biography
Born Dolores Eble in South Bend, Indiana, on March 10, 1923, Dolores Fuller grew up in southern California. Fuller long dreamed of being and
actress and as a child found bit parts in a few films, most notably It Happened One Night (1934; with Claudette Colbert and Clark
Gable). After graduating from high school, she married first husband Donald Fuller in 1941; the couple had two children but the marriage soured
in the late 1940s. In order to support her family, Fuller initially moved in with her father and began going on casting calls for early
television. She quicky became firmly established as a television personality in Hollywood. She was the 'Gustinette Girl' on the NBC TV daytime game show
Queen for a Day, where she appeared five days per week in a featured appearance advertising Maribou slippers. Also, Fuller worked as a
model for Westwood Knitting Mills, Evans/Picone, and others. Her highest profile TV gig was her job on NBC's The Dinah Shore Show
requiring rehearsal work every Monday and Wednesday, then aired live on Friday nights. As busy as Fuller was in television, she longed for
a film career. Beginning in 1953, Fuller acted in a few movies, such as Girls in the Night (1953; with Joyce Holden and Harvey Lembeck), directed by B-movie legend Jack Arnold. She was also featured in the low-budget cult classic Mesa of Lost Women (1953; with Jackie Coogan and Lyle Talbot). Fuller met director Edward D. Wood Jr. in 1952, and the two soon became an item and moved in together. Wood then cast Fuller in his first feature, Glen or Glenda? (1953; with Bela Lugosi and Lyle Talbot). Pieces of the script were based on their lives together, including Wood's enjoyment of cross-dressing. Fuller also has a sizeable role in Jail Bait (1954; with Steve Reeves and Lyle Talbot). Wood's follow-up, the horror film Bride of the Monster (1955; with Bela Lugosi and Tor Johnson) was supposed to feature Fuller in a prominent role, but he gave the part to another actress, Loretta King, whom Wood believed could help with funding the production. Fuller eventually tired of Wood's alcoholism and left him in 1956. |
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the films of dolores fullerMesa of Lost Women (1953)
Leggy shot of Dolores Fuller as one of the Lost WomenGlen or Glenda (1953)Jail Bait (1954) 
LEFT: With Theodora Thurman and Herbert Rawlinson in a tense scene. RIGHT: Publicity stilllater yearsFinished with her relationship with Edward D Wood Jr. and trying to make a living in Hollywood, Dolores Fuller relocated to New York. In the early 1960s, she went on to a more successful career in show business but not the movies. Rather, she became a songwriter and wrote songs with Nelson Riddle, Peggy Lee, and Duane Eddy, to name a few. She also co-wrote a number of songs for Elvis Presley's 1960s features, including songs from Spinout, Clambake, and Paradise, Hawaiian Style. Later in her music career, she became a manager for such singers as Tanya Tucker. Toward the end of her life, she returned to the screen in The Corpse Grinders 2 (2000; with Liz Renay). Sadly, Dolores Fuller passed away on May 9, 2011, from natural causes at the age of 88. She was survived by her second husband, a son, and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren. |
filmographyFILM
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