Bergey was one of the most prolific pulp fiction artists of the 20th century who painted cover art for thousands of pulp fiction magazines and paperback books.
Gene Roddenberry, for example, provided his production designer for Star Trek with examples of Bergey's futuristic pulp covers. The artist's illustrations of scantily-clad women surviving in outer space served as an inspiration for Princess Leia's slave-girl outfit in Return of the Jedi, and Madonna's conical brass brassiere.