Richard Owen Fleischer (December 8, 1917 – 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, 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 Rober... ()