Samuel Michael Fuller was an American film director, screenwriter and novelist. Many of his films are remembered for their controversial topics and presentations.

Fuller's family moved from Worcester, Massachusetts to New York City after the death of his father. At the age of 12, he began working as a newspaper copyboy. He became a crime reporter at age 17, working for the New York Evening Graphic. During the Depression years he traveled across the United States by hitchhiking and riding trains. By the time the U.S. entered WWII Fuller had writing credit for several screenplays and had published in the pulp fiction trade.

Samuel Fuller served as an infantryman in World War II with the famed U.S. Army 1st Infantry Division, 16th Infantry Regiment. He fought in North Africa, Sicily, France, and Germany and was awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star, Purple Heart and the Combat Infantryman's Badge (CIB). The movie The Big Red One (written and directed by Fuller) is considered to be a semi-autobiographical account of his war experience.