Editing Kelly Freas

{{Short description|American science fiction artist}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2016}}
{{Infobox writer <!-- writer for pseudonym and period fields -->
| name          = Frank Kelly Freas
| image         = Kelly82.jpg
| imagesize     = 200px
| caption       = Freas on his 82nd birthday (2004)
| pseudonym     = Kelly Freas (occasional)
| birth_date    = {{Birth date|1922|8|27}}
| birth_place   = [[Hornell, New York]], U.S.
| death_date    = {{death date and age|2005|1|2|1922|8|27}}
| death_place   = [[West Hills, Los Angeles|West Hills]], California, U.S.
| occupation    = Artist, illustrator
| genre         = [[Fantasy]], [[science fiction]]
| period        = {{circa|1950}}–2004<ref name=isfdb/>
| resting_place = [[Oakwood Memorial Park Cemetery]]
}}
[[File:Disqualified by Freas.png|thumb|Art by Freas for "Disqualified" by [[Charles L. Fontenay]], ''[[If magazine]]'', September 1954.]]

'''Frank Kelly Freas''' (August 27, 1922 – January 2, 2005) was an [[American people|American]] artist known for his work in [[science fiction]] and [[fantasy]], with a career spanning more than 50 years. He was known as the "Dean of Science Fiction Artists" and he was the second artist inducted by the [[Museum of Pop Culture|Science Fiction Hall of Fame]].<ref name=sfhof2006/>{{efn|name=sfhof}}

==Early life, education, and personal life==
{{More citations needed |section|date=March 2019}}
He was born August 27, 1922, in [[Hornell, New York]], as Francis Sylvester Kelly.<ref>"New York, Birth Indexes outside of New York City, 1881-1942", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6FKF-K9B8 : Wed Nov 15 05:48:56 UTC 2023), Entry for Francis S Kelly, 27 Aug 1922.</ref> After his parents divorced, his mother remarried in 1939, and he took on his stepfather's last name of Freas. Frank Kelly Freas (pronounced like "freeze") was the son of two photographers, and was raised in Canada.<ref name=martin/> He was educated at [[Lafayette High School (Buffalo)|Lafayette High School]] in [[Buffalo, New York|Buffalo]], where he received training from long-time art teacher Elizabeth Weiffenbach. He entered the [[United States Army Air Forces]] right out of high school ([[Crystal Beach, Ontario]], Canada). He flew as camera man for reconnaissance in the South Pacific and painted bomber noses during World War II. He then worked for Curtiss-Wright for a brief period, then went to study at [[The Art Institute of Pittsburgh]] and began to work in advertising. His first marriage was in 1948 to Nina Vaccaro,<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/91044198/.| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170906135153/https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/91044198/| archive-date = September 6, 2017| title = Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on July 24, 1948 &middot; Page 20}}</ref> though they later divorced.  He later married Pauline (Polly) Bussard in 1952; they had two children, Jacqui and Jerry. Polly died of cancer in January 1987. In 1988 he married (and is survived by) Dr. Laura Brodian.

==Career==
Freas began his work as a commercial artist in the late 1940s, mostly for television. His goal was to become a science fiction artist.<ref>''Past and Present Master: An Interview with Kelly Freas'', Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction, January 1975 (Vol. 1, No. 1)</ref>
[[File:Weird Tales November 1950.jpg|thumb|left|''The Piper'', illustrating Wakefield's "The Third Shadow" for ''Weird Tales'', was Freas's first magazine cover, November 1950]]

The fantasy magazine ''[[Weird Tales]]'' published the first cover art by Freas on its November 1950 issue: "The Piper" illustrating "The Third Shadow" by [[H. Russell Wakefield]]. His second was a year later in the same magazine, followed by several  ''[[Planet Stories]]'' or ''Weird Tales'' covers and interior illustrations for three [[Gnome Press]] books in 1952.<ref name=isfdb/> With his illustrating career underway, he continued to devise unique and imaginative concepts for other fantasy and science fiction magazines of that period. In a field where [[airbrush]]ing is common practice, paintings by Freas are notable for his use of bold brush strokes, and a study of his work reveals his experimentation with a wide variety of tools and techniques.

