
Gertrude Astor
Born
November 9, 1887
Died
November 9, 1977 (90 years old)
Known For
Acting
Place of Birth
Lakewood, Ohio, USA
Gertrude Astor (Born Gertrude Eyster November 9, 1887 – November 9, 1977) was an American motion picture character actress, who began her career playing trombone on a riverboat.
Born in Lakewood, Ohio, Astor at the age of 12 ran off and joined a woman's band as a trombone player and toured the states. In New York she left the band to obtain film work and got a job as an extra before her career took off. Astor was a prolific performer, between 1915 and 1962 she appeared in over 250 movies. Her first known credit is in a Biograph short in 1915. She then became a contract player at Universal. A tall, angular and beautiful woman, Astor frequently towered over the leading men of the era; thus, she was most frequently utilized in comedy roles as aristocrats, golddiggers and "heroine's best pal".
Her best-known silent appearances were as the visiting stage star in Stage Struck (1925) with Gloria Swanson, as the vamp who plants stolen money on Harry Langdon in The Strong Man (1926), and as Laura LaPlante's wisecracking travelling companion in The Cat and the Canary (1927).
Astor worked prolifically at Hal Roach studios with such headliners as Laurel and Hardy, Our Gang, and especially Charley Chase. She was also kept busy at Columbia Pictures' short subjects unit.
She continued to play bits in feature films throughout the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. She was briefly glimpsed as the first murder victim in the Sherlock Holmes adventure The Scarlet Claw and was among the ranks of dress extras in 1956's Around the World in Eighty Days. Her last appearance was in John Ford's The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.
In her later years, Astor was a welcome guest at several Sons of the Desert gatherings, and became an honorary member of the Way Out West tent.
She died in Woodland Hills, California from a stroke. She is interred in the Abbey of Psalms in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood, CA.
Known For

Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter
Townswoman
1966

My Mother the Car
(1 episode)
1965

The Sound of Music
Party Guest (uncredited)
1965

The Unsinkable Molly Brown
Denver Party Guest (uncredited)
1964

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
Townswoman (uncredited)
1962

