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Claude Gillingwater

Claude Gillingwater

Birthday: 1870-08-02 | Place of Birth: 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 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)

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Known For

Acting

Year
Title

Role

1939
Cafe Society

as    Old Christopher West

1938
A Yank at Oxford

as    Ben Dalton

1938
There Goes My Heart

as    Cyrus W. Butterfield

1938
Just Around the Corner

as    Samuel G. Henshaw

1937
Conquest

as    Stephan

1936
The Prisoner of Shark Island

as    Colonel Dyer

1936
Poor Little Rich Girl

as    Simon Peck

1936
Counterfeit

as    Tom Perkins

1935
Calm Yourself

as    Col. Allenby

1934
Green Eyes

as    Steven Kester

1933
Before Midnight

as    John Fry

1933
Back Page

as    Sam Webster

1932
Tess of the Storm Country

as    Frederick Garfield Sr

1931
Illicit

as    Richard Ives Sr.

1931
Daddy Long Legs

as    Riggs

1930
The Flirting Widow

as    Faraday

1930
Dumb-bells in Ermine

as    Uncle Roger

1927
The Gorilla

as    Cyrus Townsend

1927
Barbed Wire

as    Jean Moreau

1927
Naughty But Nice

as    Judge J. R. Altewood