Richard Fleischer | |
|---|---|
 Richard Fleischer in 1946 | |
| Born | December 8, 1916 Brooklyn, New York City, U.S. |
| Died | March 25, 2006 (aged 89) |
| Other names | Dick Fleischer |
| Education | Brown University (BA) Yale University (MFA) |
| Occupation(s) | Film director, chairman of Fleischer Studios |
| Years active | 1942–1993 |
| Spouse |
Mary Dickson (m. 1943) |
| Children | 3 |
| Parent(s) | Max Fleischer (father) Ethel "Essie" Goldstein (mother) |
| Relatives | Dave Fleischer (uncle) Lou Fleischer (uncle) Seymour Kneitel (brother-in-law) |
| Website | richardfleischer |
Richard Owen Fleischer (/ˈflaɪʃər/; December 8, 1916 – March 25, 2006) was an American film director whose career spanned more than four decades, beginning at the height of the Golden Age of Hollywood and lasting through the American New Wave.
Though he directed films across many genres and styles, he is best known for his big-budget, "tentpole" films,[1][2] 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, Robert Wagner, Tony Curtis, Louis Jourdan, Jean Hagen, Victor Mature, Richard Egan, Ray Milland, Farley Granger, Orson Welles, Diane Varsi, Anthony Quinn, Stephen Boyd, Rex Harrison, Anthony Newley, Mia Farrow, George C. Scott, Charles Bronson, Richard Attenborough, Charlton Heston, Lee Marvin, Glenda Jackson, Eddie Deezen 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. Though Fleischer was never considered an auteur and was not a highly acclaimed artist,[3] many of his films proved very financially and critically successful, winning accolades and being some of the highest-grossing features of their respective release years.[4]
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
:0was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Anthology Film Archives : Film Screenings". anthologyfilmarchives.org. Retrieved February 2, 2020.
- ^ "5 reasons to see films in the Richard Fleischer retrospective at EIFF 2013". The List. June 4, 2013. Retrieved February 2, 2020.
- ^ Kehr, Dave (February 17, 2008). "In a Corrupt World Where the Violent Bear It Away". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 2, 2020.