Biography
William Gillespie (24 January 1894 – 23 June 1938) was a Scottish actor. Gillespie started in Hollywood films from the silent era. He played in about 180 films between 1915 and 1939, although his appearances were often uncredited. Gillespie frequently appeared in Hal Roach comedies from 1917, usually as stuffy official or manager. He supported such "slapstick comedians" as Charlie Chaplin, Charley Chase, Our Gang, and Laurel and Hardy, but was most prolific supporting Harold Lloyd in 60 films.
Known For
Complete Filmography

Laurel & Hardy: Year One
2023
Laurel & Hardy: Year One, The Newly Restored 1927 Silents, as proudly presented by Flicker Alley and Blackhawk Films®, offers fans new and old the rar...

They Won't Believe Me
1947
On trial for murdering his girlfriend, philandering stockbroker Larry Ballentine takes the stand to claim his innocence and describe the actual, but i...

Cabin in the Sky
1943
as Soloist in 'Little Black Sheep' (uncredited)
When compulsive gambler Little Joe Jackson dies in a drunken fight, he awakens in purgatory, where he learns that he will be sent back to Earth for si...
Thundering Taxis
1933
as Salesman
Rival Taxi Companies compete for business and make a slapstick mess of everything.

The Music Box
1932
as Piano Salesman (uncredited)
The Laurel & Hardy Moving Co. have a challenging job on their hands (and backs): hauling a player piano up a monumental flight of stairs to Prof. von ...

Helping Grandma
1931
as Billy
The kids' adopted grandma decides to sell her store, but can't decide whom to sell it to. The kids try to help her out.

Double Whoopee
1929
as Hotel manager
Stan and Ollie wreak havoc at an upper class hotel in their jobs as footman (Hardy) and doorman (Laurel). They partially undress blonde bombshell Jean...

Wrong Again
1929
as Horse owner
Stable hands Stan and Ollie are tending a thoroughbred named "Blue Boy." But when they overhear two men talking about a $5000 reward for the return of...

Horse Shy
1928
as Gillroy Gibbs
Despite his fear of horses, Eddie Hamilton takes part in a fox hunt, in order to impress the daughter of his host, Colonel Calhoun.

Exit Smiling
1926
as Jack Hastings (uncredited)
The travails of a third-rate traveling theatre company and its wardrobe lady / maid who dreams of stepping in as their melodramatic production's (Fla...

Bromo and Juliet
1926
as The Great Brandenburg - Stage Magician (uncredited)
A young man puts on the play "Romeo and Juliet" as a fundraiser, but has to keep a close eye on his dad, who's had several drinks too many, and a pesk...

Madame Mystery
1926
A female secret agent has gotten ahold of a new type of explosive gas. She has to avoid the efforts of two men who are trying to steal it. They succee...

Wandering Papas
1926
as Construction Worker (uncredited)
A cook for bridge constructors is told to collect food for dinner-Ritz style trout, Palmer house rabbit and a 15cm frosted cake. He sets off into the ...

Should Sailors Marry?
1925
as Train Passenger

Moonlight and Noses
1925
Two burglars break into the home of an eccentric doctor. The doctor catches them, but offers to let them go free -- and give them a thousand dollars -...

Your Own Back Yard
1925
as Man in Quarrelsome Couple
Your Own Back Yard is a 1925 American short silent comedy film directed by Robert F. McGowan. It was the 43rd Our Gang short subject released. Farina...

Innocent Husbands
1925
as The Bachelor
Despite his faithfulness, Melvin is always under suspicion by wife Mame. Complications erupt when a woman from a party across the hall passes out in M...
Sherlock Sleuth
1925
as Haughty Guest
House detective of the Hotel Omigosh, Cyril Fromage and his hotel switchboard operator sweetheart attempt to thwart a dastardly thief, "The Weasel," w...

Chasing the Chaser
1925
as Salesman
A very good as a faithful husband, whose wife is looking for proof that more than his eyes have been roving. She hires a private detective to provide ...

Sure-Mike!
1925
as The New Manager
Vermuda, a saleswoman in a department store, is very late for work. She relies on a ruse to fool the floorwalker, and when that doesn't work, she reli...

Is Marriage the Bunk?
1925
as Patent medicine salesman
Charley has in-laws that look down on him because he's not rich. So, to try to keep up, he rushes out to buy a car--but no matter, they still think he...

The Rat's Knuckles
1925
as Jimmy's rival
Charley Chase is a hapless inventor with a better mouse trap in this silent comedy from 1925.
The Goofy Age
1924
The hero's loved one is threatened with marriage with a rival, due to the machinations of her mother. The simplest solution of the situation is to mar...

The Poor Fish
1924
Charley, frustrated by his office job, quarrels with his wife, after which they decide to switch jobs. She goes to the office and Charley does the hou...

Why Men Work
1924
A movie cameraman is on the lookout for new material but a rival plans to copy everything he films.

