Born on August 21, 1938 in Salem Oregon, John Frederick became a child of the silent generation when movies were dominated by names like Henry Fonda, Edward G. Robinson and Laurel and Hardy. As a child, John dreamed of being a professional baseball player. After grade school he went on to attend Willamette University in 1961 and graduated with a degree in History.
Realizing he didn’t have the right stuff for a pro career, he shifted gears and was Commissioned as an Ensign in the US Navy, where he served served for 36 years – ten years of which were on active duty. His military tours included the Pentagon, as Executive Officer for the Office of Information for the Armed Forces, and as Public Information Officer for the US Second Fleet, and the NATO Striking Fleet Atlantic.
I want to become the worlds oldest overnight sensation
and hopefully provide several million laughs!
Following his release from active service, he remained in the Reserves with the Naval Reserve Combat Camera Group, first as Executive and later as Commanding officer of that Unit. John’s last tour was in Hollywood as a Motion Picture and Television Officer, where later, his childhood dream became a reality and his movie career began.
After freelancing on short films that featured Dick Van Dyke, Julie London, James Drury (The Virginian), Rod Serling and Arte Johnson of Laugh In Fame, in 1975 Frederick co-founded FMS Productions with Producer Herm Saunders (F Troop & Adam 12). The company is still in business today.
In the early years of FMS, Frederick wrote and sold a four hour script to CBS, which allowed him entry to the Writer’s Guild Of America West, where he became vested and is still active. John wrote and/or produced nearly fifty films in his career, mostly educational or documentaries that promoted solutions to pressing social issues, and was honored by numerous organizations for his efforts.
During his long career John Frederick met, and often worked with many stars of Hollywood’s Golden Age, including John Wayne, Dana Andrews, Charlton Heston, Bob Hope and many others. His experiences with these greats, and many more in areas like sports, politics and the military, led him to get down to working on his novel which was always on his bucket list, witing his first book StarCatcher: A True Life Hollywood Fantasy, whereby a movie struck and baseball mad child is able to grow up up and find himself involved with the many of his idols he had long admired.
When he’s not writing, Frederick devotes time to helping people to recover from alcohol and drug addition, collecting film memorabilia and precious books and the sport where his age is now a good score, golfing. He also keeps up with his greatest passion: baseball. The man who dreamed of being a professional baseball player now devotes hisctime to his family, friends, personal passions, writing about his experiences in Hollywood and with his “special friend” Irene.
StarCatcher mixes humor and insight with stories based on the quotes of the famous, that reveal more about them than you have ever seen before. StarCatcher is all about happier days and better times. Movie stars we admired. Politicians we respected (or not) and sports heroes we looked up to, and who played for love of the game…since money was not being thrown around in those days. For information on new releases and appearances, sign up for John’s newsletter.
All the best,
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