Claude Gillingwater
Acting • Born 1870-08-01 – Died 1939-11-02
Biography
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
89 credits
Conquest
Movie • 1937
Stephan
That's My Baby
Movie • 1926
John Raynor
Just Around the Corner
Movie • 1938
Samuel G. Henshaw
Fools First
Movie • 1922
Denton Drew
Together We Live
Movie • 1935
Dick
There Goes My Heart
Movie • 1938
Cyrus W. Butterfield
My Boy
Movie • 1921
Captain Bill
Stark Mad
Movie • 1929
James Rutherford - Expedition Leader
The Prisoner of Shark Island
Movie • 1936
Colonel Dyer
Green Eyes
Movie • 1934
Steven Kester
I Loved a Woman
Movie • 1933
Banker (uncredited)
Illicit
Movie • 1931
Richard Ives Sr.
The Great Divide
Movie • 1929
Winthrop Amesbury
Mississippi
Movie • 1935
General Rumford
So Long Letty
Movie • 1929
Uncle Claude Davis
Before Midnight
Movie • 1933
John Fry
Little Lord Fauntleroy
Movie • 1921
Earl of Dorincourt
In Love with Life
Movie • 1934
Morley
Back Page
Movie • 1933
Sam Webster
Ticket to Paradise
Movie • 1936
Robert Forbes
Gold Dust Gertie
Movie • 1931
John Aberdeen Arnold
Ann Carver's Profession
Movie • 1933
Bingham
Winds of Chance
Movie • 1925
Tom Linton
Dumb-bells in Ermine
Movie • 1930
Uncle Roger
The Flirting Widow
Movie • 1930
Faraday
Daddy Long Legs
Movie • 1931
Riggs
Running Hollywood
Movie • 1932
Claude Gillingwater
Little Miss Broadway
Movie • 1938
Judge
Tess of the Storm Country
Movie • 1932
Frederick Garfield Sr
Kiss Me Again
Movie • 1931
Count de St. Cyr
Daddies
Movie • 1924
James Crockett
Calm Yourself
Movie • 1935
Col. Allenby
The Wide Open Spaces
Movie • 1931
Judge
Baby Face Harrington
Movie • 1935
Colton
The Captain Hates the Sea
Movie • 1934
Judge Griswold
Remembrance
Movie • 1922
John P. Grout
The Christian
Movie • 1923
Lord Storm
Skyway
Movie • 1933
John Beaumont
A Thief in Paradise
Movie • 1925
Noel Jardine
Poor Little Rich Girl
Movie • 1936
Simon Peck
Three Wise Fools
Movie • 1923
Theodore Findley
How to Educate a Wife
Movie • 1924
Henry Bancks
Strange Wives
Movie • 1934
Guggins
Souls for Sale
Movie • 1923
Self - Celebrity Actor (uncredited)
The Strangers' Banquet
Movie • 1922
Uncle Sam
The Show-Off
Movie • 1934
J.B. Preston
City Limits
Movie • 1934
Tom Oliver
Cafe Society
Movie • 1939
Old Christopher West
Florida Special
Movie • 1936
Simeon Stafford
A Yank at Oxford
Movie • 1938
Ben Dalton
45 Minutes from Hollywood
Movie • 1926
Old Man in Hotel Bed (uncredited)
Mexicali Rose
Movie • 1929
(uncredited)
Compromised
Movie • 1931
John Brock
The Woman in Red
Movie • 1935
Grandpa Wyatt
Counterfeit
Movie • 1936
Tom Perkins
Husbands for Rent
Movie • 1927
Sir Reginald Knight
Barbed Wire
Movie • 1927
Jean Moreau
Unknown Blonde
Movie • 1934
Papa Van Brunt, Sr.
Top of the Town
Movie • 1937
William Borden
Tiger Rose
Movie • 1923
Hector McCollins
Seven Sinners
Movie • 1925
Pious Joe McDowell
Naughty But Nice
Movie • 1927
Judge J. R. Altewood
We Moderns
Movie • 1925
Sir Robert Sundale
Women They Talk About
Movie • 1928
Grandfather Mervin
Stolen Kisses
Movie • 1929
H.A. Lambert Sr.
Glad Rag Doll
Movie • 1929
Sam Underlane
The Gorilla
Movie • 1927
Cyrus Townsend
The Avenger
Movie • 1933
Witt
You Can't Buy Everything
Movie • 1934
Asa Cabot - Banker
Crinoline and Romance
Movie • 1923
Col. Charles E. Cavanaugh
How I Play Golf, by Bobby Jones No. 8: 'The Brassie'
Movie • 1931
Oh Kay!
Movie • 1928
Judge Appleton
The Conquering Horde
Movie • 1931
Jim Nabours
Wives Never Know
Movie • 1936
Mr. Gossamer
A Chapter in Her Life
Movie • 1923
Mr. Everingham
Into Her Kingdom
Movie • 1926
Ivan
Madonna of the Streets
Movie • 1924
Lord Patrington
Cheaper to Marry
Movie • 1925
Riddle
Fast and Furious
Movie • 1927
Smithfield
Dulcy
Movie • 1923
Mr. Forbes
A Tale of Two Cities
Movie • 1935
Jarvis Lorry
Can This Be Dixie?
Movie • 1936
Col. Robert Peachtree
Idle Tongues
Movie • 1924
Judge Daniel Webster Copeland
Smiling Irish Eyes
Movie • 1929
Michael O'Connor
Wages for Wives
Movie • 1925
Jim Bailey
Alice Adams
Movie • 1923
Virgil Adams
The Dust Flower
Movie • 1922
For Wives Only
Movie • 1926
Professor von Waldstein
Wild Primrose
Movie • 1918
Standish