Jun Fukuda

Jun Fukuda (福田純, February 17, 1923 - December 3, 2000) was a Japanese film director, writer and producer. Fukuda joined Toho in 1946 and ventured into the realm of assistant director as others like Hiroshi Inagaki took the young man under their wings. By 1959, Fukuda began a career as a full-fledged director. His early work slanted more toward mystery, but he began to expand into more comedic work by the mid-1960s, with movies such as Iron Finger (1965). It was around this time that Fukuda was approached and given the opportunity to direct a movie in the Godzilla series, Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1966), which he accepted. By the director's request, Akira Ifukube was bypassed for the production in favor of Masaru Sato, a composer with whom Fukuda was more familiar. Fukuda would go on to direct entries in Toho's popular Young Guy series and Konto 55, however he would be best known for his Godzilla work and would later in his career become the "go to" director for special effects productions after Ishirō Honda stepped out of the limelight. Fukuda also wrote the unproduced film The Invisible Man vs. the Human Torch.