Claude Gillingwater

Claude Gillingwater

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)

Known For: Acting

Born: Louisiana, Missouri, USA, 1870-08-01

Died: 1939-11-02

No.	Year	Title	Role	Vote Average
1	1921	Little Lord Fauntleroy	Earl of Dorincourt	70
2	1921	My Boy	Captain Bill	59
3	1922	Fools First	Denton Drew	0
4	1922	The Dust Flower		0
5	1922	Remembrance	John P. Grout	0
6	1922	The Strangers' Banquet	Uncle Sam	0
7	1923	The Christian	Lord Storm	0
8	1923	Crinoline and Romance	Col. Charles E. Cavanaugh	0
9	1923	Souls for Sale	Self - Celebrity Actor (uncredited)	62
10	1923	Three Wise Fools	Theodore Findley	0
11	1923	Dulcy	Mr. Forbes	0
12	1923	A Chapter in Her Life	Mr. Everingham	55
13	1923	Tiger Rose	Hector McCollins	45
14	1924	Daddies	James Crockett	50
15	1924	How to Educate a Wife	Henry Bancks	0
16	1924	Madonna of the Streets	Lord Patrington	0
17	1924	Idle Tongues	Judge Daniel Webster Copeland	0
18	1925	Cheaper to Marry	Riddle	0
19	1925	A Thief in Paradise	Noel Jardine	60
20	1925	Winds of Chance	Tom Linton	48
21	1925	Seven Sinners	Pious Joe McDowell	60
22	1925	We Moderns	Sir Robert Sundale	0
23	1925	Wages for Wives	Jim Bailey	0
24	1926	That's My Baby	John Raynor	0
25	1926	Into Her Kingdom	Ivan	0
26	1926	45 Minutes from Hollywood	Old Man in Hotel Bed (uncredited)	52
27	1927	Fast and Furious	Smithfield	10
28	1927	Naughty But Nice	Judge J. R. Altewood	0
29	1927	Barbed Wire	Jean Moreau	62
30	1927	The Gorilla	Cyrus Townsend	0
31	1927	Husbands for Rent	Sir Reginald Knight	0
32	1928	Women They Talk About	Grandfather Mervin	0
33	1928	Oh Kay!	Judge Appleton	0
34	1929	Stark Mad	James Rutherford - Expedition Leader	30
35	1929	Stolen Kisses	H.A. Lambert Sr.	50
36	1929	Glad Rag Doll	Sam Underlane	0
37	1929	Smiling Irish Eyes	Michael O'Connor	0
38	1929	The Great Divide	Winthrop Amesbury	48
39	1929	So Long Letty	Uncle Claude Davis	59
40	1929	Mexicali Rose	(uncredited)	52
41	1930	Dumb-bells in Ermine	Uncle Roger	40
42	1930	The Flirting Widow	Faraday	40
43	1931	Kiss Me Again	Count de St. Cyr	60
44	1931	Illicit	Richard Ives Sr.	58
45	1931	The Conquering Horde	Jim Nabours	50
46	1931	Daddy Long Legs	Riggs	40
47	1931	Gold Dust Gertie	John Aberdeen Arnold	30
48	1931	How I Play Golf, by Bobby Jones No. 8: 'The Brassie'		0
49	1931	Compromised	John Brock	10
50	1931	The Wide Open Spaces	Judge	0
51	1932	Running Hollywood	Claude Gillingwater	0
52	1932	Tess of the Storm Country	Frederick Garfield Sr	60
53	1933	Ann Carver's Profession	Judge Bingham	55
54	1933	The Avenger	Witt	60
55	1933	Skyway	John Beaumont	52
56	1933	I Loved a Woman	Banker (uncredited)	48
57	1933	Back Page	Sam Webster	64
58	1933	Before Midnight	John Fry	46
59	1934	You Can't Buy Everything	Asa Cabot - Banker	70
60	1934	The Show-Off	J.B. Preston	57
61	1934	City Limits	Tom Oliver	40
62	1934	Unknown Blonde	Papa Van Brunt, Sr.	10
63	1934	In Love with Life	Morley	50
64	1934	Green Eyes	Steven Kester	52
65	1934	The Captain Hates the Sea	Judge Griswold	65
66	1934	Strange Wives	Guggins	0
67	1935	The Woman in Red	Grandpa Wyatt	60
68	1935	Mississippi	General Rumford	67
69	1935	Baby Face Harrington	Colton	48
70	1935	Calm Yourself	Col. Allenby	45
71	1935	Together We Live	Dick	0
72	1935	A Tale of Two Cities	Jarvis Lorry	68
73	1936	The Prisoner of Shark Island	Colonel Dyer	68
74	1936	Florida Special	Simeon Stafford	60
75	1936	Counterfeit	Tom Perkins	60
76	1936	Ticket to Paradise	Robert Forbes	60
77	1936	Poor Little Rich Girl	Simon Peck	66
78	1936	Wives Never Know	Mr. Gossamer	0
79	1936	Can This Be Dixie?	Col. Robert Peachtree	0
80	1937	Top of the Town	William Borden	52
81	1937	Conquest	Stephan	65
82	1938	A Yank at Oxford	Ben Dalton	67
83	1938	Little Miss Broadway	Judge	65
84	1938	There Goes My Heart	Cyrus W. Butterfield	71
85	1938	Just Around the Corner	Samuel G. Henshaw	55
86	1939	Cafe Society	Old Christopher West	60
87		Alice Adams	Virgil Adams	0

No.

Year

Title

Role

Vote Average

1921