Thomas H. Friedkin Biography

Thomas Hoyt Friedkin is an American billionaire businessman, airplane pilot, actor, and big game hunter who founded Gulf States Toyota Distributors.

Early life

Thomas Friedkin is the son of Jean and Kenny Friedkin. His father was a combat pilot and trainer with the British Royal Air Force during World War II. After the war, his father opened Friedkin Aeronautics, a flight school in San Diego, California, before founding Pacific Southwest Airlines in 1949 with a single leased DC-3. In 1958, it carried nearly 300,000 passengers. Friedkin learned to fly while he was a youth and in 1962, started working as a pilot for PSA.

In 1962, Friedkin's father died abruptly of a cerebral hemorrhage at age 47. In 1963, PSA went public and soonafter, his mother also died, making the younger Friedkin the largest shareholder of the airline. Although he had a seat on the Board of Directors, he continued working as a full-time pilot for the carrier. The airline continued operating until 1986 reaching $500 million in revenues, when US Airways purchased the carrier for $400 million. Friedkin received just $3.4 million.

Career

During the 1960s, one of Friedkin's hobbies was racing cars. He was friends with Carroll Shelby who had turned down an offer to become a distributor for Toyota Motors. Shelby introduced Friedkin to Toyota and Friedkin founded Gulf States Toyota Distributors (GST). Friedkin has built GST into a multibillion-dollar franchise that buys Toyota, Scion and Lexus cars wholesale and sells them"?as well as parts and service"?to about 150 dealerships in his franchise states of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Texas. GST's sales account for nearly 13% of Toyota sales in the United States. GST is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Friedkin Companies and ranked 53rd on the Forbes 2008 list of America's Largest Private Companies with revenues estimated at $5.7 billion.

GST's corporate headquarters is in west Houston with a campus consisting of a five story and a ten story building, connected by a concourse and an eight floor parking garage. The complex includes a training center, in addition to Gulf States Marketing and Gulf States Financial Services offices. Gulf States Toyota Distributors is one of only two remaining private Toyota distributors in the United States, the rest having been reacquired by Toyota. The other is Southeast Toyota Distributors, founded by the late billionaire Jim Moran.

By 2001, Tom Friedkin, then 66, had turned over responsibility for running the holding firm and its 3,000 employees to son Dan, but remained Chairman of the Board and was content to dispense advice. "I'm kind of a bum these days," he told Forbes. "I am not a greedy person, and I don't have to make the last dollar there ever was."

Hobbies

Automobiles

He was a Grand National Owner from 1965"1969 and two of his drivers, Jim Paschal and Bobby Allison were moderately successful. Tom Friedkin was friends with Bill Thomas of Bill Thomas Race Cars in Anaheim California and creator of the Bill Thomas Cheetah. Bill Thomas Race Cars built one of the first sprint cup cars for Friedkin enterprises in 1965 for driver Jim Paschal to race in the 1965 season. It was a 1965 Impala powered by a new secret 396 Chevrolet big block engine that was bored to 427 cubic inches. Friedkin's close friend Carroll Shelby, the Texan who was famous for designing the Shelby Cobra and the Shelby Mustang for Ford, would probably be a billionaire today if he had accepted Toyota's 1968 offer to become an automobile distributor. According to Shelby, "I turned it down because I went to Lee Iacocca, and he told me not to take it because the domestic makers were going to push the Japanese back into the ocean. In the end I was just 'dumb' for listening to him at all."

Power sports

For several years, Friedkin co-owned the Miss Budweiser with Bernie Little. The Hydroplane boat won American Power Boat Association Gold Cup Races in 1969, 1970, and 1973. He also owned a North American F-86F Sabre, a Chinese Air Force MiG-15, a Republic P-47D Thunderbolt and the General Motors version of a Grumman F4F Wildcat, among other planes. Many have been used in motion picture and television production. When asked to allow his F4U Corsair to be used in the television show Baa Baa Black Sheep, Friedkin insisted on piloting it himself; he has since flown in several films. Friedkin is a member of the Screen Actors Guild and the Motion Picture Pilots Association.

Hunting & conservation

Friedkin also hunts big game in Africa, having started his own game-hunting company in Botswana in 1972, which he sold in 1997. In 1989, he chose to hunt in Tanzania and after purchasing a preserve there, began Tanzania Game Tracker Safaris. The new company charges $2,000 a day, but returns some profits through the Friedkin Conservation Fund, a non-governmental organization established in 1994 that operates in Tanzania. The group's focus is conservation issues, and they assist the Tanzanian government with the management (including anti-poaching activities) of its Protected Areas, help uplift rural communities with education, income generation & clean water/health projects, and conduct wildlife monitoring & research. The organization was founded by Tom and Dan Friedkin and is supported by private donations and profits from Friedkin's Tanzania Game Tracker Safaris.

Movie/TV credits

Friedkin has served in several movies either on the crew working as a pilot or as an actor including:

• Miscellaneous Crew:
  • Jaws: The Revenge (1987) (pilot) (as Thomas Friedkin)
  • Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol (1987) (pilot) (as Tom Friedkin)
  • Uncommon Valor (1983) (helicopter pilot)
  • The Cat from Outer Space (1978) (pilot) (as Tom Friedkin)
• Actor:
  • The Rookie (1990) (as Thomas Friedkin) .... Pilot
  • Pale Rider (1985) (as Tom Friedkin) .... Miner Tom
  • Blue Thunder (1983) (as Tom Friedkin) .... Helicopter Pilot
  • The Gauntlet (1977) (as Tom Friedkin) .... Helicopter Pilot
• Stunts:
  • Mulholland Falls (1996) (stunt pilot) (as Thomas Friedkin)
  • Heartbeeps (1981) (stunts) (as Tom Friedkin)
• Thanks:
  • Firefox (1982) (special thanks) (as Tom Friedkin)

Philanthropy

The Friedkin Companies, the owner of Gulf States Toyota, contributed $2 million in 2005 to establish the Friedkin Disaster Relief Fund to help provide relief to Hurricane Katrina victims who worked for Toyota and other dealerships. The Friedkin Foundation takes care of his philanthropic activities.

Personal life

In 1963, Friedkin married Susan Wille Friedkin; they have four children: Dan Friedkin, Tomisu Friedkin Dawley, Debra Friedkin, and Mary Friedkin. His son Dan is chairman of the family-owned holding company, Friedkin Companies, which owns the auto dealership chain Gulf States Toyota. In 2011, Dan was named the head of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission by Texas governor Rick Perry.