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.
Pierrot le Fou
(Samuel Fuller (uncredited))
Un Américain en Normandie
(Himself)
The State of Things
(Joe)
The American Friend
(The American)
A Return to Salem's Lot
(Van Meer)
La Vie de Bohème
(Gassot)
The End of Violence
(Louis)
The Big Red One
(War Correspondent (uncredited))
Tigrero: A Film That Was Never Made
(Self)
The Typewriter, the Rifle & the Movie Camera
(Self)
Anything for John
(Self)
Report from Hollywood
The Big Red One : The Reconstruction
(War Correspondent (uncredited))
Brigitte and Brigitte
(Self)
A Fuller Life
(Self)
The Madonna and the Dragon
(Chef de bureau Newsweek)
White Dog
(Charlie Felton)
Mer de Chine: Le pays pour mémoire
(Le capitaine américain)
The Men Who Made the Movies: Samuel Fuller
(Self)
The Real Glory: Reconstructing 'The Big Red One'
(Himself (archive footage))
Falkenau, the Impossible
(Samuel Fuller)
Helsinki Napoli All Night Long
(Boss)
A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies
(Self)
Edge of Outside
(Self (archive footage))
Golem: The Petrified Garden
(Sam)
House of Bamboo
(Japanese policeman (uncredited))
Golem, l'esprit de l'exil
(Elimelek)
The Young Nurses
(Doc Haskell)
Where Is Musette?
(self)
Thieves After Dark
(Zoltan)
Street of No Return
(Police Commissioner)
Carmel
Shock Corridor
(himself)
Hammett
(Old Man in Pool Hall)
The Last Movie
(Sam)
A Travelling is a Moral Affair
(Himself)
Slapstick of Another Kind
(Colonel Sharp)
Cinéastes de notre temps : Samuel Fuller
(Interviewee)
Sons
(Father)
Filmmakers in Action
(Self (archive footage))
Hooray For Holyrood
(Self)
Midnight Sun Film Festival
Nuits transparentes
Scene Missing
(Self)
Sam Fuller & the Big Red One
(Himself)
Cinématon
(N°602)
Tell me Sam - Encounters with Sam Fuller
(Himself)
The Bleeding Star
Motion and Emotion: The Films of Wim Wenders
(Self)
Sodankylä Forever
(Self)
1941
(Interceptor Commander)
Scott Joplin
(Impresario)
Somebody to Love
(Sam Silverman)
Les Rendez-vous du dimanche
(Self)
David Lansky
House of Bamboo
(Director)
Shark
(Director)
Hell and High Water
(Director)
Hell and High Water
(Screenplay)
Gangs of New York
(Story)
Gangs of New York
(Screenplay)
Shockproof
(Writer)
Pickup on South Street
(Director)
Pickup on South Street
(Screenplay)
Scandal Sheet
(Novel)
The Naked Kiss
(Director)
The Naked Kiss
(Writer)
The Naked Kiss
(Producer)
Park Row
(Writer)
Park Row
(Director)
Park Row
(Producer)
The Crimson Kimono
(Director)
The Crimson Kimono
(Writer)
The Crimson Kimono
(Producer)
Shock Corridor
(Director)
Run of the Arrow
(Director)
Run of the Arrow
(Writer)
Merrill's Marauders
(Director)
Merrill's Marauders
(Screenplay)
Underworld U.S.A.
(Director)
Underworld U.S.A.
(Writer)
Underworld U.S.A.
(Producer)
I Shot Jesse James
(Director)
I Shot Jesse James
(Writer)
Girls in Prison
(Writer)
Margin for Error
(Screenplay)
The Cape Town Affair
(Writer)
Forty Guns
(Director)
Forty Guns
(Screenplay)
The Baron of Arizona
(Director)
The Baron of Arizona
(Writer)
The Big Red One
(Director)
The Big Red One
(Writer)
The Steel Helmet
(Director)
The Steel Helmet
(Writer)
The Steel Helmet
(Producer)
Fixed Bayonets!
(Director)
Fixed Bayonets!
(Screenplay)
White Dog
(Director)
White Dog
(Screenplay)
Street of No Return
(Director)
Verboten!
(Director)
Verboten!
(Writer)
The Klansman
(Screenplay)
Power of the Press
(Story)
China Gate
(Director)
The Command
(Writer)
Gangs of the Waterfront
(Story)
The Meanest Men in the West
(Director)
Thieves After Dark
(Director)
Thieves After Dark
(Writer)
Bowery Boy
(Original Story)
The Madonna and the Dragon
(Director)
The Madonna and the Dragon
(Screenplay)
Federal Man-Hunt
(Story)
Forty Guns
(Producer)
Shock Corridor
(Screenplay)
Shock Corridor
(Producer)
V-E +1
(Director)
China Gate
(Screenplay)
Adventure in Sahara
(Story)
Dead Pigeon on Beethoven Street
(Director)
Dead Pigeon on Beethoven Street
(Writer)
Gangs of Chicago
(Screenplay)
The Tanks Are Coming
(Story)
The Deadly Trackers
(Story)
Street of No Return
(Screenplay)
Street of No Return
(Dialogue)
Run of the Arrow
(Producer)
Hats Off
(Screenplay)
Hats Off
(Story)
She Married a Cop
(Writer)
Confirm or Deny
(Story)
Made in U.S.A
(Thanks)
Shark
(Screenplay)
It Happened in Hollywood
(Screenplay)
Dogface
(Director)
Dogface
(Writer)
Dogface
(Producer)
The Meanest Men in the West
(Screenplay)
The Big Red One : The Reconstruction
(Director)
The Big Red One : The Reconstruction
(Writer)
China Gate
(Producer)
House of Bamboo
(Additional Dialogue)
A Fuller Life
(Book)
Targets
(Screenplay)
Let's Get Harry
(Story)
The Day of Reckoning
(Director)
The Day of Reckoning
(Screenplay)
The Dick Powell Show
(Director)
The Virginian
(Director)
The Virginian
(Writer)
Scene of the Crime
(Director)
Scene of the Crime
(Writer)
Chillers
(Director)
Chillers
(Writer)