Claude Gillingwater

Claude Gillingwater

1870-08-01 Louisiana, Missouri, USA 87 Credits

Biography

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 silve...

Known For

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Complete Filmography

Cafe Society

Cafe Society

1939

as Old Christopher West

6.0
Acting

A pampered heiress (Madeleine Carroll) elopes with a shipboard reporter (Fred MacMurray) just to get her name in a society column.

Just Around the Corner

Just Around the Corner

1938

as Samuel G. Henshaw

5.5
Acting

Penny helps her idealistic architect father get his dream of a slum clearance project; The little miss dances with Corporal Jones.

There Goes My Heart

There Goes My Heart

1938

as Cyrus W. Butterfield

7.1
Acting

An heiress takes a job as a department store clerk.

Little Miss Broadway

Little Miss Broadway

1938

as Judge

6.5
Acting

An orphan is provisionally adopted by the manager of a hotel populated by show business people. The hotel's owner doesn't like the entertainers and wa...

A Yank at Oxford

A Yank at Oxford

1938

as Ben Dalton

6.7
Acting

A brash young American aristocrat attending Oxford University gets a chance to prove himself and win the heart of his antagonist's sister.

Conquest

Conquest

1937

as Stephan

6.5
Acting

A Polish countess is dispatched by her country to become Napoleon Bonaparte's mistress at the urging of Polish leaders, who feel she might influence h...

Top of the Town

Top of the Town

1937

as William Borden

5.2
Acting

In this musical set in swingin' Manhattan, an heiress plans a ballet in the famous Moonbeam ballroom located atop a 100-story skyscraper. Unfortunatel...

Can This Be Dixie?

Can This Be Dixie?

1936

as Col. Robert Peachtree

Acting

A young girl and her uncle who run a traveling medicine show lend their efforts to salvage an old plantation.

Wives Never Know

Wives Never Know

1936

as Mr. Gossamer

Acting

The blissful marriage of Homer and Marcia Bigelow is disrupted when Marcia hosts a party for one J. Hugh Ramsay, author of the bestselling book, "Marr...

Poor Little Rich Girl

Poor Little Rich Girl

1936

as Simon Peck

6.6
Acting

Cossetted and bored, Barbara Barry is finally sent off to school by her busy if doting widowed soap manufacturer father. When her nurse is injured en ...

Ticket to Paradise

Ticket to Paradise

1936

as Robert Forbes

6.0
Acting

A man on his way to closing a million dollar deal has an accident and gets amnesia.

Counterfeit

Counterfeit

1936

as Tom Perkins

6.0
Acting

A cop goes undercover to infiltrate and break up a counterfeiting ring.

Florida Special

Florida Special

1936

as Simeon Stafford

6.0
Acting

A Florida-bound train is filled with romance and intrigue when one of the passengers disappears while carrying $11-million in unset jewels.

The Prisoner of Shark Island

The Prisoner of Shark Island

1936

as Colonel Dyer

6.9
Acting

After healing the leg of the murderer John Wilkes Booth, responsible for the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, perpetrated on April 14, 1865...

A Tale of Two Cities

A Tale of Two Cities

1935

as Jarvis Lorry

6.8
Acting

Set against the conditions leading up to the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror, French doctor Alexandre Manette serves an 18-year imprisonment...

Together We Live

Together We Live

1935

as Dick

Acting

A ham-handed cautionary fable against communism, the film concerns a group of Civil War veterans who are appalled by the burgeoning radical movement i...

Calm Yourself

Calm Yourself

1935

as Col. Allenby

4.5
Acting

A recently-fired advertising executive starts his own company, Confidential Services, to help clients solve their unusual and problematic situations.

Baby Face Harrington

Baby Face Harrington

1935

as Colton

4.8
Acting

Thanks to a series of comic mishaps, a timid, small-town office clerk finds himself wanted by the police and labeled by the media as "Public Enemy No....

Mississippi

Mississippi

1935

as General Rumford

6.7
Acting

A young pacifist after refusing on principle to defend her sweetheart's honor and being banished in disgrace, joins a riverboat troupe as a singer, ac...

The Woman in Red

The Woman in Red

1935

as Grandpa Wyatt

6.0
Acting

A professional jockey struggles to fit in with her new husband's upper-crust Long Island family in this horsy-set drama.

Strange Wives

Strange Wives

1934

as Guggins

Acting

When a young man marries a Russian girl, he finds that he has "married" her entire family.

