Dale Fuller was an American actress of the silent era. She appeared in 67 films between 1915 and 1935. She is best known for her role as the maid in Foolish Wives.
Early life
Marie Dale Phillipps was born in Santa Ana, California on June 17, 1885. She attended convent schools in Los Angeles and Chicago. Fan magazines from the time claimed that she attended and graduated from Mills College, and Myrtle Gebhardt reported that Fuller lost her family at 19. Fuller said family illness brought her to California, where she decided to act.
Career
In 1908, she performed as a soubrette in the comedy The Trouper. She then joined the cast of Harry Bulgur’s The Flirting Princess, a musical revue, in 1910 and toured with it off and on throughout San Francisco, Chicago, Washington, and Rhode Island. The same year, she performed in the chorus of Florenz Ziegfeld’s The Girl in the Kimona in Chicago. She received good reviews for her performance, with Variety singling her out for praise. In 1915, Fuller was introduced to Mack Sennett by Charlie Murray and joined Mack Sennett’s Keystone as an extra, with Sennett's often casting her as a harridan or victim in shorts. Fuller would also occasionally play old men and boy roles due to her plain, boyish appearance and small stature. The following year, she acted with Fred Mace in the short Bath Tub Perils and suffered two broken ribs during the flood sequence. In 1920, Fuller left Keystone and began appearing in Chester Comedy films. Around this time, the German film directorErich von Stroheim discovered her and cast her as a maid in Foolish Wives. During production, Fuller lost a substantial amount of weight and was hospitalized for double pneumonia. Her small part garnered positive reviews, with critics' saying her performance was the best part of the film. After the success of Foolish Wives, Fuller appeared in Manslaughter, One Wonderful Night, and Borderland. Von Stroheim wrote a small part for her in his film Merry-Go-Round, and although her part was drastically cut from the picture, she still received good reviews for her portrayal. She next appeared in His Hour, the Elinor Glyn film Three Weeks, and von Stroheim's film McTeague, which later was renamed Greed. The studio cut most of her scenes from the film, but MGM added her to the stock company of actors that year. Fuller continued to work with von Stroheim, playing a chambermaid in his 1925 film The Merry Widow and as Fay Wray's mother in The Wedding March. Fuller played Renée Adorée's mother in The Cossacks, and acted in Thomas Meighan's film The Canadian as Gertie. Her last film was A Tale of Two Cities, in which she played an uncredited role.
Fuller was reserved and shy, which prevented her from promoting herself as an actress, which could have helped her career. She spent most of her time on her citrus farm near Covina, where she raised chickens, doves, canaries, dogs, cats, and a parrot. Fuller died on October 14, 1948 in Pomona of valvular heart disease. She is interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.
