Richard Fleischer, who was born into a family that produced Popeye and Betty Boop cartoons but chose to direct live-action films and made such hits as 20000 Leagues Under the SeaThe Boston Strangler, Fantastic Voyage and Tora! Tora! Tora!, has died. He was 89.

The Hollywood Reporter reports that Fleischer died early Saturday of natural causes at the Motion Picture and Television Hospital in Woodland Hills, said his son, Mark Fleischer. Mark Fleischer remembered his father as a gentle man who always put family first.