Robert Fuller was born in Acton, London, on 4 January 1916. His father, Charles, was a company director. His mother was Mildred Kate née Lambert, a housewife. Robert was educated at St Paul's from 1928 to 1934, and then went on to St Mary's Hospital to study medicine. After qualifying in 1939, with the surgery prize, and following a series of house appointments, he joined the RAF in 1941. He served in the UK, India and South East Asia, where he was involved in the Battle of Imphal, which saw the defeat of the Japanese attempt to invade India. After the war, he returned to specialise in surgery and did registrar jobs in Birmingham, Worcester and London, becoming resident surgical officer at St Mark's, where he developed a special interest in proctology. He was appointed consultant surgeon to Acton, Wembley and Hammersmith Hospitals, and was also visiting consultant to HM Prison, Wormwood Scrubs, from 1977 to 1981. He was a fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine and a member of the Medical Society of London. He married Betty Elaine Maud née Jones, a practising barrister, in 1967. They retired to Herefordshire to grow apples for cider. His hobby was carpentry. He died on 9 May 2004, from peripheral vascular disease and diabetes.