Wide Open Spaces
1924
Wide Open Spaces is a 1924 Western silent film starring Stan Laurel.

Brothers Under the Chin
1924
Twin "babies" left at an orphanage bear the same birthmark under the chin. One of them is adopted and then the scene shifts to "twenty years later." T...

Zeb vs. Paprika
1924
Stan Laurel as a harness racing jockey who must win a big race.

Postage Due
1924
as C.W. Lyons - Chief Postal inspector
Stan does his best to recover a post-card, which he has forgotten to stamp. He attempts the recovery after hearing a remark by a postal inspector that...
The Cowboy Sheik
1924
as Fiddler at party
A shy cowboy is interested in the local school teacher, but must compete with a bully for her attention.

Smithy
1924
as The Boss
After being discharged from the 372nd infantry, on account of a bean shortage, smithy seeks employment. He finds a job on a construction site, where h...

All Wet
1924
as Other Driver
Charley Chase has car trouble.
It's a Joy!
1923
as Movie Actor
'Snub' Pollard as a eccentric movie director.
Fully Insured
1923
as The Boss
A Hal Roach comedy starring 'Snub' Pollard and James Finlayson.

Scorching Sands
1923
as French officer
The misadventures of two intrepid explorers in the Egyptian desert.
Dear Ol' Pal
1923
as Ebben Tizzle
Two lifelong friends vie for the affection of the same woman.

It's a Gift
1923
as Weller Pump, oil executive
A group of oil magnates are trying to think of new ways to attract business. One of them suggests that they contact the inventor Pollard, who has devi...

Why Worry?
1923
as Ship's Officer (uncredited)
A hypochondriac vacations in the tropics for the fresh air - and finds himself in the middle of a revolution instead.

Her Dangerous Path
1923
as John Dryden
Her Dangerous Path
The Green Cat
1923
as Fire Insurance Salesman
Snub is determined to make his new restaurant, The Green Cat, a success---no matter what it takes.

Dogs of War!
1923
as Director of 'Should Husbands Work?'
The gang wages war using old vegetables as munitions. Later, they ruin a movie in progress when they double-expose the film.

Pick and Shovel
1923
as The Boss
Pick and Shovel, also known as The Miner, is a 1923 silent comedy film starring Stan Laurel.

Under Two Jags
1923
Stan is in the company of ladies in this film. He is serving in the military with female officers, but there is also a demure lady who wins his affect...

Sold at Auction
1923
as Aviator with False Teeth
This Hal Roach comedy short I found on the "American Slapstick" DVD collection of rare silent comedies starts bizarre and has an anything goes-quality...

White Wings
1923
Pursued by the law, a street cleaner finds refuge by impersonating a dentist.

Safety Last!
1923
as General Manager's Assistant (uncredited)
When a store clerk organizes a contest to climb the outside of a tall building, circumstances force him to make the perilous climb himself.

Dr. Jack
1922
as Card Player (uncredited)
Country doctor Jack Jackson is called in to treat the Sick-Little-Well-Girl, who has been making Dr. Saulsbourg and his sanitarium very rich after yea...

Shine 'Em Up
1922
as Prison guard
Paul's career as a shoeshine man is interrupted when he is mistaken for an escaped convict, but after the Station Master gives him a job at the train ...
The Dumb-Bell
1922
as Abe Silverstein - Film producer
The owners of a movie studio are having problems with a temperamental director, and they promise an actor on one of his pictures that he can have the ...
The Sleuth
1922
as The Prince
Paul Parrott stars as a detective in a hotel trying to recognize a fake sheik
Punch the Clock
1922
Eddie suspects his wife of having an affair with Snub. Snub, meanwhile, just wants to get to work on time.

Do Me a Favor
1922
as A Fireman
Marie's inebriated husband refuses to go to bed, so she asks Snub, a homeless man she finds sleeping in the park, to assist.
Pardon Me
1922
Snub puts over some amusing hokum in his efforts to be arrested.
On Location
1921
Snub is an street sweeper with OCD, living in a neighborhood full of fussy people. He is sweeping the street when he anticipates a cop who is about to...

Fifteen Minutes
1921
While his wife is shopping, Snub attempts to take a fifteen minute break.

Never Weaken
1921
as The Doctor (uncredited)
Our hero is infatuated with a girl in the next office. In order to drum up business for her boss, an osteopath, he gets an actor friend to pretend inj...

Dodge Your Debts
1921
as Pub Patron
A top-hatted bill collector is given the unenviable assignment of collecting the debts of a bad-tempered innkeeper.

I Do
1921
as Brother-in-Law (uncredited)
Comic adventures of newlyweds and children.

Among Those Present
1921
as Hard-Boiled Party
An ambitious coat-room checker impersonates an English nobleman.

Now or Never
1921
as The Child's Daddy (uncredited)
A young man, unaccustomed to children, must accompany a young girl on a train trip.

