John E. Chilberg II (24 September 1929 – 2 March 1987; age 57) was the Art Director on Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. As he was primarily an art director for television programs, Star Trek III was Chilberg's only feature film credit.
Career[]
Chilberg was nominated for an Emmy Award in Outstanding Art Direction for a Series for his work on Battlestar Galactica. He shared this nomination with set decorator Mickey S. Michaels, who later worked on Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Chilberg received a second Emmy nomination in the same category for an episode of the primetime soap opera Dynasty.
Chilberg worked on several other projects edited by Star Trek III film editor Robert F. Shugrue. Among these was the 1977 mini-series Testimony of Two Men, which, like Star Trek III, starred William Shatner. This production was co-directed by Leo Penn, co-starred Theodore Bikel, Jeff Corey, John de Lancie, and Logan Ramsey, and featured music by Gerald Fried.
In addition, Chilberg worked on three additional projects for Star Trek III writer and producer Harve Bennett. The first was the 1973 ABC Movie of the Week Money to Burn, which featured Search for Spock performer Paul Sorensen. This was followed three years later with the acclaimed mini-series Rich Man, Poor Man, whose cast included Kim Darby, Fionnula Flanagan, Roy Jenson, Leigh J. McCloskey, Gavan O'Herlihy, and Lawrence Pressman. The third project was the 1984 TV drama The Jesse Owens Story, starring the likes of LeVar Burton, Ronny Cox, James B. Sikking, Victor Tayback, and Ben Vereen and featuring cinematography by Star Trek III' director of photography, Charles Correll. This latter production was among Chilberg's few credits as Production Designer.
Chilberg was Art Director on many other made-for-TV productions, including 1973's Brock's Last Case (starring Henry Darrow), 1974's Senior Year (featuring Jan Shutan), 1975's Force Five (featuring Roy Jenson and William Lucking), 1979's The Seekers (starring Brian Keith, with music by Gerald Fried), The Legend of Walks Far Woman (1982, featuring Nick Ramus and cinematography by Gayne Rescher), and Listen to Your Heart (1983, starring George Coe and Tony Plana). He died in Los Angeles, California, USA, in 1987; his last projects were Hollywood Wives (1985, starring Joanna Cassidy, Mary Crosby, K Callan, and Meg Wyllie) and Dark Mansions (1986, featuring Byron Morrow).