[[File:AstoundingOct53.jpg|thumb|right|''[[Astounding Science Fiction]]'' cover, October 1953]]

Over the next five decades, he created covers for hundreds of books and magazines (and much more interior artwork), notably ''[[Astounding (magazine)|Astounding Science Fiction]]'', both before and after its title change to ''Analog'', from 1953 to 2003.<ref name=isfdb/> He started at [[MAD Magazine|''Mad'' magazine]] in February 1957 and by July 1958 was the magazine's new cover artist; he painted most of its covers until October 1962 (featuring the iconic character, [[Alfred E. Neuman]]).<ref name=martin/><ref name=Virginian>{{cite news |last=Vincent |first=Mal |date=May 21, 2010 |title=As the Symphony gets ready to rock, we remember a local artist |newspaper=[[The Virginian-Pilot]] |page=E1 |url=http://hamptonroads.com/2010/05/symphony-gets-ready-rock-we-remember-local-artist |access-date=August 19, 2010 |archive-date=August 27, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110827065722/http://hamptonroads.com/2010/05/symphony-gets-ready-rock-we-remember-local-artist |url-status=dead }}</ref> He also created cover illustrations for DAW, Signet, [[Ballantine Books]], Avon, all 58 Laser Books (which are now collectors' items), and over 90 covers for Ace books alone.<!--isfdb may support this but not easy to count--> He was editor and artist for the first ten ''Starblaze'' books. He illustrated the cover of [[Jean Shepherd]], [[Ian Ballantine]], and [[Theodore Sturgeon]]'s literary hoax, ''[[I, Libertine]]'' (Ballantine Books, 1956). That same year he drew cartoon illustrations for [[Bernard Shir-Cliff]]'s ''The Wild Reader''.

Freas also painted insignia and posters for [[Skylab I]];<ref name=martin/> pinup girls on bombers while in the [[United States Army Air Forces]]; comic book covers; the covers of the ''[[GURPS]]'' worldbooks ''Lensman'' and ''Planet Krishna''; and more than 500 saints' portraits for the [[Franciscan]]s executed simultaneously with his portraits of [[Alfred E. Neuman]] for ''Mad''.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/05/arts/design/f-k-freas-who-drew-the-devilish-face-of-mad-magazine-dies-at-82.html |title=F. K. Freas, Who Drew the Devilish Face of Mad Magazine, Dies at 82 |first=Douglas |last=Martin |date=January 5, 2005 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=June 14, 2017}}</ref><ref name="guardianobituaries">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2005/jan/13/guardianobituaries.books |title=Obituary: Frank Kelly Freas |first=Stephen |last=Holland |date=January 13, 2005 |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=June 14, 2017}}</ref> He was very active in gaming and medical illustration. His cover of [[Queen (band)|Queen]]'s album ''[[News of the World (album)|News of the World]]'' (1977) was a pastiche of his October 1953 cover illustration for [[Tom Godwin]]'s "The Gulf Between" for ''Astounding Science Fiction'' magazine.<ref name=Virginian /><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Godwin |first=Tom |title=The Gulf Between |magazine=[[Astounding Science Fiction]] |date=October 1953 |pages=8–56}}</ref>

Freas published several collections of his color and black-and-white artwork in the volumes ''Frank Kelly Freas: The Art of Science Fiction'' and ''Frank Kelly Freas: As Others See it'', as well as in a spiral-bound collection of his black-and-white illustrations from ''Astounding Science Fiction''. He also frequently gave art presentations, and his work appeared in numerous exhibitions. He was among several of the inaugural recipients of the [[Hugo Award for Best Artist]] in 1955 and was recipient under different names of the next three conferred in 1956, 1958, and 1959.<ref name=SFAwards/>{{efn|name=hugo1950s}} With six more Hugo awards to his name (1970 and 1972–76), he became the first person to receive ten [[Hugo Award|Hugo awards]] (he was nominated 20 times). No other artist in science fiction has consistently matched his record and output.

