Eric Siegel was born in 1944 in NYC. At the age of 15 while a student at Samuel Gompers Vocational and Technical High School, Siegel won Second Prize in the NYC Science Fair of 1960 for his homemade closed circuit television, which he built himself from scavenged parts. In 1961 he won an Honorable Award from the NYC Science Fair for "Color through Black and White TV". AFter graduating from school, he worked in the field of closed circuit television and at the University of London in the Educational Television Department. He later designed and built special effects components for use by artists in live and tapes works, and is known for the conception and execution of the Siegel Colorizer.