{{Short description|Film director (1903–1962)}} {{Infobox artist | name = Frederick Stephani | image = Frederick Stephani.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1903|06|13}} | birth_place = Bonn, Germany | death_date = {{Death date and age|1962|10|31|1903|06|13}} | death_place = Los Angeles, California | nationality = | movement = | spouse = | awards = | elected = | patrons = | website = <!-- {{URL|Example.com}} --> | field = Filmmaking | training = | works = ''Flash Gordon'' | influenced by = | influenced = | bgcolour = }}
'''Frederick Stephani''' (June 13, 1903 – October 31, 1962)<ref name=Kinnard>{{cite book|title=The Flash Gordon Serials, 1936-1940: A Heavily Illustrated Guide|page=13|author1=Kinnard, Roy |author2=Crnkovich, Tony |author3=Vitone, R.J. |year=2008|publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0786434701|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DGFqBFs_4xcC&pg=PA13}}</ref> was a screenwriter and film director. He is best known for co-writing and directing the 13-chapter science fiction serial ''Flash Gordon'' in 1936. The serial became Universal's second highest-grossing productions that year.<ref>{{cite book | last1 = Fischer | first1 = Dennis | title = Science Fiction Film Directors, 1895-1998 | publisher = McFarland & Company, Inc | year = 2000 | location = Jefferson, North Carolina | page = 15 | isbn = 0-7864-0740-9}}</ref> Despite its success, this was the first and only serial Stephani directed over the course of his career, possibly due to its shortcomings in special effects and overall production values, even by contemporary standards.<ref name=Fletcher>{{cite book|title= Don't Dare Miss the Next Thrilling Chapter|author=Fletcher, Anthony|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=amOXLV0VMLwC&pg=PA97|page=97|year=2009|publisher=Mill City Press, Incorporated |isbn=978-1936107186}}</ref> Stephani continued to write, produce and direct feature films and television episodes into the 1960s.
==Selected filmography== *''Flash Gordon'' (1936) - writer and director *''Fast Company'' (1938) - producer *''Tarzan's New York Adventure'' (1942) - producer *''Steve Randall'' (1952, TV series) - writer and director *''Passport to Danger'' (1954, TV series) - writer and director *''Bombs on Monte Carlo'' (1960) - writer *''The Deputy'' (1961, TV series) - director
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{IMDb name|0826873}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Stephani, Frederick}} Category:1903 births Category:1962 deaths Category:Film directors from Los Angeles Category:American male screenwriters Category:American television directors Category:American male television writers Category:American television writers Category:Film people from North Rhine-Westphalia Category:German emigrants to the United States Category:Mass media people from Bonn Category:Television people from North Rhine-Westphalia Category:20th-century American male writers