Fred Sersen
| Fred Sersen | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 24, 1890 Czechoslovakia |
| Died | December 11, 1962 (aged 72) Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Occupation | special effects artist |
| Years active | 1930 — 1956 |
Fred Sersen (February 24, 1890 – December 11, 1962) was a Czechoslovak/American painter and cinema special effects artist working mainly at 20th Century Fox Studios from the 1930s to the 1950s with credits in over 200 movies. He won two Academy Awards for Best Effects, Special Effects (photographic), in 1940 for The Rains Came, and in 1944 for Crash Dive. An artificial lake created for the former movie was named in his honor.
[edit] Biography
Fred Sersen was born Ferdinand Sersen, February 24, 1890, in Czechoslovakia. At the age of 17 he came to the United states. He studied art at the Los Angeles School of Art and Design, the Portland Art Academy, and the San Francisco Institute of Art. His first credited film was A Connecticut Yankee (1931). In 1937 he recreated the 1871 Great Chicago Fire on the screen for the movie In Old Chicago.
He died December 11, 1962 in Los Angeles, California.
[edit] Awards
- Academy Award for The Rains Came (1939)
- Academy Award nomination for The Blue Bird (1940)
- Academy Award nomination for A Yank in the R.A.F. (1941)
- Academy Award nomination for The Black Swan (1942)
- Academy Award for Crash Dive (1943)
- Academy Award nomination for Wilson (1944)
- Academy Award nomination for Captain Eddie (1945)
- Academy Award nomination for Deep Waters (1948)
