Richard Lester Liebman (born January 19, 1932)[3] is a retired American film director based in the United Kingdom, famous for his comedic style of shooting movies and for his work in both US and UK cinema.

[5] According to the British Film Institute, "if any single director can encapsulate the popular image of Britain in the Swinging Sixties, then it is probably Richard Lester.

With his use of flamboyant cinematic devices and liking for zany humour, he captured the vitality, and sometimes the triviality, of the period more vividly than any other director.

[2] Lester was the music director on Action in the Afternoon, an American western television series that aired live on CBS from February 2, 1953, to January 29, 1954.

A Hard Day's Night (1964) showed an exaggerated and simplified version of the Beatles' characters and proved to be an effective marketing tool.

[25] A spoof of the popular James Bond spy thrillers, it was the second collaboration with screenwriter Charles Wood and another huge commercial success.

[26] He returned to his anti-war theme with the post-apocalyptic black comedy The Bed Sitting Room (1969),[27] based on a play by Spike Milligan and John Antrobus.

How I Won the War and Bed Sitting Room performed poorly at the box office; Lester found himself unable to raise funds for a series of projects, including an adaptation of the Flashman novels.

[29] Lester's career revived when he was hired by Alexander and Ilya Salkind to do a version of The Three Musketeers (1973), based on a script by George MacDonald Fraser.

Many of the cast principals complained to the Salkinds, stating that they were only contracted to make one film, and they arrived at an agreement to avoid attorneys' fees.

The success of the Musketeers films enabled Lester to raise the finances for Royal Flash (1975), based on the second of the Flashman novels by George MacDonald Fraser.

Lester followed Royal Flash with Robin and Marian (1976) which was adapted from a script by James Goldman and starred Sean Connery and Audrey Hepburn.

Although Donner had shot 75 percent, a majority of what was planned for the film, much of his footage was jettisoned or reshot during Lester's time on the project.

[38][39][40][41][42][43] Richard Freedman in his review published in The Montana Standard found the film to be "wonderfully wacky" and concluded that "a movie consisting almost entirely of pratfalls and sight gags can wear you down after a while, but everybody involved in Finders Keepers ensures, that this is one comedy that makes nobody in the audience a loser or a weeper.

The award was presented in a public ceremony on March 22 at the National Film Theatre, and was followed by a screening of Lester's Robin and Marian.

The citation for his fellowship recognises that "Richard Lester has created a unique body of work which has enriched the lives of millions with his brilliantly surreal humour and innovative style.