
Claude Gillingwater
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)
89 acting credits
Acting · 89

A Tale of Two Cities
1935

The Prisoner of Shark Island
1936

Conquest
1937

Souls for Sale
1923

The Captain Hates the Sea
1934

Mississippi
1935

Poor Little Rich Girl
1936

Together We Live
1935

Florida Special
1936

Illicit
1931

Cafe Society
1939

Can This Be Dixie?
1936

Wives Never Know
1936

Cheaper to Marry
1925

Glad Rag Doll
1929

Winds of Chance
1925

Little Lord Fauntleroy
1921

Little Miss Broadway
1938

The Woman in Red
1935

Oh Kay!
1928

Unknown Blonde
1934

Kiss Me Again
1931

Three Wise Fools
1923

45 Minutes from Hollywood
1926

The Great Divide
1929

Skyway
1933

Ticket to Paradise
1936

City Limits
1934

Top of the Town
1937

A Yank at Oxford
1938

You Can't Buy Everything
1934

Mexicali Rose
1929

There Goes My Heart
1938

The Avenger
1933

Seven Sinners
1925

Daddy Long Legs
1931

Remembrance
1922

Madonna of the Streets
1924

Counterfeit
1936

Before Midnight
1933

Ann Carver's Profession
1933

Green Eyes
1934

Fast and Furious
1927

I Loved a Woman
1933

Gold Dust Gertie
1931

Dulcy
1923

Baby Face Harrington
1935

Stark Mad
1929

The Wide Open Spaces
1931

Alice Adams
1923

Stolen Kisses
1929

A Thief in Paradise
1925

Wages for Wives
1925

We Moderns
1925

How to Educate a Wife
1924

Back Page
1933
Running Hollywood
1932

Tess of the Storm Country
1932

Dumb-bells in Ermine
1930

How I Play Golf, by Bobby Jones No. 8: 'The Brassie'
1931

Tiger Rose
1923

Calm Yourself
1935

The Christian
1923

In Love with Life
1934

Compromised
1931

So Long Letty
1929

Women They Talk About
1928

Into Her Kingdom
1926

The Conquering Horde
1931

My Boy
1921

Just Around the Corner
1938

The Strangers' Banquet
1922
That's My Baby
1926

For Wives Only
1926

Smiling Irish Eyes
1929

The Gorilla
1927

Fools First
1922

Barbed Wire
1927

Strange Wives
1934

The Flirting Widow
1930

Idle Tongues
1924

Naughty But Nice
1927

A Chapter in Her Life
1923

Husbands for Rent
1927

The Show-Off
1934

The Dust Flower
1922

Daddies
1924

Wild Primrose
1918

Crinoline and Romance
1923