vallierojas: Dolores Fuller obituary

Hollywood actor known for her roles in the so-bad-they're-good films of Ed Wood

There are artists in various fields whose fame rests solely on how bad their work is alleged to be. Among them are the poet William McGonagall, the novelist Amanda McKittrick Ros, the soprano Florence Foster Jenkins and the film director Ed Wood. The latter's reputation as the world's worst film-maker rubbed off on Dolores Fuller, his muse, lover and leading lady, who has died aged 88.

It would be unfair to pick on Fuller for her stiff posture and stilted delivery in Wood's movies when the others in the casts were equally awkward, mainly because of the minimum amount of takes and the lack of strong direction. The "peak" of Wood and Fuller's collaboration was the camp classic Glen or Glenda (aka I Led Two Lives, 1953), an unintentionally hilarious, well-meaning film on transvestism. The theme was particularly close to the director's heart because he himself was a transvestite who said that, as a soldier attacking Iwo Jima, he had worn a bra and women's panties under his uniform.

Presented as an educational documentary on the subject, Glen or Glenda is interrupted, from time to time, by a ranting and raving Bela Lugosi, who irrelevantly declaims: "Bevare ... bevare ... bevare of the big green dragon that sits on your doorstep. He eats little boys, puppy dog tails and big fat snails. Bevare ... take care ... bevare."

Wood plays the title role, while the blonde Fuller is his fiancee, described by the narrator as "a lovely, intelligent girl". She says things such as, "Here we are, two perfectly normal people about to be married and lead a normal life together!" not long before finding out that her husband-to-be is lusting to wear her white angora sweater. On being told as much, Fuller over-emotes before taking off the sweater and handing it to him.

The happy ending of the film was not repeated in life. According to Fuller: "Ed 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. What good would I have done if I had married him? We would have starved together. I bettered myself. I had to uplift myself." This she did by successfully co-writing songs for a number of Elvis Presley films throughout the 1960s.

Fuller was born Dolores Eble in Indiana and grew up in California. She got her taste for the cinema at the age of 11 as an extra in It Happened One Night (1934). She was staying with her family at a Los Angeles motel, where Frank Capra was shooting the movie. She is seen briefly in the film, walking in front of Claudette Colbert, who is on her way to take a shower.

It would be 18 years before she appeared on the big screen again, this time in Outlaw Women (1952), an interesting B-western in which Fuller played a resident of a town completely run and inhabited by women. In between she had done some modelling and television work, married and divorced, and had two children. She then got the part in Glen or Glenda by wearing the white angora sweater to the audition, not knowing to what extent Wood liked angora. Bit parts in several movies followed before Wood cast her in Jail Bait (1954) as the good sister of a young hoodlum. When she goes to pay his bail at the police station, the inspector tells her: "Carrying a gun can be a dangerous business." She replies: "So can ... building a skyscraper."

The title role of Bride of the Monster (1955) was written for Fuller, but when the aspiring actor Loretta King promised to finance the production if she starred in it, Wood relegated his lover to a small role. It turned out that King did not have the money nor could she act. Eventually it was financed by the father of non-actor Tony McCoy, on the condition that his son played the policeman hero. It was then that Fuller and Wood went their separate ways, he to continue making schlock movies and she to songwriting.

This came about when Fuller, failing to get a role in the Presley vehicle Blue Hawaii (1961), was introduced to the publishing company that provided songs for Presley's pictures. With Fred Wise and Ben Weisman, Fuller co-wrote the song Rock-a-Hula Baby for Blue Hawaii. She continued to co-write songs for Presley films including Kid Galahad (1962), Fun in Acapulco (1963), Kissin' Cousins (1964), Girl Happy (1965) and Spinout (1966), as well as the songs Cindy, Cindy, which appeared on Presley's 1971 album Love Letters from Elvis; Someone to Tell it to, recorded by Nat King Cole; and Losers Weepers, recorded by Peggy Lee.

Having given up acting and songwriting on her marriage to the film historian Philip Chamberlin, she was out of the limelight for almost two decades until the release of Tim Burton's biopic Ed Wood (1994). Although she praised the film, and Johnny Depp's performance in the lead role, she disapproved of Sarah Jessica Parker's portrayal of her. She felt that Parker should have contacted her before embarking on the role. "There she was playing my life and she didn't bother to do any research," Fuller said. "For example, she smoked all the time and I never did." She is survived by Philip and her son Don.

? Dolores Fuller (Dolores Eble), actor and songwriter, born 10 March 1923; died 9 May 2011

Ronald Bergan

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