Freas was twice a Guest of Honor at [[Worldcon]], at [[40th World Science Fiction Convention|Chicon IV]] in 1982 and at [[61st World Science Fiction Convention|Torcon 3]] in 2003, although a fall suffered shortly before the latter convention precluded him from attending.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.kellyfreas.com/frameset_default.htm |title=Archived copy |access-date=February 26, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180211074410/http://www.kellyfreas.com/frameset_default.htm |archive-date=February 11, 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

He died in [[West Hills, Los Angeles, California|West Hills]], California and is buried in [[Oakwood Memorial Park Cemetery]] in [[Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California|Chatsworth]].
{{clear}}

==Awards==
[[File:FreasAwards.jpg|thumb|Some of Kelly Freas's awards (2004)]]
Freas's achievements include the Doctor of Arts, [[Art Institute of Pittsburgh]], December 2003.<ref name="guardianobituaries"/> The [[EMP Museum#Science Fiction Hall of Fame|Science Fiction Hall of Fame]] inducted him in 2006, the second artist after [[Chesley Bonestell]].<ref name=sfhof2006/><ref name=sfhof2006-b/>{{efn|name=sfhof |After inducting 36 fantasy and science fiction writers and editors from 1996 to 2004, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame dropped "fantasy" and made non-literary contributors eligible. [[Chesley Bonestell]] inaugurated the "Art" category in 2005.<!--[ref name=sfhof-old] [ref name=sfhof2005] in his biography-->}}

* Hugo Awards (11): [[Hugo Award for Best Artist]] 1955–56, 1958–59, 1970, 1972–76; fifty-year Retrospective Hugo, 2001 (for 1950 work)<ref name=SFAwards/>
* [[Locus Award]]s (4), 1972–75, best artist<ref name=SFAwards/>
* Frank R. Paul Award, 1977
* [[Inkpot Award]], 1979<ref>[https://www.comic-con.org/awards/inkpot Inkpot Award]</ref>
* [[Skylark Award|Edward E. Smith Memorial Award for Imaginative Fiction]] (the Skylark), 1981<ref name=SFAwards/>
* Rova Award, 1981
* Lensman Award, 1982
* Phoenix Award, 1982
* Los Angeles Science Fiction Society Service Award, 1983
* Neographics Award, 1985
* Daedalus Life Achievement Award, 1987
* Art Teacher Emeritus Award, 1988
* Best Professional, Media, International Fantasy Expo, 1989
* [[Chesley Awards]] (3): 1990 with Laura Freas, best 1989 cover illustration; 1994, artistic achievement; 2001, artistic achievement<ref name=SFAwards/>
* Numerous Science Fiction Art Show Awards
* National Association of Trade and Technical Schools National Hall of Fame, 1991
* AnLab ([[Analog magazine]]) Reader Polls, Best Cover, 1992 and 2001<ref name=SFAwards/>

==Notes==
{{notelist |refs=
{{efn|name=hugo1950s|1=
There was no award for art on the 1957 WorldCon program.<!-- http://www.locusmag.com/SFAwards/Db/Hugo1957.html --> Thus in 1955–56 and 1958–59 Freas won the first four unified Hugo Awards for illustration, as the terminology changed from Artist to Outstanding Artist to Professional Artist. The only previous achievement awards at [[World Science Fiction Convention]]s recognized Interior and Cover illustration separately in 1953.<ref name=SFAwards/>
}}
}}

==References==
{{Reflist |30em |refs=
<ref name=isfdb>
{{ISFDB name |488}} (ISFDB). Retrieved April 9, 2013.</ref>
<ref name=martin>
{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/05/arts/design/05freas.html |title=F. K. Freas, Who Drew the Devilish Face of Mad Magazine, Dies at 82 |first=Douglas |last=Martin |newspaper=The New York Times |date=January 5, 2005}}</ref>