The Captain Hates the Sea

The Captain Hates the Sea

1934

as Judge Griswold

6.5
Acting

Alcoholic newspaperman Steve Bramley boards the San Capador for a restful cruise, hoping to quit drinking and begin writing a book. Also on board are ...

Green Eyes

Green Eyes

1934

as Steven Kester

5.2
Acting

The owner of a large mansion in the country throws a costume party for some of his friends. However, the party turns sour when he is found stabbed to ...

In Love with Life

In Love with Life

1934

as Morley

5.0
Acting

Professor John Sylvestus Applegate has been dismissed from his college teaching position for objecting too loudly to the predominant part that footbal...

Unknown Blonde

Unknown Blonde

1934

as Papa Van Brunt, Sr.

1.0
Acting

An unprincipled hustler who makes his living getting--or making up--evidence in divorce cases finds that he's framing his own daughter.

City Limits

City Limits

1934

as Tom Oliver

4.0
Acting

The wealthy president of a big railroad, who's beginning to crumble under the combined pressure of business, personal and physical problems, meets up ...

The Show-Off

The Show-Off

1934

as J.B. Preston

5.7
Acting

Aubrey cons Amy into thinking he's a railroad bigwig. When he loses his job he takes one wearing a sandwich board. After he helps Joe sell his patent ...

You Can't Buy Everything

You Can't Buy Everything

1934

as Asa Cabot - Banker

7.0
Acting

A scorned woman dreams of revenge on the man who betrayed her.

Before Midnight

Before Midnight

1933

as John Fry

4.6
Acting

A detective tries to figure out who killed a man who predicted his own death.

Back Page

Back Page

1933

as Sam Webster

6.4
Acting

A former New York reporter (Peggy Shannon) is hired as editor of a failing, small town newspaper in California.

I Loved a Woman

I Loved a Woman

1933

as Banker (uncredited)

4.8
Acting

The son of a ruthless meatpacking king goes through a number of changes in ideals and motivations as he reluctantly inherits the mantle and falls in l...

Skyway

Skyway

1933

as John Beaumont

5.2
Acting

A cocky young pilot, at the urging of his girlfriend, takes a nice, "safe" job at the bank where her father is president.

The Avenger

The Avenger

1933

as Witt

6.0
Acting

A disgraced former District Attorney plots his revenge on the members of a criminal gang who had him framed and sent to prison.

Ann Carver's Profession

Ann Carver's Profession

1933

as Bingham

6.3
Acting

Newlyweds experience marital problems when the wife's highly successful job as an attorney overshadows her husband's stagnant career.

Tess of the Storm Country

Tess of the Storm Country

1932

as Frederick Garfield Sr

6.0
Acting

When Captain Howland decides that his daughter Tess is getting a bit to old to continue to go to sea with him, they move into a small cottage on the c...

Running Hollywood

1932

as Claude Gillingwater

Acting

Running Hollywood is a comedy short.

The Wide Open Spaces

1931

as Judge

Acting

A Wild West spoof by The Masquers Comedy Club of Hollywood.

Compromised

Compromised

1931

as John Brock

1.0
Acting

Poor working-class girl Stella marries wealthy Sidney Brock, recently jilted by his fiancée and social equal Connie. The two go through contentious ti...

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

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

1931

Acting

Bobby Jones teaches an angry old man how to use the Brassie, while simultaneously freeing his daughter from his oppressive clutches.

Gold Dust Gertie

Gold Dust Gertie

1931

as John Aberdeen Arnold

3.0
Acting

Early 30s pre-code comedy about a woman attempting to get her two ex-husbands to pay back alimony.

Daddy Long Legs

Daddy Long Legs

1931

as Riggs

4.0
Acting

Wealthy Jervis Pendleton acts as benefactor for orphan Judy Abbott, anonymously sponsoring her in her boarding school. But as she grows up, he finds h...

The Conquering Horde

The Conquering Horde

1931

as Jim Nabours

5.0
Acting

Not long after the Civil War, Texas cattle ranchers realize they have a problem--the Union Pacific railroad is bypassing their state and make it near ...

Illicit

Illicit

1931

as Richard Ives Sr.

5.8
Acting

Ann, a young woman with outrageously advanced ideas, has been living in sin with Dick, her lover, because of her conviction that marriage would destro...

Kiss Me Again

Kiss Me Again

1931

as Count de St. Cyr

6.0
Acting

An officer of the French Military is in love with a shop girl, but his aristocratic father wants him to marry in his class and convinces the girl that...

