Anthony Fredrickson

Anthony Richard Fredrickson was a scenic and graphic artist who worked on several Star Trek projects including, , , , and the four Next Generation. In addition, he worked on the exhibitions Star Trek: The Experience and Star Trek World Tour.

Before his official Star Trek years, Fredrickson was already acquainted with Doug Drexler, and with whom he illustrated the reference book Star Fleet Medical Reference Manual. Drexler has recalled, "Anthony started out stocking shelves at the Federation Trading Post [remark: the Star Trek store, Drexler ran in 1970s], and came along for the ride when my effects makeup career took off. A few years after I started for Mike in the art department, we needed a P[roduction]A[ssociate]. Anthony stepped into a bottom line job, and quickly became a scenic artist when Mike promoted him." During his tenure at Deep Space Nine, he married Art Department Coordinator Penny Juday on 24 June 2000, after some gentle prodding by her colleague Denise Okuda. 

Apart from his regular duties in providing graphics for the show, Fredrickson occasionally lent a hand in constructing studio models and props. The Galaxy-class interior nacelle maquette, the Ty'Gokor orbital facility , Presidio Starfleet Headquarters maquette , and the Mars building complex maquette , are some examples of the former by his hand. Fredrickson's ability to construct these models from what ever material was at hand at the time, essentially kit-bashing them, earned him the nickname "King of Kludge" from his production staff colleagues like Doug Drexler and his art department supervisor Mike Okuda. "Our friend Anthony was an endlessly creative member of the Star Trek art department'. We used to keep a box of random junk in the office. Anthony delighted in diving into that box to come up with something ingenious whenever we needed a last-minute prop or some unexpected bit of set dressing. We will miss him very much," Okuda stated of him upon his passing in 2016.

Fredrickson has the USS Fredrickson named after him.

Career
Though a Californian by birth, Anthony Fredrickson moved at an early age with his family to New York City, where he met and befriended Doug Drexler in his high school days, endowed by his classmates with the nickname "Arf", after his initials.

A School of Visual Arts, New York, graduate, holding a BA degree (as was Drexler), Fredrickson was, besides his work on Star Trek, the lab manager on the movie adaptation of the comic Dick Tracy (1990, with Hamilton Camp, Seymour Cassel, Robert Costanzo, Colm Meaney, Michael J. Pollard, John Schuck, Paul Sorvino, Ian Wolfe, and Doug Drexler) and as member of the lab effects crew on the drama For the Boys (1991). Other films on which he worked are the comedy Making Mr. Right (1987), the fantasy comedy My Demon Lover (1987), the horror sequel Poltergeist III (1988), the comedy True Identity (1991), and the drama Chaplin (1992) as well as the television series E-Ring and Dirt.

More recent credits as graphics designer include the drama The Gift: Life Unwrapped (2007, with Mickey Cottrell), the television series Cane (2007), and the comedy I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell (2009).

Fredrickson held a position in the art department for the Florida based company SciFispace.com. 

About two months after his wife Penny Juday passed away, Fredrickson died following a heart attack on 15 February 2016. In accordance with his wishes, Fredrickson was laid to rest in Phoenix, Arizona and Doug Drexler, even though he had admitted that he had somewhat lost touch with his friend of half a century in later years, provided an eulogy at the funeral service as well as serving as one of the pallbearers. Fredrickson was survived by his mother and brother John.

Star Trek credits

 * - Scenic Artist (uncredited, Season 7)
 * - Model Maker (uncredited)
 * - Model Maker (uncredited)

External link


Anthony Fredrickson