Claude Gillingwater
Age: N/A | From: Louisiana, Missouri, USA
Person Details
Birthday:
Aliases: Claude Benton Gillingwater , Claude Gillingwater Sr.
Gender: Male
Place of birth: Louisiana, Missouri, USA
Homepage:
Movie Involvements: 44
TV Involvements: 0
Most Famous Work
Biography
Tall, balding character actor in US films from 1921 until the year he died, usually portraying obstinate or irascible types. A man so disagreeable on celluloid, Claude Gillingwater's characters seemed to subsist on a steady diet of persimmons. Fondly recalled as the cranky old skinflint whose seemingly cold heart could only be warmed by the actions of a cute little tyke, the tall and rangy Gillingwater invariably played much older than he was. He, with the omnipresent bushy brows, crop of silver hair and perpetually sour puss, had a much more versatile career than perhaps realized -- on both stage and in film. Most assuredly, this caustic screen image he perfected belied a softer, gentler off-screen demeanor for he was a kind and sympathetic gent and devoted husband to wife Carlyn Stiletz (or Stellith). Their only child, Claude Gillingwater Jr., briefly became an actor himself. Sadly, Gillingwater Sr.'s thriving character career ended on a grim and tragic note in 1939. A serious accident on the movie set of the picture Florida Special (1936) (he fell from a platform and injured his back) damaged his health and threatened his career, and the death of his long-time wife Carlyn left him irrevocably depressed. Fearing the possibility of becoming an invalid and wishing not to become a serious burden to anyone, the 69-year-old actor committed suicide at his Beverly Hills home with a self-inflicted gunshot to the head. Gillingwater left a fine Hollywood legacy and the fun of some of his old films is watching his vinegar turn to sugar. Date of Birth 2 August 1870, Louisiana, Missouri Date of Death 2 November 1939, Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California (suicide)
Most Famous Work
The Prisoner of Shark Island
(1936) Colonel Dyer
A Tale of Two Cities
(1935) Jarvis Lorry
Back Page
(1933) Sam Webster
Conquest
(1937) Stephan
Illicit
(1931) Richard Ives Sr.
Poor Little Rich Girl
(1936) Simon Peck
A Yank at Oxford
(1938) Ben Dalton
Little Miss Broadway
(1938) JudgeActing
| Year | Character | Movie/Tv |
|---|---|---|
| 1939 | Old Christopher West | |
| 1938 | Samuel G. Henshaw | |
| Cyrus W. Butterfield | ||
| Judge | ||
| Ben Dalton | ||
| 1937 | Stephan | |
| William Borden | ||
| 1936 | Col. Robert Peachtree | |
| Mr. Gossamer | ||
| Simon Peck | ||
| Robert Forbes | ||
| Tom Perkins | ||
| Simeon Stafford | ||
| Colonel Dyer | ||
| 1935 | Jarvis Lorry | |
| Dick | ||
| Col. Allenby | ||
| Colton | ||
| Gen. Rumford | ||
| Grandpa Wyatt | ||
| 1934 | Guggins | |
| Judge Griswold | ||
| Steven Kester | ||
| Morley | ||
| Papa Van Brunt, Sr. | ||
| Tom Oliver | ||
| J.B. Preston | ||
| Asa Cabot - Banker | ||
| 1933 | John Fry | |
| Sam Webster | ||
| Banker (uncredited) | ||
| John Beaumont | ||
| Witt | ||
| Judge Bingham | ||
| 1932 | Frederick Garfield Sr | |
| Claude Gillingwater | ||
| 1931 | Judge | |
| John Brock | ||
| N/A | ||
| John Aberdeen Arnold | ||
| Riggs | ||
| Jim Nabours | ||
| Richard Ives Sr. | ||
| Count de St. Cyr | ||
| 1930 | Faraday | |
| Uncle Roger | ||
| 1929 | (uncredited) | |
| Uncle Claude Davis | ||
| Winthrop Amesbury | ||
| Michael O'Connor | ||
| Sam Underlane | ||
| H.A. Lambert Sr. | ||
| James Rutherford - Expedition Leader | ||
| 1928 | Judge Appleton | |
| Grandfather Mervin | ||
| 1927 | Sir Reginald Knight | |
| Cyrus Townsend | ||
| Jean Moreau | ||
| Judge J. R. Altewood | ||
| Smithfield | ||
| 1926 | Old Man in Hotel Bed (uncredited) | |
| Ivan | ||
| John Raynor | ||
| 1925 | Jim Bailey | |
| Sir Robert Sundale | ||
| Pious Joe McDowell | ||
| Tom Linton | ||
| Noel Jardine | ||
| Riddle | ||
| 1924 | Judge Daniel Webster Copeland | |
| Lord Patrington | ||
| Henry Bancks | ||
| James Crockett | ||
| 1923 | Hector McCollins | |
| Mr. Everingham | ||
| Mr. Forbes | ||
| Theodore Findley | ||
| Self - Celebrity Actor (uncredited) | ||
| Col. Charles E. Cavanaugh | ||
| Lord Storm | ||
| 1922 | Uncle Sam | |
| John P. Grout | ||
| Denton Drew | ||
| 1921 | Captain Bill | |
| Earl of Dorincourt | ||
| Year | Character | Movie/Tv |
