Biography
Cinematographer Meredith Nicholson's career behind the camera was confined almost entirely to some fascinating (and also fascinatingly bad, but enjoyable) low-budget films of the 1950s, a string of hit television series during the '60s, and comedies, dramas, and made-for-TV features in the '70s. Trained as a motion picture photographer, Nicholson was sidetracked from his chosen field when, during the late '50s, he became an administrator at Panavision, the company whose widescreen photographic equipment became the chief rival (and eventual successor) to Cinemascope. He was able to take occasional quick jobs, primarily for low-budget filmmakers; his first was for a friend, fellow cinematographer-turned-director Richard E. Cunha, who needed someone to shoot his second film,
She Demons (1958). He followed this with work on Cunha's
Frankenstein's Daughter (1958) and
Missile to the Moon (1959). Nicholson achieved some interesting results on all three of those films, despite woefully limited budgets and minuscule shooting schedules, working in tandem with make-up man
Harry Thomas and various special effects designers. In between those movies -- none of which took more than eight days to shoot -- he also worked at MGM on Andrew L. Stone's offbeat maritime thriller
The Decks Ran Red (1958), starring
James Mason and
Dorothy Dandridge. He left Panavision in 1960 and, in a spurt of professional activity, joined the production crew of the TV series
My Three Sons, photographed the short-lived series
The Blue Angels, and also served as cinematographer of Edgar G. Ulmer's two Texas-made features,
Beyond the Time Barrier and
The Amazing Transparent Man. Apart from a trio of obscure features (
Dangerous Charter,
The Devil's Hand, and
Escape From Hell Island), the remainder of Nicholson's career was confined to television on such series as
The Fugitive,
12 O'Clock High,
Get Smart,
Batman, and
The Invaders. In the '70s, he worked on such series as M*A*S*H,
Get Christie Love, Mork & Mindy, and
The Odd Couple. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide