After over 200+ hours of working for TV series like The Pretender, Blue Bloods, New York Undercover, House, 24, and CSI Miami, Director Fredrick Keller passed peacefully with family. According to Deadline, he died after brain surgery on January 26 in Los Angeles.
According to Deadline, Director Fredrick Keller was born on April 18, 1950 in Buffalo, New York as an only child growing up. His father was an actor and writer, and his mother was a speech therapist in public school.
Deadline mentions that he has done tons of great work which includes TV, theater, and film. His filming style not only showed strong style visually, but also in the actors he chose and their performances. Keller had written and directed Natalie Babbitt’s (The Devil’s Storybook, Goody Hall) novel Tuck Everlasting in 1981. He went on to receive a Bachelors of English at Hamilton College, where he studied with Nat Boxer (Apocalypse Now, Bananas), a future prolific sound technician that worked with Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather II, The Outsiders). Keller made many small films, screening them at Cannes Film Festival in 1974. Before the 90’s he was hired to direct half of Nickelodeon’s Hey Dude in Tucson, Arizona as well as the mystery show Columbo Goes to College starring Peter Falk (The Princess Bride, Wings of Desire) with guest star Robert Culp (Hannie Caulder, The Greastest American Hero).
Deadline reports that Keller slowly steered away from film to do more of his TV directing career. By the 90s’ his credits included Hey Dude, Swift Justice, Nash Bridges, New York Undercover, The Pretender, Roswell, Angel, Boomtown, Law Vegas, 24, CSI: Miami, House, Numb3rs, Justified and Blue Bloods. Along with all of this, his producer credits included all episodes of The Pretender, Boomtown, half of Blue Bloods, and most of the 2017 documentary King Cohen.