My Take
Richard Fleischer is one of those directors I find genuinely fascinating precisely because he never locked himself into a single lane. The son of animation legend Max Fleischer, he could have coasted on the family name, but instead he carved out his own identity across an astonishing range of genres — from the tight, claustrophobic noir of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea to the brutal true-crime portrait of 10 Rillington Place to the bonkers sci-fi of Soylent Green. He won an Academy Award for documentary work back in 1948, which tells you he had a sharp eye for reality alongside the spectacle. Brown University educated, clearly a thinker, yet he never let pretension get in the way of pure entertainment. Disney Legends status in 2003 was a fitting late-career honor. He passed in 2006 at 89, and honestly, a four-decade Hollywood run that eclectic deserves way more appreciation than it gets.
Overview
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.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Richard Fleischer
- Name (Japanese)
- リチャード・フライシャー
- Reading
- りちゃーど・ふらいしゃー
- Born
- December 8, 1916 – March 25, 2006
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Sagittarius / Dragon
- Origin
- New York City, New York, United States
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- film director / screenwriter / director
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- Brown University
Awards & achievements
- 1948 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film
- 2003 Disney Legends
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.