Gus Schilling
Acting • Born 1908-06-20 – Died 1957-06-16
Biography
August "Gus" Schilling (June 20, 1908 - June 16, 1957) was an American actor. August "Gus" Schilling (June 20, 1908 – June 16, 1957) was an American film actor who started in burlesque comedy and usually played nervous comic roles, often unbilled. A friend of Orson Welles, he appeared in five of the director's films — Citizen Kane (first screen performance), The Magnificent Ambersons, The Lady from Shanghai, Macbeth and Touch of Evil (final performance, released posthumously). Born in New York City, Schilling had a rubber face and flustered gestures which made him a natural comedian and he began his career understudying comedy stars Bert Lahr and Joe Penner on Broadway. He soon became a favorite among burlesque comedians, who welcomed him into the burlesque profession. Schilling was in a relationship with burlesque star Betty Rowland and the couple toured in the Minsky burlesque troupe. Orson Welles saw Schilling in New York and followed him to Florida. There Welles hired Schilling to appear in a stage production featuring several Shakespearean scenes. "I learned my part by taking the script to Welles and having him translate the lines to everyday English," Schilling recalled in 1939. Welles promised Schilling a part in Welles's first motion picture, and kept his promise: Schilling is featured in Citizen Kane (1941). This established Schilling in Hollywood movies as a "nervous" comedian (he plays a jittery symphony conductor in Olsen and Johnson's Hellzapoppin', for example). He also co-starred with character comedian Richard Lane in a series of 11 comedy shorts for Columbia Pictures; the series ran from 1945 to 1950.
Filmography
57 credits
Citizen Kane
Movie • 1941
John
The Lady from Shanghai
Movie • 1947
Goldfish
Hit Parade of 1951
Movie • 1950
Studio Guide
On Dangerous Ground
Movie • 1951
Lucky
It Started with Eve
Movie • 1941
Raven
You Were Never Lovelier
Movie • 1942
Fernando
The Amazing Mrs. Holliday
Movie • 1943
Our Very Own
Movie • 1950
Frank
Broadway
Movie • 1942
Joe
One Big Affair
Movie • 1952
Mr. Rush
Calendar Girl
Movie • 1947
Eddie Gaskin
It's a Pleasure
Movie • 1945
Bill Evans
Gasoline Alley
Movie • 1951
Joe Allen
Bigger Than Life
Movie • 1956
Druggist (uncredited)
There's One Born Every Minute
Movie • 1942
Professor Asa Quisenberry
Appointment for Love
Movie • 1941
Gus
Wedding Belle
Movie • 1947
Gus Schilling
Hot Water
Movie • 1946
Gus
Pardon My Lamb Chop
Movie • 1948
Gus
Two Nuts in a Rut
Movie • 1948
Gus Schilling, Lane's assistant
Flung by a Fling
Movie • 1949
Capt. Gus Schilling
He's in Again
Movie • 1949
Gus
Ain't Love Cuckoo?
Movie • 1946
Gus Schilling
Lucky Devils
Movie • 1941
Aloysius Grimshaw
Dangerous Business
Movie • 1946
Alexander Pough
Angel on the Amazon
Movie • 1948
Dean Hartley
The Magnificent Ambersons
Movie • 1942
Drug Clerk (uncredited)
Rebel Without a Cause
Movie • 1955
Attendant (uncredited)
Touch of Evil
Movie • 1958
Eddie Farnham (uncredited)
Sing a Jingle
Movie • 1944
Bucky
Larceny with Music
Movie • 1943
Austin J. Caldwell
Run for Cover
Movie • 1955
Doc Ridgeway
Dr. Kildare's Crisis
Movie • 1940
Orderly Cleaning Window
Pop Always Pays
Movie • 1940
City Dump Watchman
Chatterbox
Movie • 1943
Gillie
Hers to Hold
Movie • 1943
Rosey Blake
Pardon My Terror
Movie • 1946
Gus
Mexican Spitfire Out West
Movie • 1940
Hotel Desk Clark
A Thousand and One Nights
Movie • 1945
Jafar
Lady Bodyguard
Movie • 1943
Bughouse Sweeney
Bride for Sale
Movie • 1949
Timothy
She Couldn't Say No
Movie • 1954
Ed Gruman
Dr. Kildare's Victory
Movie • 1942
Leo Cobb
Macbeth
Movie • 1948
A Porter
The Return of October
Movie • 1948
Benny
Honeychile
Movie • 1951
Window Washer
Presenting Lily Mars
Movie • 1943
Scotty - Stage Manager
Ice-Capades
Movie • 1941
Dave
See My Lawyer
Movie • 1945
J. Ambrose Winkler aka Winky
River Gang
Movie • 1945
Dopey Charlie
Hellzapoppin'
Movie • 1941
Orchestra Conductor
The Penalty
Movie • 1941
Bank Teller (uncredited)
Stork Bites Man
Movie • 1947
Hubert Butterfield
Glory
Movie • 1956
Joe Page
High Blood Pleasure
Movie • 1945
Gus
Training for Trouble
Movie • 1947
Gus Schilling
Executive Suite
Movie • 1954
Newsstand Vendor (uncredited)