The Devil's Hand
The Elderly Cultist
1961

Two Rode Together
Mrs. Wringle (uncredited)
1961

All in a Night's Work
Customer (uncredited)
1961

Sergeant Rutledge
Courtroom Spectator (uncredited)
1960

The Best of Everything
Leading Woman in Play (uncredited)
1959

The Tingler
Member of Silent Movie Audience (uncredited)
1959

The Horse Soldiers
Townswoman (uncredited)
1959

The Female Animal
Actress on Movie Set (uncredited)
1958

My Man Godfrey
Party Guest (uncredited)
1957

Around the World in Eighty Days
Extra (uncredited)
1956

The Virgin Queen
Lady-in-Waiting - 2nd Group
1955

Wichita
Saloon Madam (uncredited)
1955

Daddy Long Legs
Art Gallery Patron (uncredited)
1955

Deep in My Heart
Dorothy's Nurse (uncredited)
1954

A Star Is Born
Racetrack Spectator (uncredited)
1954

Scared Stiff
Man with Spaghetti's Wife (uncredited)
1953

Angel Face
Matron (uncredited)
1953

The Old West
Townswoman (uncredited)
1952

The Merry Widow
Reception Guest (uncredited)
1952

Paula
Mrs. Brown (uncredited)
1952

Fort Osage
Townswoman (uncredited)
1952

Scandal Sheet
Neighbor (uncredited)
1952

Thunder on the Hill
Village Woman (uncredited)
1951

I Love Lucy
Showgirl #4 · (1 episode)
1951

When Worlds Collide
Traveler (uncredited)
1951

A Place in the Sun
Bit Part (uncredited)
1951

Apache Drums
Townswoman (uncredited)
1951

All About Eve
Sarah Siddons Awards Guest (uncredited)
1950

Again Pioneers
Mrs. Jans
1950

Bunco Squad
Club Patron (uncredited)
1950

Sunset Boulevard
Courtier (uncredited)
1950

Caged
Inmate (uncredited)
1950

Woman in Hiding
Woman in Drugstore (uncredited)
1950

The File on Thelma Jordon
Juror (Uncredited)
1949

The Doolins of Oklahoma
Saloon Girl (uncredited)
1949

3 Godfathers
Saloon Girl (uncredited)
1948

My Dear Secretary
Miss Gee (uncredited)
1948

Joe Palooka in Winner Take All
Mrs. Howard
1948

Music Man
1948

Here Comes Trouble
Woman with Dog (uncredited)
1948

Sitting Pretty
Townswoman (uncredited)
1948

Monsieur Verdoux
Garden Party Guest (uncredited)
1947

Fun on a Weekend
Party Guest (Uncredited)
1947

The Best Years of Our Lives
Wedding Guest (uncredited)
1946

Calcutta
Nightclub Patron (uncredited)
1946

Sister Kenny
Doctor (uncredited)
1946

Crack-Up
Nagging Wife on Train (Uncredited)
1946

Dragonwyck
Nurse (uncredited)
1946

Leave Her to Heaven
Prison Matron (uncredited)
1945

Dick Tracy
Woman (uncredited)
1945

An Angel Comes To Brooklyn
Eva Tanguay (uncredited)
1945

Girls of the Big House
Railroad Matron
1945

Swingin' on a Rainbow
Bit Part (uncredited)
1945

The Climax
Woman in Audience Behind Franz (Uncredited)
1944

The Scarlet Claw
1944

Weird Woman
Party Guest (uncredited)
1944

The Kansan
Blonde Townswoman
1943

The Avenging Rider
Martha
1943

Idaho
Party Guest
1943

Lost Canyon
Mrs. Anson
1942

Moontide
Woman (uncredited)
1942

Reap the Wild Wind
Ball Guest (uncredited)
1942
Frisco Lil
1942

The Wolf Man
Townswoman (uncredited)
1941

Hold Back the Dawn
Young Woman in Bar (uncredited)
1941

Misbehaving Husbands
Gossiping Friend
1940

The Doctor Takes a Wife
Extra (uncredited)
1940

The Llano Kid
Saloon Hostess
1939

$1,000 a Touchdown
McGlen Wife (uncredited)
1939

Dust Be My Destiny
Dame (uncredited)
1939

The Women
Mud Bath Nurse (uncredited)
1939

Tassels in the Air
Louella Pindell (uncredited)
1938

The Big Broadcast of 1938
Woman (uncredited)
1938

Wells Fargo
Pioneer Woman
1937

All Over Town
Mamie
1937

Easy Living
Saleswoman (uncredited)
1937

Rich Relations
1937

Empty Saddles
Eloise Hayes
1936

Great Guy
Party Guest (Uncredited)
1936

Wives Never Know
Mrs. Merchant (uncredited)
1936

Postal Inspector
Woman with Drumsticks (uncredited)
1936

San Francisco
Drunk's Girl (uncredited)
1936
I Don't Remember
Sophie Glick
1935

Manhattan Monkey Business
Gwendolyn
1935

Bad Boy
1935

It's in the Air
(uncredited)
1935
Cappy Ricks Returns
Speaker (uncredited)
1935

Here Comes the Band
Undetermined Secondary Role (uncredited)
1935

Honeymoon Limited
Lady Devonshire
1935

No More Ladies
Nightclub Patron (uncredited)
1935

Border Brigands
Big Six -Saloon Girl
1935

The Drunkard
Peggy
1935

Northern Frontier
Mae
1935

The Chases of Pimple Street
Gertrude Astor - Lucas' Fiancee (uncredited)
1934

Washee Ironee
Woman at Party
1934
Wedding Belles
1934

I'll Take Vanilla
Mom
1934

Guilty Parents
Marie
1934

Carnival Lady
Zandra, Fortune Teller
1933

Crook's Tour
Mrs Dorigan
1933

Ship of Wanted Men
Vera
1933

I Have Lived
Harriet Naisson
1933
The Plumber and the Lady
Mrs. Otto Mauser
1933

Wine, Women and Song
Jennie Tilson
1933

Flaming Gold
Escort Service Madam
1932
Western Limited
Mrs. Winters
1932

High Hats and Low Brows
Mrs. Billingsgate
1932

They Never Come Back
Kate
1932

While Paris Sleeps
1932

In Walked Charley
Gertrude Henderson
1932
Running Hollywood
Gertrude Astor
1932
Poker Widows
Mrs. Thomas Regan
1931

