't have won as an Independent" and that he was a Democrat all his life.

2009

On April 14, 2009, Friedman announced in an email to supporters that he intended to make a second gubernatorial run, this time as a Democrat. Friedman then announced on December 14, 2009, that he was leaving the gubernatorial race and would instead seek the party nomination in March 2010 for Texas Agriculture Commissioner. He lost the nomination to rancher Hank Gilbert in the primary held on March 2, 2010. Gilbert was in turn defeated for a second time by the incumbent Republican Todd Staples of Palestine, who vacates the office in January 2015, following his defeat for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor in the March 4, 2014 primary.

2011

Friedman hosted the live concert music television show "Texas Roadhouse Live" around 2011, which would air on over-the-air network television late Saturday night (or midnight Sunday morning) in some Texas markets.

2013

Friedman released a statement on October 15, 2013, announcing his intent to again run for Texas agriculture commissioner as a Democrat. Friedman previously ran for the post in 2010, losing in the Democratic primary.

2014

In 2014, Friedman made another bid for state agriculture commissioner. He finished a strong second in the Democratic primary, forcing a runoff election with his party's top vote-getter, the politically unknown Jimmy Ray "Jim" Hogan (born c. 1950), a farmer and widower from Cleburne in Johnson County, southwest of Fort Worth, whose campaign was conducted mostly from the public computers in his hometown library. Friedman polled 184,992 (37.7 percent), behind Hogan's 190,205 (38.8 percent), but ahead of rancher and former educator Hugh Asa Fitzsimons, III (born 1954), of San Antonio, who received a critical 114,953 votes (23.5 percent). Fitzsimons carried the endorsement of the Democrat nominee for lieutenant governor, his hometown State Senator Leticia Van de Putte, who is running on the ticket headed by State Senator Wendy R. Davis of Fort Worth. Friedman lost the May runoff to Hogan, 54 percent to 46 percent, who then faced Republican Sid Miller in the November election.