Frederic Rheinstein

Producer

Frederic Rheinstein

Producer

November 5, 1927

New York City, New York

December 22, 2013

Frederic Rheinstein was a television producer and director who earned a place in history when, while working for NBC, his cameras captured the shooting of Lee Harvey Oswald by Jack Ruby in the aftermath of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in November 1963. He later achieved succcess as the founder of the Post Group, a prominent postproduction facility in Los Angeles.

Born in New York City, Rheinstein went to work for NBC after graduating from Princeton University. Following military service in the U.S. Army, he moved west to work at NBC's news division. In the years that followed he covered NASA missions in  Houston and traveled to Vietnam 15 times to cover the war there.

On November. 23, 1963, the day after President Kennedy was shot, Rheinstein was in Dallas covering the events. His cameras were there when Ruby pulled the trigger, shocking live viewers.

In 1974 Rheinstein founded the Post Group, which provided postproduction services to countless film and television projects, including special effects for such TV series as Star Trek: The Next Generation and Max Headroom. He sold the company in 2005.

Rheinstein died December 22, 2013, in Los Angeles. He was 86.

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