Richard Fleischer

Richard Owen Fleischer (; December 8, 1916 – March 25, 2006) was an American film director. His career spanned more than four decades, beginning at the height of the Golden Age of Hollywood and lasting through the American New Wave. He was the son of animation pioneer Max Fleischer, and served as chairman of Fleischer Studios. Though he directed films across many genres and styles, he is best known for his big-budget, "tentpole" films, including: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954), The Vikings (1958), Barabbas (1961), Fantastic Voyage (1966), the musical film Doctor Dolittle (1967), the war epic Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970), the dystopian mystery-thriller Soylent Green (1973), the controversial period drama Mandingo (1975), and the Robert E. Howard sword-and-sorcery films Conan the Destroyer (1984) and Red Sonja (1985). His other directorial credits include the Academy Award-winning documentary Design for Death (1947), the gritty noir The Narrow Margin (1952), the true-crime dramas Compulsion (1959), The Boston Strangler (1968) and 10 Rillington Place (1971), the mob action film The Don Is Dead (1973), the swashbuckler The Prince and the Pauper (1977), the 1980 remake of The Jazz Singer and the horror sequel Amityville 3-D (1983). Fleischer worked with many of the top Hollywood stars of his time, including: Kirk Douglas, Robert Mitchum, James Mason, Tony Curtis, Victor Mature, Richard Egan, Ray Milland, Farley Granger, Orson Welles, Diane Varsi, Anthony Quinn, Rex Harrison, Anthony Newley, Mia Farrow, George C. Scott, Charles Bronson, Richard Attenborough, Charlton Heston, Lee Marvin, Glenda Jackson, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. He was noted for his versatility, able to work in almost any genre under wildly varying conditions and budgets, making him a popular and prolific choice for producers and studios.