Franz Bachelin

Franz Bachelin was the German-born Academy Award-nominated art director who oversaw the set design for Star Trek's first pilot,, after Pato Guzman dropped out to return to Chile. After the pilot was produced, Bachelin left and did not return for the next pilot or the eventual series when it was picked up by NBC, and he was replaced by Matt Jefferies. However, his work was later seen in and, and he received on-screen credit on the latter episode.

During World War I, Bachelin served as a fighter pilot in Germany. From the 1930s, he was working as art director at various studios. Bachelin earned an Academy Award nomination in Best Art Direction-Set Decoration for the 1959 adaptation of Jules Verne's science fiction novel, Journey to the Center of the Earth. He shared the nomination with fellow art directors Herman A. Blumenthal and Lyle R. Wheeler and set decorators Joseph Kish and Walter M. Scott.

Bachelin's many other art direction credits include a number of the classic Bulldog Drummond films of the 1930s, 's classic 1953 comic war film Stalag 17, the 1954 adventure film The Naked Jungle (starring Abraham Sofaer), the 1955 film The Sea Chase (co-starring Paul Fix), the 1957 drama Band of Angels (featuring William Schallert), the 1962 fantasy The Magic Sword (starring Gary Lockwood), and the 1965 sci-fi B-movie Village of the Giants. His last work was the 1966 two-part pilot for the Batman series, which featured TOS guest star Frank Gorshin in his Emmy Award-nominated role as The Riddler.

Bachelin died in Pacific Palisades, California in 1980. He was 84 years old.

Art Director

 * TOS:
 * (uncredited)
 * (archive footage portions, uncredited)
 * (archive footage portions)