<!-- some awards refs -->
<ref name=sfhof2006>
{{cite web |url=http://www.sfhomeworld.org/make_contact/article.asp?articleID=239 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20060426115756/http://www.sfhomeworld.org/make_contact/article.asp?articleID=239 |archive-date=April 26, 2006 |title=Presenting the 2006 Hall of Fame Inductees |url-status=dead |access-date=August 19, 2016}} Press release March 15, 2006. Science Fiction Museum (''sfhomeworld.org''). Archived April 26, 2006. Retrieved 2013-04-09.</ref>
<ref name=SFAwards>
{{cite web |url=http://www.locusmag.com/SFAwards/Db/NomArt15.html#1798 |title=Freas, Frank Kelly |work=The Locus Index to SF Awards: Index of Art Nominees |publisher=[[Locus Publications]] |access-date=April 9, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121016201942/http://locusmag.com/SFAwards/Db/NomArt15.html#1798 |archive-date=October 16, 2012 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>
<ref name=sfhof2006-b>
{{cite web |url=http://cohenside.blogspot.com/2006/05/science-fiction-hall-of-fame.html |title=Science Fiction Hall of Fame |work=The Cohenside |date=May 15, 2006 |access-date=March 21, 2013}}</ref>
<!--one point depends also on [ref name=sfhof-old] and [ref name=sfhof2005]; see Chesley Bonestell-->  
}}

==Further reading==
* Freas, Frank Kelly. ''Frank Kelly Freas: The Art of Science Fiction''. Norfolk, Virginia: Donning, 1977.
* Freas, Frank Kelly. ''A Separate Star''. 1984.
* Freas, Frank Kelly and Laura Brodian Freas. ''Frank Kelly Freas: As He Sees It''.  London: Paper Tiger, 2000.

==External links==
{{Commons category|Frank Kelly Freas}}
* {{official website }}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20180829165101/http://www.bpib.com/illustrat/freas.htm Kelly Freas tribute site]
* {{Find a Grave|10336633}}

'''Biography and criticism'''
*[http://books.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/story/0,11617,1389449,00.html Frank Kelly Freas] obituary in ''The Guardian''
*{{sfhof |934 |Frank Kelly Freas}}

'''Bibliography and works'''
* {{Gutenberg author | id=8302| name=Kelly Freas}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Frank Kelly Freas}}
* {{ISFDB name |488}}
* [http://madcoversite.com/ugoi-frank_kelly_freas.html Complete list of Freas' work for ''MAD'' Magazine]
* [http://www.gutenberg.org/files/18151/18151-h/18151-h.htm Time Crime], by H. Beam Piper, illustrated by Freas, from [[Project Gutenberg]]
* {{cite web|url=http://www.pen-paper.net/rpgdb.php?op=showcreator&creatorid=2377 |title=Kelly Freas :: Pen & Paper RPG Database|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050405225937/http://www.pen-paper.net/rpgdb.php?op=showcreator&creatorid=2377 |archive-date=April 5, 2005}}

{{D&D topics}}
{{Inkpot Award 1970s}}

{{Portal bar |Speculative fiction |Visual arts}}
{{Authority control}} <!-- |GND=155606174 altho same VIAF bundle is only a nameholder -->

{{DEFAULTSORT:Freas, Frank Kelly}}
[[Category:1922 births]]
[[Category:2005 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American painters]]
[[Category:American album-cover and concert-poster artists]]
[[Category:American comics artists]]
[[Category:American humorists]]
[[Category:American parodists]]
[[Category:American satirists]]
[[Category:20th-century American illustrators]]
[[Category:American male painters]]
[[Category:Analog Science Fiction and Fact people]]
[[Category:Art Institute of Pittsburgh alumni]]
[[Category:Artists from Buffalo, New York]]
[[Category:Burials at Oakwood Memorial Park Cemetery]]
[[Category:American fantasy artists]]
[[Category:American game artists]]
[[Category:Hugo Award–winning artists]]
[[Category:Inkpot Award winners]]
[[Category:Lafayette High School (Buffalo, New York) alumni]]
[[Category:Medical illustrators]]
[[Category:Painters from New York (state)]]
[[Category:People from Hornell, New York]]
[[Category:Pulp fiction artists]]
[[Category:American role-playing game artists]]
[[Category:Science Fiction Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:American science fiction artists]]
[[Category:United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:United States Army Air Forces soldiers]]