Gary Friedman was born in Cape Town, South Africa in 1956. From an early age the puppet and its potential in communication fascinated him. In 1976, he studied drama at the University of Cape Town.

During the eighties, Gary obtained a French Government scholarship to further his puppetry studies at the Institute Internationale de la Marionnette in Charleville-Mezieres, France.

Today Gary runs a Visual Theatre, Puppetry-in-Education and Puppetry-for-Film and Television consultancy, based at the Sydney Film School in Australia.