Samuel Michael Fuller August 12 1912 October 30 1997 was an American screenwriter novelist and film director known for lowbudget 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 familys 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 mid1930s onwards Fuller also became a screenplay ghostwriter but would never tell interviewers which screenplays that he ghostwrote explaining thats 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 cowriter on White Dog He was survived by his wife Christa and daughter Samantha
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