Starship Enterprise creator, SP aviator Matt Jeffries dies at 81

August 01, 2003
Santa Paula News

In the mid-1990s, all the excitement of a highly anticipated Christie’s auction of Mae West memorabilia wasn’t all centered on the legendary actress and writer. . .the auction also featured highly collectible works by Matt Jeffries, including original designs of the starship Enterprise, revered mother ship of Star Trek.

By Peggy KellySanta Paula TimesIn the mid-1990s, all the excitement of a highly anticipated Christie’s auction of Mae West memorabilia wasn’t all centered on the legendary actress and writer. . .the auction also featured highly collectible works by Matt Jeffries, including original designs of the starship Enterprise, revered mother ship of Star Trek. Trekkies, those diehard Star Trek fans, went wild on bidding for Jeffries’ works.Jeffries, 81, an active member of the Santa Paula Airport community, died last week in a Sherman Oaks hospital not far from his Hollywood Hills home from a massive heart attack.Jeffries and his wife, Mary Ann, lived part-time at the airport in the apartment they crafted in his hanger. He had bought the hanger in the late 1960s and for many years it was home for his antique 1935 Waco. Jeffries spent almost a decade of Sundays restoring the plane, now on permanent display at the Virginia Air Museum in Richmond, Va.Jeffries series of aircraft paintings hang at Logsdon’s at the Airport where they delight visitors and art lovers alike and he was generous with local charities, notably Hospice of Santa Clara Valley, in sharing the proceeds from his sales.
Jeffries and his two brothers were art directors and Matt soon made a name for himself with his first motion picture, “Bombers B-52” in 1957. He also worked on “The Old Man and the Sea” the next year and eventually moved into television, designing sets for “The Untouchables,” “Little House on the Prairie” and “Dallas.”In the mid-1960s he met Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and Jeffries designed the starship Enterprise for the series that now has a devoted following even decades after the original series was cancelled.Jeffries, born Aug. 12, 1921 in Lebanon, Pa., had an early love of aviation and moved from building model airplanes as a child to getting a pilot license while a high school student.During World War II he was a member of the Army Air Corps and a B-17 bomber flight engineer and co-pilot. Jeffries earned the Bronze Star and Air Medal for his service.A memorial service is being planned at Santa Paula Airport and a Mass celebrating Jeffries’ life will be held Aug. 2 at 11 a.m. at St. Charles Borromeo Church, 10800 Moorpark Ave., North Hollywood.



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