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