Dolores Fuller

After Fuller ended her relationship with Wood in 1955, she began a successful career as a songwriter, in which many of her songs were performed and recorded by Elvis Presley.

• Name — Dolores Fuller • Birth Name — Dolores Agnes Eble • Born — 10 March 1923 • Birthplace — South Bend, Indiana, United States • Died — 9 May 2011 • Place of death — Las Vegas, Nevada, United States • Resting Place — Palm Memorial Park • Other Names — Sherry Caine • Occupation — * Actress • songwriter • Years Active — 1934, 1952–2000 • Children — 2

Her first screen appearance was at the age of 10, when she appeared briefly in Frank Capra's It Happened One 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 (1956), also with Lugosi. Fuller hosted a benefit for Lugosi which preceded the showing of Bride of the Atom (early working title of Bride of the Monster) 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 (1992), 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 (which he did not go on to direct); 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 (1934) and roles in Outlaw Women (1952), Glen or Glenda (1953), Body Beautiful (1953), The Blue Gardenia (1953), Count the Hours (1953), Mesa of Lost Women (1953), College Capers (1954), Jail Bait (1954), The Raid (1954), This Is My Love (1954), The Opposite Sex (1956), and many years later appearances in The Ironbound Vampire (1997) and Dimensions in Fear (1998).

Dolores married Donald Fuller in 1941, with whom she had two children. At the time she met Ed Wood, she was in the process of divorcing her husband (they finally divorced in 1955). She and Wood shared an apartment together for several years. Wood biographer Rudolph Grey quotes Fuller as saying of the period before her success, He [Ed Wood] 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. Dolores remarried in 1988 at age 65, to Philip Chamberlin, and they remained married until her death in 2011. Fuller's autobiography, A Fuller Life: Hollywood, Ed Wood and Me, co-authored by Stone Wallace and Philip Chamberlin, was published in 2008.

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.

• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 1955 — The Great Gildersleeve — Miss Carroll — 1 episode • It's a Great Life — Girl • 1956 — Adventures of Superman — Lorraine

Dolores Fuller was recorded at birth as Dolores Agnes Fuller. The authorities additionally record the heading Dolores Eble. Her recorded language was English.