William Gillespie

William Gillespie

1894-01-23 Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, UK 95 Credits

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

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Complete Filmography

Laurel & Hardy: Year One

Laurel & Hardy: Year One

2023

10.0
Acting

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

They Won't Believe Me

1947

6.6
Acting

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

Cabin in the Sky

1943

as Soloist in 'Little Black Sheep' (uncredited)

6.5
Acting

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

Acting

Rival Taxi Companies compete for business and make a slapstick mess of everything.

The Music Box

The Music Box

1932

as Piano Salesman (uncredited)

7.5
Acting

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

Helping Grandma

1931

as Billy

6.8
Acting

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

Double Whoopee

1929

as Hotel manager

6.7
Acting

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

Wrong Again

1929

as Horse owner

6.6
Acting

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

Horse Shy

1928

as Gillroy Gibbs

7.0
Acting

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

Exit Smiling

1926

as Jack Hastings (uncredited)

7.9
Acting

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

Bromo and Juliet

1926

as The Great Brandenburg - Stage Magician (uncredited)

5.6
Acting

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

Madame Mystery

1926

5.6
Acting

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

Wandering Papas

1926

as Construction Worker (uncredited)

5.1
Acting

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?

Should Sailors Marry?

1925

as Train Passenger

5.4
Acting
Moonlight and Noses

Moonlight and Noses

1925

4.5
Acting

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

Your Own Back Yard

1925

as Man in Quarrelsome Couple

5.8
Acting

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

Innocent Husbands

1925

as The Bachelor

6.2
Acting

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

Acting

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

Chasing the Chaser

1925

as Salesman

6.0
Acting

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!

Sure-Mike!

1925

as The New Manager

Acting

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?

Is Marriage the Bunk?

1925

as Patent medicine salesman

5.0
Acting

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

The Rat's Knuckles

1925

as Jimmy's rival

6.8
Acting

Charley Chase is a hapless inventor with a better mouse trap in this silent comedy from 1925.

The Goofy Age

1924

Acting

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

The Poor Fish

1924

5.0
Acting

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

Why Men Work

1924

Acting

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

Wide Open Spaces

Wide Open Spaces

1924

5.0
Acting

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

Brothers Under the Chin

Brothers Under the Chin

1924

5.5
Acting

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

Zeb vs. Paprika

1924

5.5
Acting

Stan Laurel as a harness racing jockey who must win a big race.

Postage Due

Postage Due

1924

as C.W. Lyons - Chief Postal inspector

5.3
Acting

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

5.0
Acting

A shy cowboy is interested in the local school teacher, but must compete with a bully for her attention.

Smithy

Smithy

1924

as The Boss

5.2
Acting

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

All Wet

1924

as Other Driver

5.2
Acting

Charley Chase has car trouble.

It's a Joy!

1923

as Movie Actor

Acting

'Snub' Pollard as a eccentric movie director.

Fully Insured

1923

as The Boss

5.0
Acting

A Hal Roach comedy starring 'Snub' Pollard and James Finlayson.

Scorching Sands

Scorching Sands

1923

as French officer

5.4
Acting

The misadventures of two intrepid explorers in the Egyptian desert.

Dear Ol' Pal

1923

as Ebben Tizzle

Acting

Two lifelong friends vie for the affection of the same woman.

It's a Gift

It's a Gift

1923

as Weller Pump, oil executive

6.0
Acting

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?

Why Worry?

1923

as Ship's Officer (uncredited)

6.5
Acting

A hypochondriac vacations in the tropics for the fresh air - and finds himself in the middle of a revolution instead.

Her Dangerous Path

Her Dangerous Path

1923

as John Dryden

Acting

Her Dangerous Path

The Green Cat

1923

as Fire Insurance Salesman

Acting

Snub is determined to make his new restaurant, The Green Cat, a success---no matter what it takes.

Dogs of War!

Dogs of War!

1923

as Director of 'Should Husbands Work?'

5.5
Acting

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

Pick and Shovel

1923

as The Boss

6.0
Acting

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

Under Two Jags

Under Two Jags

1923

5.0
Acting

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

Sold at Auction

1923

as Aviator with False Teeth

4.5
Acting

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

White Wings

1923

6.7
Acting

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

Safety Last!

Safety Last!

