![Image of Claude Gillingwater](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w342/9AMgwHyCDNveG6AkQvp8hQN0xgN.jpg)
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)
Movie | Cafe Society | Old Christopher West | 1939-03-03 |
Movie | Little Miss Broadway | Judge | 1938-07-29 |
Movie | A Yank at Oxford | Ben Dalton | 1938-02-18 |
Movie | Just Around the Corner | Samuel G. Henshaw | 1938-11-11 |
Movie | There Goes My Heart | Cyrus W. Butterfield | 1938-10-14 |
Movie | Top of the Town | William Borden | 1937-04-17 |
Movie | Conquest | Stephan | 1937-10-22 |
Movie | Florida Special | Simeon Stafford | 1936-04-21 |
Movie | Counterfeit | Tom Perkins | 1936-05-25 |
Movie | The Prisoner of Shark Island | Colonel Dyer | 1936-02-28 |
Movie | Wives Never Know | Mr. Gossamer | 1936-09-18 |
Movie | Ticket to Paradise | Robert Forbes | 1936-06-24 |
Movie | Poor Little Rich Girl | Simon Peck | 1936-07-18 |
Movie | Mississippi | Gen. Rumford | 1935-03-22 |
Movie | Baby Face Harrington | Colton | 1935-04-12 |
Movie | The Woman in Red | Grandpa Wyatt | 1935-02-16 |
Movie | Calm Yourself | Col. Allenby | 1935-06-28 |
Movie | A Tale of Two Cities | Jarvis Lorry | 1935-12-25 |
Movie | Together We Live | Dick | 1935-08-16 |
Movie | The Show-Off | J.B. Preston | 1934-03-09 |
Movie | You Can't Buy Everything | Asa Cabot - Banker | 1934-01-26 |
Movie | City Limits | Tom Oliver | 1934-04-14 |
Movie | Unknown Blonde | Papa Van Brunt, Sr. | 1934-04-23 |
Movie | The Captain Hates the Sea | Judge Griswold | 1934-11-02 |
Movie | Green Eyes | Steven Kester | 1934-06-15 |
Movie | In Love with Life | Morley | 1934-05-11 |
Movie | The Avenger | Witt | 1933-08-10 |
Movie | Ann Carver's Profession | Judge Bingham | 1933-06-09 |
Movie | Skyway | John Beaumont | 1933-08-29 |
Movie | Before Midnight | John Fry | 1933-11-18 |
Movie | Back Page | Sam Webster | 1933-11-07 |
Movie | I Loved a Woman | Banker (uncredited) | 1933-09-23 |
Movie | Running Hollywood | Claude Gillingwater | 1932-01-27 |
Movie | Tess of the Storm Country | Frederick Garfield Sr | 1932-11-20 |
Movie | Illicit | Richard Ives Sr. | 1931-02-14 |
Movie | Kiss Me Again | Count de St. Cyr | 1931-01-07 |
Movie | The Conquering Horde | Jim Nabours | 1931-03-01 |
Movie | Gold Dust Gertie | John Aberdeen Arnold | 1931-06-27 |
Movie | Daddy Long Legs | Riggs | 1931-06-05 |
Movie | How I Play Golf, by Bobby Jones No. 8: 'The Brassie' | 1931-08-01 | |
Movie | Dumb-bells in Ermine | Uncle Roger | 1930-05-10 |
Movie | The Flirting Widow | Faraday | 1930-05-11 |
Movie | Stark Mad | James Rutherford - Expedition Leader | 1929-02-02 |
Movie | Glad Rag Doll | Sam Underlane | 1929-05-04 |
Movie | Stolen Kisses | H.A. Lambert Sr. | 1929-02-23 |
Movie | So Long Letty | Uncle Claude Davis | 1929-10-16 |
Movie | Mexicali Rose | (uncredited) | 1929-12-26 |
Movie | The Great Divide | Winthrop Amesbury | 1929-09-15 |
Movie | Women They Talk About | Grandfather Mervin | 1928-08-10 |
Movie | Oh Kay! | Judge Appleton | 1928-08-26 |
Movie | Fast and Furious | Smithfield | 1927-06-12 |
Movie | Naughty But Nice | Judge J. R. Altewood | 1927-06-25 |
Movie | Barbed Wire | Jean Moreau | 1927-09-09 |
Movie | The Gorilla | Cyrus Townsend | 1927-11-13 |
Movie | That's My Baby | John Raynor | 1926-04-19 |
Movie | 45 Minutes from Hollywood | Old Man in Hotel Bed (uncredited) | 1926-12-26 |
Movie | Into Her Kingdom | Ivan | 1926-08-08 |
Movie | Winds of Chance | Tom Linton | 1925-08-15 |
Movie | A Thief in Paradise | Noel Jardine | 1925-06-18 |
Movie | We Moderns | Sir Robert Sundale | 1925-11-15 |
Movie | Seven Sinners | Pious Joe McDowell | 1925-11-07 |
Movie | How to Educate a Wife | Henry Bancks | 1924-05-01 |
Movie | Madonna of the Streets | Lord Patrington | 1924-10-19 |
Movie | Crinoline and Romance | Col. Charles E. Cavanaugh | 1923-02-05 |
Movie | Souls for Sale | Self - Celebrity Actor (uncredited) | 1923-04-22 |
Movie | The Christian | Lord Storm | 1923-01-14 |
Movie | Tiger Rose | Hector McCollins | 1923-12-09 |
Movie | Dulcy | Mr. Forbes | 1923-08-27 |
Movie | Three Wise Fools | Theodore Findley | 1923-08-19 |
Movie | Remembrance | John P. Grout | 1922-10-01 |
Movie | Little Lord Fauntleroy | Earl of Dorincourt | 1921-09-15 |
Movie | My Boy | Captain Bill | 1921-12-01 |