Editing Richard Lester (section)

==Early years and career==
Richard Lester Liebman was born to a Jewish family<ref>{{Cite news |title=Superman, Man of Schlemiel? |language=en |work=Haaretz |url=https://www.haaretz.com/jewish/2013-06-16/ty-article/.premium/superman-man-of-steel-or-schlemiel/0000017f-f84a-d47e-a37f-f97e4d970000 |access-date=2023-03-07}}</ref> in [[Philadelphia]]. A [[child prodigy]], he graduated from the [[William Penn Charter School]], a [[Quakers|Quaker]] school in Philadelphia, and began studies at the [[University of Pennsylvania]]<ref>[https://www.ljmu.ac.uk/about-us/fellows/honorary-fellows-2010/richard-lester "Richard Lester : Presented by Professor Frank Sanderson"], Liverpool John Moores University. Given an Honorary Fellowship.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=About Us|url=https://cinemastudies.sas.upenn.edu/about|access-date=June 23, 2020|website=University of Pennsylvania, Cinema Studies}}</ref> at the age of 15, graduating with a degree in clinical psychology in 1951.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last=D.|first=Chris|date=August 2, 2016|title=Richard Lester: Philly to Piccadilly|url=https://thenewbev.com/blog/2016/08/richard-lester-philly-to-piccadilly/|access-date=June 23, 2020|website=New Beverly Cinema - The premier revival theater in Los Angeles|language=en}}</ref><ref name="Sinyard">Sinyard, Neil (1985). ''The Films of Richard Lester''. London, UK: Croom Helm. Preface, p. viii. {{ISBN|978-0709933472}}</ref>

===American television===
Lester started in television in 1950, working as a stage hand, floor manager, assistant director, and eventually a director in less than a year, because no one else was around who knew how to do the work.<ref name="SoderberghInterview1999">{{cite web|first=Steven|last=Soderbergh|author-link=Steven Soderbergh|url=http://film.guardian.co.uk/Guardian_NFT/interview/0,,110592,00.html
|title=Richard Lester interview|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=November 8, 1999|access-date=April 6, 2008}}</ref>

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. The series originated from the studios and back lot of CBS' [[WCAU-TV]], which was then in Philadelphia; it was broadcast Monday through Friday regardless of the weather. The half-hour series aired variously at 3:30 pm or 4:00 pm, throughout its run.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Wilkinson|first=Gerry|date=2009|title=Action in the Afternoon|url=http://www.broadcastpioneers.com/actionhistory.html|access-date=June 23, 2020|website=Broadcast pioneers of Philadelphia}}</ref>

===British television===
In May 1955, after a period spent busking around continental Europe,<ref name="Sinyard"/> Lester moved to London and began work as a director in television, working for the low-budget producers [[The Danzigers|the Danziger Brothers]] on episodes of ''[[Saber of London|Mark Saber]]'', a half-hour detective series.<ref name=":1" />

He worked as a writer on ''Curtains for Harry'' (1955)<ref>{{Cite web|title=Curtains for Harry (1955)|url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b7fc12b7b|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181230195648/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b7fc12b7b|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 30, 2018|access-date=June 23, 2020|website=BFI (British Film Institute)|language=en}}</ref> and for a few weeks, ''[[The Barris Beat]]'' (1956).<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.film.queensu.ca/CBC/B.html | first=Blaine | last=Allan | title=The Barris Beat | publisher=[[Queen's University at Kingston|Queen's University]] | year=1996 | access-date=June 24, 2020 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150911235410/http://www.film.queensu.ca/CBC/B.html | archive-date=September 11, 2015 | df=dmy-all }}</ref>

A variety show he produced caught the eye of [[Peter Sellers]], who enlisted Lester's help in translating ''[[The Goon Show]]'' to television as ''[[The Idiot Weekly, Price 2d]]'' (1956). It was a hit as were two follow-up shows: ''[[A Show Called Fred]]'' (1956) and ''[[Son of Fred]]'' (1956).<ref name="SoderberghInterview1999"/><ref name="ScudamoresMilliganbio">{{cite book|last=Scudamore|first=Pauline|title=Spike Milligan: A Biography|year=1985|publisher=Granada|location=London, UK|isbn=0-246-12275-7|pages=169–70}}</ref><ref name="Lewis">{{cite book|last=Lewis|first=Roger|title=The Life and Death of Peter Sellers|year=1995|publisher=Arrow Books|location=London, UK|isbn=0-09-974700-6}}</ref>

Lester recalled that ''A Show Called Fred'' was "broadcast live and that's why I went into film directing where you can do a second take!"<ref name="Ventham72">{{cite book|title=Spike Milligan: His Part in Our Lives|author=Ventham, Maxine|chapter=Richard Lester|year=2002|publisher=Robson|location=London, UK|isbn=1-86105-530-7|page=72}}</ref>

He wrote and directed episodes of the TV series ''[[After Hours (1958 British TV series)|After Hours]]'' (1958).<ref>{{Cite web|title=After hours (1958)|url=https://www.loc.gov/item/jots.200158871/|access-date=June 24, 2020|website=Library of Congress}}</ref>

===Early films===
Lester received acclaim with ''[[The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film]]'' (1959), a short film he made with [[Spike Milligan]] and [[Peter Sellers]].<ref name=":1" /> He did another short titled ''[[The Sound of Jazz]]'' (1959).

His first feature as director was ''[[It's Trad, Dad!]]'' (1962),<ref>{{cite book |last=Gelly|first=Dave |author-link=Dave Gelly |title=An Unholy Row |year=2014 |publisher=Equinox|page=135}}</ref> a low-budget musical.<ref>{{Citation|title=It's Trad, Dad! (1962) - Richard Lester {{!}} Cast and Crew {{!}} AllMovie|url=https://www.allmovie.com/movie/its-trad-dad!-v108012/cast-crew|language=en-us|access-date=June 24, 2020}}</ref> His second was ''[[The Mouse on the Moon]]'' (1963), produced by [[Walter Shenson]] for [[United Artists]] starring [[Margaret Rutherford]], a sequel to ''[[The Mouse That Roared (film)|The Mouse That Roared]]'' (1959).<ref>{{Cite web|last=Butler|first=Craig|title=The Mouse on the Moon|url=https://www.allmovie.com/movie/the-mouse-on-the-moon-v103000/review|access-date=June 25, 2020|website=Allmovie}}</ref> He returned to TV, directing episodes of ''Room at the Bottom'' (1964).<ref>{{Cite web|title=Richard Lester|url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/richard_lester/|access-date=June 25, 2020|website=British Comedy Guide|language=en-GB}}</ref>