Known For
Directing
Born
Aug 12, 1912
Died
Oct 30, 1997
Place of Birth
Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
Credits
106 titles
Samuel Fuller
Biography
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.
Known For
Filmography
Films to Die For
(archive footage) (uncredited)
A Fuller Life
Self
Scene Missing
Self
Nuits transparentes
Sodankylä Forever
Self
Carmel
Filmmakers in Action
Self (archive footage)
The Big Red One: The Reconstruction
War Correspondent (uncredited)
The Real Glory: Reconstructing 'The Big Red One'
Himself (archive footage)
Necro not(to b)e
Sé stesso
The Men Who Made the Movies: Samuel Fuller
Self
The End of Violence
Louis
The Typewriter, the Rifle & the Movie Camera
Self
Somebody to Love
Sam Silverman
Girls in Prison
Writer
Rebel Highway
Writer
Tigrero: A Film That Was Never Made
Self
Un Américain en Normandie
Himself
Anything for John
Self
Golem: The Petrified Garden
Sam
Golem, the Spirit of Exile
Elimelek
La Vie de Bohème
Gassot
Where Is Musette?
Self
Shock Corridor
himself
The Madonna and the Dragon
Chef de bureau Newsweek
The Day of Reckoning
Director
Motion and Emotion: The Films of Wim Wenders
Self
Chillers
Director
Sons
Father
Street of No Return
Police Commissioner
David Lansky
Tell me Sam - Encounters with Sam Fuller
Himself
Falkenau, the Impossible
Samuel Fuller
Mer de Chine: Le pays pour mémoire
Le capitaine américain
Helsinki Napoli All Night Long
Boss
A Return to Salem's Lot
Van Meer
The Bleeding Star
The Man in the Bar
Midnight Sun Film Festival
Let's Get Harry
Story
Hooray For Holyrood
Self
A Travelling is a Moral Affair
Himself
Report from Hollywood
Thieves After Dark
Zoltan
Sam Fuller & the Big Red One
Self
Slapstick of Another Kind
Colonel Sharp
White Dog
Charlie Felton
Hammett
Old Man in Pool Hall
The State of Things
Joe
Sam Fuller: Writings with a Camera
Himself
The Big Red One
War Correspondent (uncredited)