1923

as General Manager's Assistant (uncredited)

7.7
Acting

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

Dr. Jack

1922

as Card Player (uncredited)

6.8
Acting

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

Shine 'Em Up

1922

as Prison guard

5.0
Acting

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

6.0
Acting

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

Acting

Paul Parrott stars as a detective in a hotel trying to recognize a fake sheik

Punch the Clock

1922

5.0
Acting

Eddie suspects his wife of having an affair with Snub. Snub, meanwhile, just wants to get to work on time.

Do Me a Favor

Do Me a Favor

1922

as A Fireman

5.0
Acting

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

Acting

Snub puts over some amusing hokum in his efforts to be arrested.

On Location

1921

Acting

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

Fifteen Minutes

1921

5.0
Acting

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

Never Weaken

Never Weaken

1921

as The Doctor (uncredited)

6.7
Acting

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

Dodge Your Debts

1921

as Pub Patron

7.5
Acting

A top-hatted bill collector is given the unenviable assignment of collecting the debts of a bad-tempered innkeeper.

I Do

I Do

1921

as Brother-in-Law (uncredited)

5.8
Acting

Comic adventures of newlyweds and children.

Among Those Present

Among Those Present

1921

as Hard-Boiled Party

5.8
Acting

An ambitious coat-room checker impersonates an English nobleman.

Now or Never

Now or Never

1921

as The Child's Daddy (uncredited)

6.1
Acting

A young man, unaccustomed to children, must accompany a young girl on a train trip.

Number, Please?

Number, Please?

1920

as Cop (uncredited)

6.6
Acting

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

Get Out and Get Under

1920

as Dope Fiend (uncredited)

6.3
Acting

The comic adventures of a new car owner.

Run 'Em Ragged

Run 'Em Ragged

1920

5.0
Acting

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

High and Dizzy

1920

as (uncredited)

6.6
Acting

A tipsy doctor encounters his patient sleepwalking on a building ledge, high above the street.

Any Old Port

1920

Acting

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

Haunted Spooks

1920

as The Lawyer (uncredited)

6.3
Acting

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

5.0
Acting

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

His Royal Slyness

1920

as Courtier

5.8
Acting

A young adventurer trades places with a European prince and falls in love above his station.

The Dippy Dentist

The Dippy Dentist

1920

as Cop

5.2
Acting

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

5.2
Acting

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

Next Aisle Over

1919

as (uncredited)

5.4
Acting

A salesman takes a job at a department store to impress a girl and winds up stopping a kidnapping.

Do You Love Your Wife?

Do You Love Your Wife?

1919

as Elmer - the faithless husband

5.7
Acting

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

Take a Chance

1918

6.0
Acting

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

Bees in His Bonnet

1918

Acting

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

Bride and Gloom

Bride and Gloom

1918

Acting

A short film starring Harold Lloyd.

That's Him

That's Him

1918

5.0
Acting

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

An Ozark Romance

1918

Acting

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

Somewhere in Turkey

Somewhere in Turkey

1918

6.0
Acting

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

The City Slicker

The City Slicker

1918

5.0
Acting

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

Hey There

1918

as Actor

6.9
Acting

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

It's a Wild Life

1918

as Band leader

5.0
Acting

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

Pipe the Whiskers

1918

5.0
Acting

Our hero is a janitor in a old age rest home who actually runs the place.

Let's Go

1918

Acting

A short film starring Harold Lloyd.

Here Come the Girls

Here Come the Girls

1918

2.0
Acting

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

Look Pleasant, Please

1918

as The Photographer (uncredited)

5.0
Acting

A photo studio operator seems only interested in flirting with women. Hilarity ensues.

A Gasoline Wedding

A Gasoline Wedding

1918

5.3
Acting

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

Beat It

1918

Acting

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

Acting

A short film starring Harold Lloyd.

Step Lively

Step Lively

1917

4.6
Acting

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

Bashful

1917

6.9
Acting

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

Move On

Move On

1917

4.5
Acting

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

The Flirt

The Flirt

1917

4.2
Acting

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

Bliss

Bliss

1917

as Cop / Violinist

4.3
Acting

A counterfeit count is aided in his courtship of the heroine by her father who is overwhelmed by his "title."

The Immigrant

The Immigrant

1917

as Violinist (uncredited)

7.3
Acting

A European immigrant endures a challenging voyage only to get into trouble as soon as he arrives in New York.

The Cure

The Cure

1917

as Patient (uncredited)

6.8
Acting

An alcoholic checks into a health spa and his antics promptly throw the establishment into chaos.