Come Clean
Mrs. Hardy
1931

Hell Bound
Rosie
1931
Live and Learn
Mrs. Brown
1930

Dames Ahoy
The Blonde
1930

Be Yourself!
Lillian
1930

Untamed
Mrs. Mason
1929

Frozen Justice
Moosehide Kate
1929

Twin Beds
Mrs. Solari
1929

The Fall of Eve
Mrs. Ford
1929

Two Weeks Off
Agnes
1929

The Fatal Warning
1929

Synthetic Sin
Sheila Kelly
1929

Chasing Husbands
1928

A Woman of Affairs
Party Guest (uncredited)
1928

The Butter and Egg Man
Fanny Lehman
1928

Five and Ten Cent Annie
Blonde
1928

The Family Group
1928

Rose-Marie
Wanda
1928

The Cohens and the Kellys in Paris
Paulette
1928

Oh, What a Man!
The Bandit
1927

Ginsberg the Great
Sappho
1927

The Small Bachelor
Fanny
1927

Uncle Tom's Cabin
Mrs. St. Clare (uncredited)
1927

The Cat and the Canary
Cecily
1927

The Taxi Dancer
Kitty Lane
1927

Lightning Lariats
Girl
1927

The Cheerful Fraud
Rose
1926

The Strong Man
Lily de Broadway
1926

The Country Beyond
Mrs. Andrews
1926

Tell 'Em Nothing
Mrs. Gladstone
1926

The Old Soak
Sylvia De Costa
1926

Don Juan's 3 Nights
Baroness von Minden
1926

The Boy Friend
Mrs. White
1926

Kiki
Paulette Mascar
1926

Wife Tamers
Mrs. Barry
1926

Dizzy Daddies
A Former Flame
1926

Behind the Front
French barmaid
1926
Ship of Souls
Doris Barnes
1925

Stage Struck
Lillian Lyons
1925

Satan in Sables
Dolores Sierra
1925
Borrowed Finery
Maisie
1925

Kentucky Pride
Mrs. Beaumont
1925

The Charmer
Bertha Sedgwick
1925
The Reckless Sex
Lucile Dupré
1925

Laughing Ladies
The Married Man's Wife
1925

Robes of Sin
1924

The Ridin' Kid from Powder River
'Kansas' Lou
1924
The Silent Watcher
Mrs. Steele
1924

All's Swell on the Ocean
1924
The Torrent
The Cast-Off
1924

Broadway or Bust
Mrs. Dean Smythe
1924

Secrets
Mrs. Manwaring
1924

The Wanters
Mrs. Van Pelt
1923

Hollywood
Gertrude Astor
1923

Rupert of Hentzau
Paula
1923

The Ne'er-Do-Well
Edith Cortlandt
1923

The Ninety and Nine
Kate Van Dyke
1922

You Never Know
Miriam Folansbee
1922

The Kentucky Derby
Helen Gordon
1922

The Impossible Mrs. Bellew
Alice Granville
1922

Lorna Doone
Countess of Brandir (uncredited)
1922

Skin Deep
Mrs. Carlson
1922

Hurricane's Gal
Phyllis Fairfield
1922

Beyond the Rocks
Morella Winmarleigh
1922
Seeing's Believing
Aunt Sue
1922

The Wall Flower
Pamela Shiel
1922

Her Mad Bargain
Ruth Beresford
1921

Through The Back Door
Louise Reeves
1921

The Concert
Eva
1921

The Branding Iron
Betty Morena
1920

Occasionally Yours
Mona
1920

The Wicked Darling
Adele Hoyt
1919

Loot
Lady Gwendolyn
1919

The Delicious Little Devil
Auditioning Dancer (uncredited)
1919

What Am I Bid?
Diana Newlands
1919

The Brazen Beauty
Mrs. Augusta Van Ruysdael
1918

The Girl Who Wouldn't Quit
Stella Carter
1918

Bucking Broadway
Gladys (uncredited)
1917

The Lash of Power
Phyllis Ward
1917

The Price of a Good Time
Mis Schyler
1917

Bondage
Eugenia Darth
1917

The Girl Who Won Out
Mrs. Walsh
1917

Cheyenne's Pal
Dancehall girl
1917

The Rescue
Mrs. Hendricks
1917

The Little Orphan
Emmeline Warren
1917

Polly Redhead
Lady Caroline
1917

The Scarlet Crystal
Helen Forbes
1917

The Devil's Pay Day
Hazel Davidson
1917
Bombs and Banknotes
His Daughter
1917

Under Two Flags
Venetia
1915

Alice Adams
Mildred Palmer