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

• 1939Cafe Society — Old Christopher West
• 1938A Yank at Oxford — Ben Dalton
• 1938Just Around the Corner — Samuel G. Henshaw
• 1938Little Miss Broadway — Judge
• 1938There Goes My Heart — Cyrus W. Butterfield
• 1937Conquest — Stephan
• 1937Top of the Town — William Borden
• 1936Can This Be Dixie? — Col. Robert Peachtree
• 1936Counterfeit — Tom Perkins
• 1936Florida Special — Simeon Stafford
• 1936Poor Little Rich Girl — Simon Peck
• 1936The Prisoner of Shark Island — Colonel Dyer
• 1936Ticket to Paradise — Robert Forbes
• 1936Wives Never Know — Mr. Gossamer
• 1935A Tale of Two Cities — Jarvis Lorry
• 1935Baby Face Harrington — Colton
• 1935Calm Yourself — Col. Allenby
• 1935Mississippi — General Rumford
• 1935The Woman in Red — Grandpa Wyatt
• 1935Together We Live — Dick
• 1934City Limits — Tom Oliver
• 1934Green Eyes — Steven Kester
• 1934In Love with Life — Morley
• 1934Strange Wives — Guggins
• 1934The Captain Hates the Sea — Judge Griswold
• 1934The Show-Off — J.B. Preston
• 1934Unknown Blonde — Papa Van Brunt, Sr.
• 1934You Can't Buy Everything — Asa Cabot - Banker
• 1933Ann Carver's Profession — Bingham
• 1933Back Page — Sam Webster
• 1933Before Midnight — John Fry
• 1933I Loved a Woman — Banker (uncredited)
• 1933Skyway — John Beaumont
• 1933The Avenger — Witt
• 1932Running Hollywood — Claude Gillingwater
• 1932Tess of the Storm Country — Frederick Garfield Sr
• 1931Compromised — John Brock
• 1931Daddy Long Legs — Riggs
• 1931Gold Dust Gertie — John Aberdeen Arnold
• 1931How I Play Golf, by Bobby Jones No. 8: 'The Brassie'
• 1931Illicit — Richard Ives Sr.
• 1931Kiss Me Again — Count de St. Cyr
• 1931The Conquering Horde — Jim Nabours
• 1931The Wide Open Spaces — Judge
• 1930Dumb-bells in Ermine — Uncle Roger
• 1930The Flirting Widow — Faraday
• 1929Glad Rag Doll — Sam Underlane
• 1929Mexicali Rose — (uncredited)
• 1929Smiling Irish Eyes — Michael O'Connor
• 1929So Long Letty — Uncle Claude Davis
• 1929Stark Mad — James Rutherford - Expedition Leader
• 1929Stolen Kisses — H.A. Lambert Sr.
• 1929The Great Divide — Winthrop Amesbury
• 1928Oh Kay! — Judge Appleton
• 1928Women They Talk About — Grandfather Mervin
• 1927Barbed Wire — Jean Moreau
• 1927Fast and Furious — Smithfield
• 1927Husbands for Rent — Sir Reginald Knight
• 1927Naughty But Nice — Judge J. R. Altewood
• 1927The Gorilla — Cyrus Townsend
• 192645 Minutes from Hollywood — Old Man in Hotel Bed (uncredited)
• 1926For Wives Only — Professor von Waldstein
• 1926Into Her Kingdom — Ivan
• 1926That's My Baby — John Raynor
• 1925A Thief in Paradise — Noel Jardine
• 1925Cheaper to Marry — Riddle
• 1925Seven Sinners — Pious Joe McDowell
• 1925Wages for Wives — Jim Bailey
• 1925We Moderns — Sir Robert Sundale
• 1925Winds of Chance — Tom Linton
• 1924Daddies — James Crockett
• 1924How to Educate a Wife — Henry Bancks
• 1924Idle Tongues — Judge Daniel Webster Copeland
• 1924Madonna of the Streets — Lord Patrington
• 1923A Chapter in Her Life — Mr. Everingham
• 1923Alice Adams — Virgil Adams
• 1923Crinoline and Romance — Col. Charles E. Cavanaugh
• 1923Dulcy — Mr. Forbes
• 1923The Christian — Lord Storm
• 1923Three Wise Fools — Theodore Findley
• 1923Tiger Rose — Hector McCollins
• 1922Fools First — Denton Drew
• 1922Remembrance — John P. Grout
• 1922The Dust Flower
• 1922The Strangers' Banquet — Uncle Sam
• 1921Little Lord Fauntleroy — Earl of Dorincourt
• 1921My Boy — Captain Bill
• 1918Wild Primrose — Standish

Appearances as themselves (1)

• 1923Souls for Sale — Self - Celebrity Actor (uncredited)