Person
Claude Gillingwater
Louisiana, Missouri, USA
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 Gillingwat…
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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)
Filmography
Movies and shows, newest first
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1939
Cafe Society
Movie Old Christopher West
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1938
Just Around the Corner
Movie Samuel G. Henshaw
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1938
There Goes My Heart
Movie Cyrus W. Butterfield
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1938
Little Miss Broadway
Movie Judge
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1938
A Yank at Oxford
Movie Ben Dalton
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1937
Conquest
Movie Stephan
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1937
Top of the Town
Movie William Borden
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1936
Can This Be Dixie?
Movie Col. Robert Peachtree
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1936
Wives Never Know
Movie Mr. Gossamer
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1936
Poor Little Rich Girl
Movie Simon Peck
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1936
Ticket to Paradise
Movie Robert Forbes
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1936
Counterfeit
Movie Tom Perkins
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1936
Florida Special
Movie Simeon Stafford
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1936
The Prisoner of Shark Island
Movie Colonel Dyer
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1935
A Tale of Two Cities
Movie Jarvis Lorry
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1935
Together We Live
Movie Dick
More credits
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1935
Calm Yourself
Movie Col. Allenby
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1935
Baby Face Harrington
Movie Colton
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1935
Mississippi
Movie General Rumford
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1935
The Woman in Red
Movie Grandpa Wyatt
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1934
Strange Wives
Movie Guggins
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1934
The Captain Hates the Sea
Movie Judge Griswold
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1934
Green Eyes
Movie Steven Kester
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1934
In Love with Life
Movie Morley
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1934
Unknown Blonde
Movie Papa Van Brunt, Sr.
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1934
City Limits
Movie Tom Oliver
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1934
The Show-Off
Movie J.B. Preston
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1934
You Can't Buy Everything
Movie Asa Cabot - Banker
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1933
Before Midnight
Movie John Fry
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1933
Back Page
Movie Sam Webster
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1933
I Loved a Woman
Movie Banker (uncredited)
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1933
Skyway
Movie John Beaumont
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1933
The Avenger
Movie Witt
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1933
Ann Carver's Profession
Movie Bingham
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1932
Tess of the Storm Country
Movie Frederick Garfield Sr
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1932
Running Hollywood
Movie Claude Gillingwater
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1931
The Wide Open Spaces
Movie Judge
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1931
Compromised
Movie John Brock
- 1931
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1931
Gold Dust Gertie
Movie John Aberdeen Arnold
