Fred Sersen

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Ferdinand "Fred" Sersen (born February 24 or 25, 1890 in Předměstí Veselí, today to Veselí nad Moravou , as Ferdinand Sršeň ; † December 11, 1962 in Los Angeles , California ) was an American film technician who was at the Academy Awards In 1940 he and Edmund H. Hansen won the first Oscar for the best special effects .

biography

Sersen, who came from what was then Austria-Hungary, began in the early 1930s as a specialist in special effects in the Hollywood film industry and was involved in the creation of a film for the first time at A Connecticut Yankee (1931). In the course of his 23-year career, he has worked in more than 220 film productions.

Together with Edmund H. Hansen, he won the 1940 Oscar for the first time for best special effects in the film Night Over India (1939).

This was followed by further nominations in this category, namely in 1941 with EH Hansen for The Blue Bird (1940), in 1942 with EH Hansen for A Yank in the RAF and in 1943 with Roger Heman senior and George Leverett for The Seeräuber (1942).

At the Academy Awards in 1944 , he and Roger Heman Sr. were awarded the Oscar for the second time for the best special effects for the film Crash Dive (1943).

He was then nominated three more times for the Oscar in the best special effects category: in 1945 together with R. Heman Sr. for Wilson (1944), in 1946 with Sol Halperin , Roger Heman Sr. and Harry M. Leonard for The daring adventures of the Captain Eddie (1945) and most recently at the Academy Awards in 1949 with Ralph Hammeras , Edward Snyder and R. Heman Sr. for Deep Waters (1948).

Other well-known films in which he was involved as a specialist in special effects were Treck nach Utah (1940), Holy Matrimony (1943), Coney Island (1943), The Gang's All Here (1943), At home in Indiana (1944), Sweet and Low-Down (1944), Laura (1944), Irish Eyes Are Smiling (1944), The Miracle of Manhattan (1947), Taboo of the Just (1947), The Kiss of Death (1947), Hostility to Blood (1949), So ein Unlucky (1950), All About Eva (1950), City Laws (1950), The Hero of Mindanao (1950), The Last Attack (1951), Frogmen (1951), The Cicero Case (1951), Golden Girl (1951 ) as well as The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951).

During his career Sersen worked with film directors such as John Ford , Joseph L. Mankiewicz , Elia Kazan , George Seaton , Otto Preminger , Henry Hathaway , Samuel Fuller , Clarence Brown , Lloyd Bacon , Fritz Lang , Robert Wise , Walter Lang , Henry King and Archie Mayo together.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ This date of birth was used by Sersen himself.
  2. ↑ a b baptismal register Předměstí Veselí, tom. II, p. 715 ( facsimile ).
  3. ↑ Sršeň, Ferdinand, 1890–1962. In: Bibliography on the history of the Bohemian lands. Retrieved June 12, 2020 .
personal data
SURNAME Sersen, Fred
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Sersen, Ferdinand; Sršeň, Ferdinand
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American film technician and special effects artist
DATE OF BIRTH February 24, 1890 or February 25, 1890
PLACE OF BIRTH Předměstí Veselí, today to Veselí nad Moravou
DATE OF DEATH December 11, 1962
Place of death Los Angeles , California