Richard Owen Fleischer 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.
28 Facts About Richard Fleischer
2.
Richard Fleischer 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.
3.
Richard Fleischer served in the US Army during World War II.
4.
Richard Fleischer won an Academy Award as producer of the 1947 documentary Design for Death, co-written by Theodor Geisel, which examined the cultural forces that led to Japan's imperial expansion through World War II.
5.
Richard Fleischer moved to Los Angeles and was assigned his first feature, Child of Divorce, a vehicle for Sharyn Moffett.
6.
Back at RKO, Richard Fleischer made The Clay Pigeon, a thriller based on a story by Foreman.
7.
Richard Fleischer said he constantly tried to graduate to A pictures during this time.
8.
RKO's owner Howard Hughes was impressed by The Narrow Margin and hired Richard Fleischer to re-write and re-shoot the majority of His Kind of Woman after he was dissatisfied with the original cut delivered by director John Farrow.
9.
The Happy Time was successful, and Richard Fleischer was meant to follow it with another for Kramer and Foreman, Full of Life.
10.
Richard Fleischer accepted an offer from MGM to make Arena, a rodeo-themed story starring Gig Young and Jean Hagen.
11.
Richard Fleischer directed Violent Saturday, a thriller for Buddy Adler at 20th Century Fox.
12.
Richard Fleischer worked for this studio for the next 15 years.
13.
Richard Fleischer then made Bandido, a Western with Robert Mitchum.
14.
Kirk Douglas hired Richard Fleischer to make The Vikings, which was produced independently by Douglas through his company Brynaprod and was another big hit.
15.
Fox offered him North to Alaska with John Wayne, which Richard Fleischer originally agreed to do, but withdrew when he was unhappy with the script.
16.
Richard Fleischer moved to Paris where Darryl F Zanuck asked him to make The Ballad of Red Rocks, a vehicle for Zanuck's then-girlfriend Juliette Greco.
17.
The film was not made, but Richard Fleischer directed two other stories for Zanuck starring Greco: Crack in the Mirror and The Big Gamble.
18.
Richard Fleischer then signed a contract with Dino De Laurentiis to make Barabbas.
19.
Richard Fleischer accepted an offer from Samuel Bronston and Philip Yordan to make The Nightrunners of Bengal in Spain, but this project fell apart when Bronston's empire collapsed.
20.
Back in Hollywood, Richard Zanuck had become head of production at Fox and offered Fleischer Fantastic Voyage.
21.
Richard Fleischer was entrusted with Fox's big "roadshow" musical of 1967, Doctor Dolittle, with Rex Harrison.
22.
Richard Fleischer then replaced John Huston, who had fallen out with star George C Scott, on The Last Run.
23.
Richard Fleischer was reunited with De Laurentiis for the successful though controversial Mandingo.
24.
Richard Fleischer earned a reputation as a reliable journeyman and "replacement director", filling in when a project's original director was fired by a producer for creative differences.
25.
Richard Fleischer received another call to replace a director, in this case Sidney J Furie, on The Jazz Singer, an unsuccessful attempt to make a film star out of Neil Diamond.
26.
Richard Fleischer made three more for De Laurentiis: Amityville 3-D, Conan the Destroyer and Red Sonja.
27.
Richard Fleischer was chairman of Richard Fleischer Studios, which today handles the licensing of Betty Boop and Koko the Clown.
28.
Richard Fleischer died in his sleep at the age of 89 after having been in failing health.