Dolores Agnes Fuller was an American actress and songwriter best known as the one-time girlfriend of the low-budget film directorEd Wood. She played the protagonist's girlfriend in Glen or Glenda, co-starred in Wood's Jail Bait, and had a minor role in his Bride of the Monster. Later, Elvis Presley recorded a number of her songs written for his films.
Film career
Her first screen appearance was at the age of 10, when she appeared briefly in Frank Capra’s It HappenedOne Night. According to Fuller, the female lead in Bride of the Monster was written for her but Wood gave it to Loretta King instead. In August 1954, Fuller was cast in Wood's The Vampire's Tomb, intended to star Bela Lugosi. Frank Yaconelli was named as her co-star and 'comic killer'. The film was never made. She ended up making an appearance in Bride of the Monster, also with Lugosi. Fuller hosted a benefit for Lugosi which preceded the showing of Bride of the Atom on May 11, 1955. A cocktail party was held at the Gardens Restaurant at 4311 Magnolia Avenue in Burbank, California. Vampira attended and was escorted by Paul Marco. A single screening of the film was presented at the Hollywood Paramount. According to Fuller, as quoted in Wood biography Nightmare of Ecstasy, she first met Ed Wood when she attended a casting call with a friend for a movie he was supposed to direct called Behind Locked Doors; it has also been stated that they met in a restaurant. She became his girlfriend shortly thereafter and began acting in his films. Her movie career included a bit part in It Happened One Night and roles in Outlaw Women, Glen or Glenda, Body Beautiful, The Blue Gardenia, Count the Hours, Mesa of Lost Women, College Capers, Jail Bait, The Raid, This Is My Love, The Opposite Sex, The Ironbound Vampire, and Dimensions in Fear.
Television performer and songwriter
Fuller had already had earlier experience on television in Queen for a Day and The Dinah Shore Show. She also appeared on an episode of It's a Great Life as "the blonde in the mink coat." Fuller's ability as a songwriter manifested itself through the intervention of her friend, producer Hal Wallis; Fuller had wanted to get an acting role in the Elvis Presley movie Blue Hawaii, which Wallis was producing, but instead he put her in touch with Hill & Range, the publisher that provided Presley with songs. Fuller went into a collaborative partnership with composer Ben Weisman and co-wrote one song, "Rock-A-Hula Baby", for the film. It was a beginning that eventually led to Elvis Presley recording a dozen of her songs, including "I Got Lucky" and "Spinout". Fuller's music was recorded by Nat 'King' Cole, Peggy Lee, and other leading talents of the time.
Private life
Wood biographer Rudolph Grey quotes Fuller as saying of the period before her success, "He begged me to marry him. I loved him in a way, but I couldn't handle the transvestism. I'm a very normal person. It's hard for me to deviate! I wanted a man that was all man. After we broke up, he would stand outside my home in Burbank and cry. 'Let me in, I love you!' What good would I have done if I had married him? We would have starved together. I bettered myself. I had to uplift myself." She has also been quoted as saying that "His dressing up didn’t bother me — we all have our little queer habits" and giving Wood's drinking as the reason for their breakup. Fuller's autobiography, A Fuller Life: Hollywood, Ed Wood and Me, co-authored by Winnipeg writer Stone Wallace and her husband Philip Chamberlin, was published in 2008.
Portrayal in ''Ed Wood''
Fuller was portrayed by Sarah Jessica Parker in Tim Burton's 1994 Wood biographical film Ed Wood, a portrayal of which she disapproved due to the fact that she was depicted smoking in the film, while Fuller said she herself was a lifelong non-smoker. She also complained that she was only portrayed as "sort of as an actress" and did not feel she was given credit for her other accomplishments and contributions towards Wood's career. However, she stated that she liked the film overall, praising Johnny Depp's performance in the title role.
