Judy Frisch, a communications executive who worked for decades in Hollywood and Washington, D.C., died Aug. 21 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles of pancreatic cancer. She was 68.
Throughout her career, Fresh has worked for organizations such as the Writers Guild of America, the Screen Actors Guild, the Stage Actors Guild, and the Newspaper and Magazine Actors Association of America. From 2006 to 2009 at the Writers Guild of America, a period that included the union's 100-day strike in late 2007 through mid-February 2008, she served as director of public policy and government affairs. She worked for the union in Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles. She later moved to the Screen Actors Guild and Newspaper and Magazine Actors Association of America as executive director of strategic communications and public affairs in 2015.
Born in Los Angeles, Fresh grew up in the San Fernando Valley, and graduated from Birmingham High School in Van Nuys in 1973. She then moved to Washington, D.C., where she gained experience understanding the ins and outs of politics and the legislative process. Over the course of her long career, Fresh has been known for executing media campaigns, crisis management initiatives, reputation, and public policy advocacy efforts.
Early on, she also worked with theater producer Cameron Mackintosh to promote theatrical productions of The Phantom of the Opera and Miss Saigon. She worked with Craig Anderson Productions in the 1990s and was a longtime personal representative for Family Ties star Meredith Baxter Birney in the 1980s and 1990s.
During her time in Washington, D.C., Frisch also worked for Planned Parenthood, BGR, the National Foreign Trade Council, and other organizations. She also served as the national director of public affairs for the American Humane Society.
Outside of her career, Frisch was an animal lover and advocate for women's rights. A memorial is being planned.
