Dean Fuller (1922-2017) was a composer, playwright, conductor, sailor, pilot, novelist and teacher known for Once Upon a Mattress (1959) and The Wizard of Baghdad (1960).
Dean Fuller was born on December 12, 1922 in Woodbury, New Hampshire. He earned a B.A. in music and drama from Yale University. He moved to New York City and was elected to The Lambs as a Junior Member in 1951.
Fuller was nominated for Broadway’s 1960 Tony Award, in collaboration with Marshall Barer and Jay Thompson, for the book as parts of a Best Musical nomination for “Once Upon a Mattress.”
He was associated for many years with Tamiment Playhouse in the Pocono Mountains, last of the Borscht Belt boot camps for revue writers, lyricists and composers. He co-wrote the book for Once Upon A Mattress, contributed music (with lyrics by Marshall Barer) to the revues Once Over Lightly (Zero Mostel, Jack Gilford, Sono Osato), New Faces of 1956 (Tiger Haynes, Inga Swenson, Maggie Smith) and Ziegfeld Follies (Beatrice Lillie).
Fuller was musical director and arranger for Tallulah Bankhead’s only nightclub appearances (Sands Hotel, Las Vegas). Composer, National Repertory Theatre (Eva LeGallienne, Denholm Elliott, Farley Granger, Sylvia Sydney). Co-author/composer of the Off-Broadway musical Smith.
Fuller was the author of three novels:
Passage
A Death in Paris
Death of a Critic.
Dean Fuller died on October 26, 2017. He was 94 years old.