Gerry Anderson

Gerald " Gerry " Anderson, MBE (actually Gerald Alexander Abraham, born April 14, 1929 in West Hampstead, London, England; † 26 December 2012) was a British puppet artist and filmmaker.

Life

Anderson comes from a Jewish family that had its roots in the Polish- Russian border area. He grew up in North London and started after his military service with the Royal Air Force with a small film production company for commercials.

Anderson Together with his wife, Sylvia Anderson ( née Thamm ) has made ​​a name in the science fiction field and special effects in later years. The technique Supermarionation was developed by them.

One of the greatest successes of the Andersons owned the television series Thunderbirds. The pilot episode Trapped In The Sky took an hour and the boss of the transmitter ITC Entertainment, Lew Grade, was so impressed by the story that he Gerry Anderson gave the contract to expand all the episodes of the originally planned 25 minutes to one hour.

Associated companies:

• AP Films ( APF), later renamed Century 21 Productions

Anderson last lived in Henley -on-Thames, Oxfordshire; He died in December 2012 at the age of 83 of complications from Alzheimer's disease, which he himself had six months earlier made ​​public.

Filmography ( excerpt)

Secondary literature

• Gerry Anderson: The Authorised Biography (1996 ), Stan Nicholls and S. Archer.
• Simon Archer / Marcus Hearn: What Made Thunderbirds Go! The authorized biography of Gerry Anderson, London 2002.
• Stephen La Riviere: Filmed in Supermarionation. A history of the future, Neshannock, Pa.. (Hermes Press) 2009.