As a young crime reporter with the New York Evening Graphic, the veteran crime reporter who "showed him the ropes" when he first started out was Rhea Gore, the wife of actor Walter Huston and the mother of John Huston. Fuller's first big "scoop" was when he became the first journalist to report the death of Jeanne Eagels.
Biography in John Wakeman, editor, "World Film Directors, Volume Two, 1945-1985," pp. 375-382. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1988.
Close friend of Richard Brooks since the days when they were both reporters in New York.
Father of Samantha Fuller.
He was the guest of honor at the first annual film festival in Sodankylä, Finland, in 1986 (accompanied by such younger directors as Jonathan Demme and Bertrand Tavernier). Therefore, part of a street in Sodankylä was later renamed Samuel Fullerin Katu (Samuel Fuller Street).
Interviewed in "The Director's Event: Interviews with Five American Filmmakers" by Eric Sherman and Martin Rubin.
Served as a rifleman in the U.S. 1st Infantry Division during World War II. Fuller saw action in North Africa, Sicily, Omaha Beach on D-Day, and then on through Europe to Czechoslovakia. He was awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star, and Purple Heart. He later used many of his war experiences in The Big Red One (1980).