Dr. Alan J. Friedman; Civil Rights Leader

Dr. Alan J. Friedman, 77, neurologist for more than four decades who became a civil rights leader. Born in Seattle, Friedman was educated at the universities of Washington and Louisville and served in the Medical Corps during World War II. In Los Angeles, he founded the Department of Electromyography and was chief of neurology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. He also chaired the Bioethics Committee at Midway Hospital and was a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Heart Assn. When he retired from medicine in 1990, he became an active speaker for the Anti-Defamation League, chaired its civil rights committee and served on its regional board. On Jan. 8 in Los Angeles of heart disease.