Gray frederickson occc texas

Academy Award winning producer Gray Frederickson passed away last weekend. Frederickson was the Godfather of Oklahoma film. He produced more than forty movies, including three of the American Film Institute’s Top 100 movies of all time.

Remembering Gray Frederickson - OKC FRIDAY

He founded the Digital Cinema Program at OCCC, educating thousands of Oklahoma filmmakers. And, as my first boss in the film industry, he was the kindest, most inspiring mentor I have ever known.

Frederickson grew up in Oklahoma City, attending Casady School and the University of Oklahoma before heading to Europe. He was working in Switzerland when an Italian movie producer convinced him to move to Rome to start making films.

Gray Frederickson, Class of 2019 | Oklahoma Hall of Fame

A couple of early successes in Italy led to a production management job on Sergio Leone’s The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly with Clint Eastwood. The film blew up, launching Eastwood into superstardom and prompting Frederickson to move to Hollywood.

In Los Angeles, he was hired by Albert S. Ruddy to help produce The Godfathe OCCC and the film Industry | Southwest Ledger KODOB