Fred Sersen

Fred Sersen (born Ferdinand Metoděj Sršeň in Veselí nad Moravou, 1890 – died in Los Angeles, 1962) was an American painter and special effects artist for motion pictures. Born in what was then part of Austria-Hungary, he moved to the United States at the age of 17. He studied art at schools in Los Angeles, Portland and San Francisco. He worked mainly at 20th Century Fox Studios from the 1930s to the 1950s and received credits on more than 200 films.

His first credited film was A Connecticut Yankee (1931). In 1937 he recreated the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 on screen for In Old Chicago. Other effects he is credited with include the fire in Hangover Square, the flying saucer in The Day the Earth Stood Still and the sinking ship in Titanic.

He won two Academy Awards for Best Special Effects (photographic): in 1940 for The Rains Came, and in 1944 for Crash Dive. An artificial lake created for the first of these films was named in his honor. His work helped establish visual effects as an essential part of Hollywood production.