Claude Gillingwater
Known for: Acting
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
Film
The Prisoner of Shark Island
Colonel Dyer
1936
Film
Wild Primrose
Standish
1918
Film
A Yank at Oxford
Ben Dalton
1938
Film
A Tale of Two Cities
Jarvis Lorry
1935
Film
Conquest
Stephan
1937
Film
Little Miss Broadway
Judge
1938
Film
Souls for Sale
Self - Celebrity Actor (uncredited)
1923
Film
Unknown Blonde
Papa Van Brunt, Sr.
1934
Film
Poor Little Rich Girl
Simon Peck
1936
Film
Daddies
James Crockett
1924
Film
Oh Kay!
Judge Appleton
1928
Film
There Goes My Heart
Cyrus W. Butterfield
1938
Film
Mississippi
General Rumford
1935
Film
Before Midnight
John Fry
1933
Film
Florida Special
Simeon Stafford
1936
Film
45 Minutes from Hollywood
Old Man in Hotel Bed (uncredited)
1926
Film
The Woman in Red
Grandpa Wyatt
1935
Film
Illicit
Richard Ives Sr.
1931
Film
Ticket to Paradise
Robert Forbes
1936
Film
Alice Adams
Virgil Adams
1923
Film
Mexicali Rose
(uncredited)
1929
Film
I Loved a Woman
Banker (uncredited)
1933
Film
Wives Never Know
Mr. Gossamer
1936
Film
Husbands for Rent
Sir Reginald Knight
1927
Film
Three Wise Fools
Theodore Findley
1923
Film
Baby Face Harrington
Colton
1935
Film
You Can't Buy Everything
Asa Cabot - Banker
1934
Running Hollywood
Claude Gillingwater
1932
Film
The Show-Off
J.B. Preston
1934
Film
Ann Carver's Profession
Bingham
1933
Film
In Love with Life
Morley
1934
Film
Kiss Me Again
Count de St. Cyr
1931
Film
Glad Rag Doll
Sam Underlane
1929
Film
Calm Yourself
Col. Allenby
1935
Film
Crinoline and Romance
Col. Charles E. Cavanaugh
1923
Film
The Christian
Lord Storm
1923
Film
Little Lord Fauntleroy
Earl of Dorincourt
1921
Film
The Gorilla
Cyrus Townsend
1927
Film
Just Around the Corner
Samuel G. Henshaw
1938
Film
Wages for Wives
Jim Bailey
1925
Film
Cafe Society
Old Christopher West
1939
Film
Top of the Town
William Borden
1937
Film
Strange Wives
Guggins
1934
Film
The Avenger
Witt
1933
Film
So Long Letty
Uncle Claude Davis
1929
Film
Back Page
Sam Webster
1933
Film
Naughty But Nice
Judge J. R. Altewood
1927
Film
Fast and Furious
Smithfield
1927
Film
Daddy Long Legs
Riggs
1931
Film
The Strangers' Banquet
Uncle Sam
1922
Film
Barbed Wire
Jean Moreau
1927
Film
City Limits
Tom Oliver
1934
Film
Seven Sinners
Pious Joe McDowell
1925
Film
The Flirting Widow
Faraday
1930
Film
Stark Mad
James Rutherford - Expedition Leader
1929
Film
Smiling Irish Eyes
Michael O'Connor
1929
Film
Green Eyes
Steven Kester
1934
Film
Madonna of the Streets
Lord Patrington
1924
Film
Counterfeit
Tom Perkins
1936
Film
The Great Divide
Winthrop Amesbury
1929
Film
The Dust Flower
1922
Film
Dumb-bells in Ermine
Uncle Roger
1930
Film
For Wives Only
Professor von Waldstein
1926
Film
Can This Be Dixie?
Col. Robert Peachtree
1936
Film
Idle Tongues
Judge Daniel Webster Copeland
1924
Film
Together We Live
Dick
1935
Film
The Conquering Horde
Jim Nabours
1931
Film
Tess of the Storm Country
Frederick Garfield Sr
1932
Film
Tiger Rose
Hector McCollins
1923
Film
The Captain Hates the Sea
Judge Griswold
1934
Film
My Boy
Captain Bill
1921
Film
How to Educate a Wife
Henry Bancks
1924
Film
The Wide Open Spaces
Judge
1931
Film
Remembrance
John P. Grout
1922
Film
Cheaper to Marry
Riddle
1925
Film
A Chapter in Her Life
Mr. Everingham
1923
Film
Stolen Kisses
H.A. Lambert Sr.
1929
Film
Women They Talk About
Grandfather Mervin
1928
That's My Baby
John Raynor
1926
Film
We Moderns
Sir Robert Sundale
1925
Film
Into Her Kingdom
Ivan
1926
Film
Dulcy
Mr. Forbes
1923
Film
Winds of Chance
Tom Linton
1925
Film
Skyway
John Beaumont
1933
Film
Gold Dust Gertie
John Aberdeen Arnold
1931
Film
Compromised
John Brock
1931
Film
A Thief in Paradise
Noel Jardine
1925
Film
Fools First
Denton Drew
1922
Film
How I Play Golf, by Bobby Jones No. 8: 'The Brassie'
1931