- Born
- Died
- Place
Samuel Fuller
Samuel Michael Fuller (August 12, 1912 – October 30, 1997) was an American screenwriter, novelist and film director known for low-budget genre movies with controversial themes.
He was born Samuel Michael Fuller in Worcester, Massachusetts, the son of Benjamin Rabinovitch, a Jewish immigrant from Russia, and Rebecca Baum, a Jewish immigrant from Poland. After immigrating to America, the family's surname was changed from Rabinovitch to "Fuller" possibly by inspiration of a Doctor who arrived in America on the Mayflower. At the age of 12, he began working in journalism as a newspaper copyboy. He became a crime reporter in New York City at age 17, working for the New York Evening Graphic. He broke the story of Jeanne Eagels' death. He wrote pulp novels and screenplays from the mid-1930s onwards. Fuller also became a screenplay ghostwriter but would never tell interviewers which screenplays that he ghost-wrote explaining "that's what a ghost writer is for".
During World War II, Fuller joined the United States Army infantry. He was assigned to the 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, and saw heavy fighting. He was involved in landings in Africa, Sicily, and Normandy and also saw action in Belgium and Czechoslovakia. In 1945 he was present at the liberation of the German concentration camp at Falkenau and shot 16 mm footage which was used later in the documentary Falkenau: The Impossible. For his service, he was awarded the Bronze Star, the Silver Star, and the Purple Heart. Fuller used his wartime experiences as material in his films, especially in The Big Red One (1980), a nickname of the 1st Infantry Division.
After his controversial film "White Dog" was shelved by Paramount pictures, Fuller moved to France, and never directed another American film. Fuller eventually returned to America. He died of natural causes in his California home. In November 1997, the Directors Guild held a three hour memorial in his honor, hosted by Curtis Hanson, his long time friend and co-writer on White Dog. He was survived by his wife Christa and daughter Samantha.
As director
The Big Red One: The Reconstruction
The Madonna and the Dragon
The Day of Reckoning
Street of No Return
Thieves After Dark
White Dog
The Big Red One
The Meanest Men in the West
Dead Pigeon on Beethoven Street
Shark
The Naked Kiss
Shock Corridor
Merrill's Marauders
Underworld U.S.A.
The Crimson Kimono
Verboten!
Dogface
Run of the Arrow
Forty Guns
China Gate
House of Bamboo
Hell and High Water
Pickup on South Street
Park Row
The Steel Helmet
Fixed Bayonets!
The Baron of Arizona
I Shot Jesse James
V-E +1
As actor
Films to Die For
A Fuller Life
Scene Missing
Nuits transparentes
Carmel
Filmmakers in Action
The Big Red One: The Reconstruction
The Real Glory: Reconstructing 'The Big Red One'
Necro not(to b)e
The Men Who Made the Movies: Samuel Fuller
The End of Violence
The Typewriter, the Rifle & the Movie Camera
Un Américain en Normandie
Tigrero: A Film That Was Never Made
Somebody to Love
Anything for John
Golem: The Petrified Garden
La Vie de Bohème
Golem, the Spirit of Exile
Where Is Musette?
Shock Corridor
The Madonna and the Dragon
Sons
Motion and Emotion: The Films of Wim Wenders
Street of No Return
Tell me Sam - Encounters with Sam Fuller
Mer de Chine: Le pays pour mémoire
Falkenau, the Impossible
A Return to Salem's Lot
Helsinki Napoli All Night Long