LOS ANGELES -- Kelly Freas, an influential illustrator who produced sleek, stirring images for science fiction and fantasy books and helped shape the image of Mad Magazine mascot Alfred E. Newman, died Jan. 2 at his home. He was 82.
The cause of death was old age, said his wife of 16 years, Laura Brodian Freas.
"He always wanted to be a science fiction illustrator, and the life of a science fiction illustrator led him to so much more," she said. "Life with a Mad artist was never boring."
In a career that spanned more than 50 years, Mr. Freas illustrated the covers or the pages of books by writers including Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke, A.E. Van Vogt, and Poul Anderson.
His science fiction and fantasy illustrations included emotive images of pained robots, insidious aliens, and exotic women.
Beginning in the 1950s, he spent seven years as the main cover artist of Mad Magazine, creating stylishly detailed portraits and helping to make famous Alfred E. Newman, the freckled, front-tooth-deprived purveyor of the phrase, "What? Me Worry?"
"Kelly Freas created the future in his paintings, sleekly delineating a style that has influenced two generations of designers as the technology became available to make his fantasies real," said Paul Levitz, the President of DC Comics, which publishes Mad Magazine. "And with the impish grin he gave Alfred, he winked and warned us not to take it all too seriously."
His other illustrations included the official patch of NASA's 1973 Skylab 1 orbiting space station, as well as the covers of such Mad paperbacks as "Son of Mad" and "Ides of MAD."
Mr. Freas (pronounced "freeze") also created the cover of Queen's 1977 album "News of the World," and a picture of a werewolf that appeared in the movie "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban."
Born on Aug. 27, 1922, in Hornell, N.Y., Frank Kelly Freas demonstrated artistic talent at an early age. In the late 1930s, he attended the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, where he received a Doctor of Arts in 2003.
While serving in the Pacific theater in World War II in photo reconnaissance, he passed his spare time painting beautiful women on the noses of bomber airplanes.
Mr. Freas started as a commercial illustrator, but soon moved on to science fiction and fantasy illustrations. He illustrated publications including Analog and Weird Tales or Astounding Science Fiction.
Among his awards, Mr. Freas received 11 Hugo awards for his achievements in science fiction, five of them awarded in consecutive years.
Besides his wife, Mr. Freas leaves a daughter, son, and six grandchildren.
