Samuel Fuller
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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
Credits
Filmmakers in Action (2006)
as Self (archive footage)
Where Is Musette? (1992)
as Self
Pierrot le Fou (1965)
as Samuel Fuller (uncredited)
The Big Red One (1980)
as War Correspondent (uncredited)
The American Friend (1977)
as The American
Scene Missing (2012)
as Self
White Dog (1982)
as Charlie Felton
1941 (1979)
as Interceptor Commander
A Return to Salem's Lot (1987)
as Van Meer
The End of Violence (1997)
as Louis
House of Bamboo (1955)
as Japanese policeman (uncredited)
Midnight Sun Film Festival (1987)
Actor
The Last Movie (1971)
as Sam
The Bleeding Star (1987)
as The Man in the Bar
Slapstick of Another Kind (1982)
as Colonel Sharp
La Vie de Bohème (1992)
as Gassot
Hammett (1982)
as Old Man in Pool Hall
Somebody to Love (1994)
as Sam Silverman
Thieves After Dark (1984)
as Zoltan
Anything for John (1993)
as Self
The Young Nurses (1973)
as Doc Haskell
Golem: The Petrified Garden (1993)
as Sam
Carmel (2009)
Actor
A Fuller Life (2013)
as Self
Cinématon (1978)
as N°602
The State of Things (1982)
as Joe
The Typewriter, the Rifle & the Movie Camera (1996)
as Self
Scott Joplin (1977)
as Impresario
Sam Fuller & the Big Red One (1984)
as Self
A Travelling is a Moral Affair (1986)
as Himself
Street of No Return (1989)
as Police Commissioner
Shock Corridor (1992)
as himself
Sam Fuller: Writings with a Camera (1981)
as Himself
Golem, the Spirit of Exile (1992)
as Elimelek
Tigrero: A Film That Was Never Made (1994)
as Self
Cinéastes de notre temps : Samuel Fuller (1967)
as Interviewee
The Big Red One: The Reconstruction (2005)
as War Correspondent (uncredited)
Tell me Sam - Encounters with Sam Fuller (1989)
as Himself
Report from Hollywood (1985)
Actor
The Men Who Made the Movies: Samuel Fuller (2002)
as Self
Falkenau, the Impossible (1988)
as Samuel Fuller
Brigitte and Brigitte (1966)
as Self
Hooray For Holyrood (1986)
as Self
The Real Glory: Reconstructing 'The Big Red One' (2005)
as Himself (archive footage)
Motion and Emotion: The Films of Wim Wenders (1990)
as Self
Mer de Chine: Le pays pour mémoire (1988)
as Le capitaine américain
Helsinki Napoli All Night Long (1987)
as Boss
Films to Die For (2025)
as (archive footage) (uncredited)
Sons (1990)
as Father
The Madonna and the Dragon (1990)
as Chef de bureau Newsweek
Necro not(to b)e (2003)
as Sé stesso
Nuits transparentes (2011)
Actor
Un Américain en Normandie (1994)
as Himself