Number, Please?
1920
as Cop (uncredited)
While at an amusement park, trying vainly to forget the girl he has lost, a young man sees the girl with her new boyfriend. When her dog gets loose in...

Get Out and Get Under
1920
as Dope Fiend (uncredited)
The comic adventures of a new car owner.

Run 'Em Ragged
1920
Run ’Em Ragged, Snub Pollard’s 39th starring vehicle, uses familiar slapstick-- Over-the-top make-up, ethnic humor, and a chase across Los Angeles’s E...

High and Dizzy
1920
as (uncredited)
A tipsy doctor encounters his patient sleepwalking on a building ledge, high above the street.
Any Old Port
1920
Captain Dandy (Snub Pollard) is about to sail and arrives on the dock where several women take turns to individually say goodbye to him (the last one ...

Haunted Spooks
1920
as The Lawyer (uncredited)
After numerous failed attempts to commit suicide, our hero (Lloyd) runs into a lawyer who is looking for a stooge to stand in as a groom in order to s...
Raise the Rent
1920
Snub and his wife give up their bungalow and allow another couple to move in. Then it develops that they can't find another home, and must live in an ...

His Royal Slyness
1920
as Courtier
A young adventurer trades places with a European prince and falls in love above his station.

The Dippy Dentist
1920
as Cop
The film begins with a girl who is supposedly irresistible to all men. Several guys all come to her to pledge their undying love--including Harold Llo...
Looking for Trouble
1919
as Undertaker
Snub plays a rich guy who wants to impress the ladies with his virility. So he pays a tough boxer to take a dive in a staged fight, though the fight d...

Next Aisle Over
1919
as (uncredited)
A salesman takes a job at a department store to impress a girl and winds up stopping a kidnapping.

Do You Love Your Wife?
1919
as Elmer - the faithless husband
Stan plays a janitor at a hotel dropping letters and trying to retrieve them with a vacuum, getting wet, helping a lady shoot her cheating husband and...

Take a Chance
1918
It's a classic boy-meets-girl story, boy-loses-girl, boy gets mistaken for an escaped convict and ruthlessly chased by armies of cops across the count...

Bees in His Bonnet
1918
Bees in His Bonnet is a 1918 American short comedy film featuring Harold Lloyd. It is presumed to be lost.

Bride and Gloom
1918
A short film starring Harold Lloyd.

That's Him
1918
Our newlywed hero is about to embark on a journey when he realizes that he has lost the train tickets. A crook knocks him down and switches clothes wi...

An Ozark Romance
1918
Harold visits the Ozarks, where he has some funny experiences with a mountain girl and her eccentric family.

Somewhere in Turkey
1918
Our hero, a professor in Turkey, challenges a Sultan for the affections of a girl.

The City Slicker
1918
Our hero gets a job at a hotel in the country and proceeds to introduce some changes, installing gadgets and time-saving devices.

Hey There
1918
as Actor
In this early short Harold Lloyd sneaks into a movie studio in order to locate an attractive young lady he's just met at a snack bar. He's retrieved a...

It's a Wild Life
1918
as Band leader
Harold invades the "Gilded Guzzle" café, where he appropriates a lady's roll of money, hides under a table and impersonates a cigar store Indian.

Pipe the Whiskers
1918
Our hero is a janitor in a old age rest home who actually runs the place.
Let's Go
1918
A short film starring Harold Lloyd.

Here Come the Girls
1918
Bebe and girlfriend go shopping for new corsets. Harold sneaks into the corset shop and a customer asks him to take her measurements - a ticklish task...

Look Pleasant, Please
1918
as The Photographer (uncredited)
A photo studio operator seems only interested in flirting with women. Hilarity ensues.

A Gasoline Wedding
1918
A rich man's daughter has more suitors than she's interested in, and he's going to marry her off -- even if she doesn't know about it.

Beat It
1918
Harold Lloyd starred in the successful Lonesome Luke series. However, he soon grew tired of the obvious Charlie Chaplin imitation. In an attempt to re...
The Tip
1918
A short film starring Harold Lloyd.

Step Lively
1917
Snub Pollard plays a drunken man-about-town who believes Harold has robbed him. Meanwhile, Bebe has her hands full with a lounge lizard who won't take...

Bashful
1917
In order to claim his inheritance, our hero must first produce a wife and family.

Move On
1917
Our hero is a police officer who gets involved in a crap game, flirting with a nurse and other amusements.

The Flirt
1917
A man takes a job in a café, hoping to get to know the pretty waitress working there.

Bliss
1917
as Cop / Violinist
A counterfeit count is aided in his courtship of the heroine by her father who is overwhelmed by his "title."

The Immigrant
1917
as Violinist (uncredited)
A European immigrant endures a challenging voyage only to get into trouble as soon as he arrives in New York.

The Cure
1917
as Patient (uncredited)
An alcoholic checks into a health spa and his antics promptly throw the establishment into chaos.