Meredith Merle Nicholson (March 11, 1913 – August 18, 2005) was an American cinematographer. He worked behind the camera on low-budget films of the 1950s, hit television series in the 1960s, and comedies, dramas, and made-for-TV movies in the 1970s and 1980s. In 1953, Nicholson, along with his two sons and three other partners, created the company

Panavision Panavision is an American motion picture equipment company founded in 1953 specializing in cameras and lenses, based in Woodland Hills, California. Formed by Robert Gottschalk as a small partnership to create anamorphic projection lenses dur ...

. While working as an administrator there, he was able to take occasional quick jobs as a cameraman. He was eventually forced out of Panavision in 1960, and devoted the rest of his career to filming. Nicholson's first job as cinematographer was working for his friend Richard Cunha on Cunha's second film '' She Demons'' in 1958. This was followed by work on Cunha’s '' Frankenstein's Daughter'' (also in 1958), and ''

Missile to the Moon ''Missile to the Moon'' is a 1958 independently made American black-and-white science fiction film drama, produced by Marc Frederic, directed by Richard E. Cunha, that stars Richard Travis, Cathy Downs, and K. T. Stevens. The film was distrib ...

'' in 1959. Nicholson is credited with achieving amazing results on these films, despite severe budget and time limitations. Each of these films was shot in eight days or fewer. This allowed time for Nicholson to also work on the film '' The Decks Ran Red'' at

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

. After leaving Panavision, Nicholson joined the production crew of the television series ''

My Three Sons ''My Three Sons'' is an American television sitcom that aired from September 29, 1960, to April 13, 1972. The series was broadcast on ABC during its first five seasons, before moving to CBS for the remaining seasons. ''My Three Sons'' chroni ...

''. He also was the cinematographer on the television series '' The Blue Angels'' and two films by Edgar Ulmer, ''

Beyond the Time Barrier ''Beyond the Time Barrier'' is a 1960 American science fiction film. It was released in September 1960 on a double bill with '' The Angry Red Planet''.Warren, Bill (1986). "Keep Watching The Skies Volume 2". McFarland & Co., Inc. . Page 730 It sta ...

'' and '' The Amazing Transparent Man''. He later worked on the more obscure films '' Dangerous Charter'', '' The Devil's Hand'', and '' Escape from Hell Island''. Nicholson’s work after these films was exclusively in television. He worked on the series '' The Fugitive'', ''

Twelve O'Clock High ''Twelve O'Clock High'' is a 1949 American war film about aircrews in the United States Army's Eighth Air Force, who flew daylight bombing missions against Germany and Occupied France during the early days of American involvement in World War II ...

'', ''

Get Smart ''Get Smart'' is an American comedy television series parodying the secret agent genre that had become widely popular in the first half of the 1960s, with the release of the ''James Bond'' films. It was created by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry, an ...

'', '' Batman'', and ''

The Invaders ''The Invaders'' is an American science-fiction television series created by Larry Cohen that aired on ABC for two seasons, from 1967 to 1968. Roy Thinnes stars as David Vincent, who after stumbling across evidence of an in-progress invas ...

''. In the 1970s he worked on '' M*A*S*H'', ''

Get Christie Love! ''Get Christie Love!'' is an American crime drama TV series starring Teresa Graves as an undercover African-American female detective which originally aired on ABC from January 22, 1974, until April 5, 1975. The starring television role made Gr ...

'', ''

Mork & Mindy ''Mork & Mindy'' is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC from September 14, 1978, to May 27, 1982. A spin-off after a highly successful episode of ''Happy Days'', "My Favorite Orkan", it starred Robin Williams as Mork, an extraterrest ...

'', and '' The Odd Couple''. Nicholson continued to work in television until the late 1980s. The last television series he worked on was ''

My Sister Sam ''My Sister Sam'' is an American television sitcom starring Pam Dawber and Rebecca Schaeffer that aired on CBS from October 6, 1986, to April 12, 1988. Synopsis The sitcom follows the lives of a 29-year-old San Francisco freelance photographer ...

'', which ended in 1988. Nicholson died on 18 August 2005. He is survived by his daughter Linda Ahern and two sons.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nicholson, Meredith Merle 1913 births 2005 deaths American cinematographers Panavision