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Claude Gillingwater
Born · August 1, 1870
Died · November 2, 1939 (69 years old)
Known For: Acting
Place of Birth: Louisiana, Missouri, USA
Bio
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)
Cafe Society
Old Christopher West
6.0
1939
Just Around the Corner
Samuel G. Henshaw
5.5
1938
There Goes My Heart
Cyrus W. Butterfield
7.2
1938
Little Miss Broadway
Judge
6.6
1938
A Yank at Oxford
Ben Dalton
6.7
1938
Conquest
Stephan
6.6
1937
Top of the Town
William Borden
5.2
1937
Can This Be Dixie?
Col. Robert Peachtree
0.0
1936
Wives Never Know
Mr. Gossamer
0.0
1936
Poor Little Rich Girl
Simon Peck
6.6
1936
Ticket to Paradise
Robert Forbes
6.0
1936
Counterfeit
Tom Perkins
6.0
1936
Florida Special
Simeon Stafford
6.0
1936
The Prisoner of Shark Island
Colonel Dyer
6.8
1936
A Tale of Two Cities
Jarvis Lorry
6.8
1935
Together We Live
Dick
0.0
1935
Calm Yourself
Col. Allenby
4.5
1935
Baby Face Harrington
Colton
4.8
1935
Mississippi
General Rumford
6.7
1935
The Woman in Red
Grandpa Wyatt
6.1
1935
Strange Wives
Guggins
0.0
1934
The Captain Hates the Sea
Judge Griswold
6.5
1934
Green Eyes
Steven Kester
5.0
1934
In Love with Life
Morley
5.0
1934
Unknown Blonde
Papa Van Brunt, Sr.
1.0
1934
City Limits
Tom Oliver
4.0
1934
The Show-Off
J.B. Preston
5.7
1934
You Can't Buy Everything
Asa Cabot - Banker
7.0
1934
Before Midnight
John Fry
4.0
1933
Back Page
Sam Webster
6.2
1933
I Loved a Woman
Banker (uncredited)
4.8
1933
Skyway
John Beaumont
5.2
1933
The Avenger
Witt
6.0
1933
Ann Carver's Profession
Judge Bingham
5.5
1933
Tess of the Storm Country
Frederick Garfield Sr
6.0
1932
Running Hollywood
Claude Gillingwater
0.0
1932
The Wide Open Spaces
Judge
0.0
1931
Compromised
John Brock
1.0
1931
How I Play Golf, by Bobby Jones No. 8: 'The Brassie'
0.0
1931
Gold Dust Gertie
John Aberdeen Arnold
3.0
1931
Daddy Long Legs
Riggs
4.0
1931
The Conquering Horde
Jim Nabours
5.0
1931
Illicit
Richard Ives Sr.
5.8
1931
Kiss Me Again
Count de St. Cyr
6.0
1931
The Flirting Widow
Faraday
4.0
1930
Dumb-bells in Ermine
Uncle Roger
4.0
1930
Mexicali Rose
(uncredited)
5.2
1929
So Long Letty
Uncle Claude Davis
5.9
1929
The Great Divide
Winthrop Amesbury
4.8
1929
Smiling Irish Eyes
Michael O'Connor
0.0
1929
Glad Rag Doll
Sam Underlane
0.0
1929
Stolen Kisses
H.A. Lambert Sr.
5.0
1929
Stark Mad
James Rutherford - Expedition Leader
3.0
1929
Oh Kay!
Judge Appleton
0.0
1928
Women They Talk About
Grandfather Mervin
0.0
1928
Husbands for Rent
Sir Reginald Knight
0.0
1927
The Gorilla
Cyrus Townsend
0.0
1927
Barbed Wire
Jean Moreau
6.2
1927
Naughty But Nice
Judge J. R. Altewood
0.0
1927
Fast and Furious
Smithfield
1.0
1927
45 Minutes from Hollywood
Old Man in Hotel Bed (uncredited)
5.0
1926
Into Her Kingdom
Ivan
0.0
1926
That's My Baby
John Raynor
0.0
1926
Wages for Wives
Jim Bailey
0.0
1925
We Moderns
Sir Robert Sundale
0.0
1925
Seven Sinners
Pious Joe McDowell
6.0
1925
Winds of Chance
Tom Linton
4.8
1925
A Thief in Paradise
Noel Jardine
6.0
1925
Cheaper to Marry
Riddle
0.0
1925
Idle Tongues
Judge Daniel Webster Copeland
0.0
1924
Madonna of the Streets
Lord Patrington
0.0
1924
How to Educate a Wife
Henry Bancks
0.0
1924
Daddies
James Crockett
5.0
1924
Tiger Rose
Hector McCollins
4.5
1923
A Chapter in Her Life
Mr. Everingham
5.5
1923
Dulcy
Mr. Forbes
0.0
1923
Three Wise Fools
Theodore Findley
0.0
1923
Souls for Sale
Self - Celebrity Actor (uncredited)
6.2
1923
Crinoline and Romance
Col. Charles E. Cavanaugh
0.0
1923
The Christian
Lord Storm
0.0
1923
The Strangers' Banquet
Uncle Sam
0.0
1922
Remembrance
John P. Grout
0.0
1922
Fools First
Denton Drew
0.0
1922
My Boy
Captain Bill
5.9
1921
Little Lord Fauntleroy
Earl of Dorincourt
7.0
1921
Alice Adams
Virgil Adams
0.0