The Flirting Widow

The Flirting Widow

1930

as Faraday

4.0
Acting

An older daughter invents a fiancé so that her father will allow her younger sister to marry. However, the lie comes back to haunt her.

Dumb-bells in Ermine

Dumb-bells in Ermine

1930

as Uncle Roger

4.0
Acting

In a small town in Virginia, Faith Corey, daughter of a socially prominent family, meets and falls in love with Jerry Malone, a prizefighter, though h...

Mexicali Rose

Mexicali Rose

1929

as (uncredited)

5.2
Acting

The owner of a border town gambling saloon falls in love with a promiscuous young girl. When she has an affair with another, he tosses her out of town...

So Long Letty

So Long Letty

1929

as Uncle Claude Davis

5.9
Acting

Uncle Claude comes to the Ardmore Beach Hotel to see Tommy and his wife. At the hotel, with his two granddaughters Ruth and Sally, Uncle Claude meets ...

The Great Divide

The Great Divide

1929

as Winthrop Amesbury

4.8
Acting

Stephen Ghent, a mineowner, falls in love with Ruth Jordan, an arrogant girl from the East, unaware that she is the daughter of his dead partner. Ruth...

Smiling Irish Eyes

Smiling Irish Eyes

1929

as Michael O'Connor

Acting

A pretty, young violinist who travels from Ireland to America to seek fame and fortune on Broadway finds a bit more than she expected. A lost film.

Glad Rag Doll

Glad Rag Doll

1929

as Sam Underlane

Acting

She sought to conquer...but found Cupid her master! This is one of many lost films of the 1920s, no prints or Vitaphone discs survive, but the song w...

Stolen Kisses

Stolen Kisses

1929

as H.A. Lambert Sr.

5.0
Acting

A crotchety old coot wants his son and daughter-in-law to have kids so he can have grandchildren, but so far they haven't done so. In a somewhat ham-h...

Stark Mad

Stark Mad

1929

as James Rutherford - Expedition Leader

3.0
Acting

An expedition sets out through the jungle to find a missing explorer, but stumbles upon an ancient Mayan temple that houses a giant ape.

Oh Kay!

Oh Kay!

1928

as Judge Appleton

Acting

On the eve of her wedding Lady Kay Rutfield runs off aboard her sloop. A storm carries her out to sea and she is rescued by a passing rumrunner bound ...

Women They Talk About

Women They Talk About

1928

as Grandfather Mervin

Acting

Women They Talk About is a part-talkie Vitaphone film, with talking, music and sound effects sequences, starring Irene Rich, directed by Lloyd Bacon a...

Husbands for Rent

Husbands for Rent

1927

as Sir Reginald Knight

Acting

A newlywed couple, after six months of marriage, decides that they've made a mistake and plan to divorce. Her father, however, has other ideas and hat...

The Gorilla

The Gorilla

1927

as Cyrus Townsend

Acting

An ape is suspected of committing a series of murders.

Barbed Wire

Barbed Wire

1927

as Jean Moreau

6.2
Acting

During WWI, a French farm girl and a German P.O.W. fall in love.

Naughty But Nice

Naughty But Nice

1927

as Judge J. R. Altewood

Acting

Naughty But Nice was based on The Bigamists, a story by Lewis Alen Brown. Gawky country girl Berenice Summers (Colleen Moore) is catapulted head-first...

Fast and Furious

Fast and Furious

1927

as Smithfield

1.0
Acting

When Tom Brown, a wealthy young bachelor with a reckless penchant for speed, wrecks his car in an accident, he is assisted by Mr. Smithfield… When he ...

45 Minutes from Hollywood

45 Minutes from Hollywood

1926

as Old Man in Hotel Bed (uncredited)

5.2
Acting

A young man visiting Hollywood on family business gets into trouble when he sees a bank robbery in progress, and thinks it is a movie scene.

Into Her Kingdom

Into Her Kingdom

1926

as Ivan

Acting

In Czarist Russia, a young peasant boy is sent to Siberia for insulting the Grand Duchess. Released years later, he joins the fighting to overthrow th...

That's My Baby

1926

as John Raynor

Acting

On the eve of his wedding, businessman Alan Boyd gets a telegram notifying him that his "bride" has fallen in love with another man and eloped with hi...

Wages for Wives

Wages for Wives

1925

as Jim Bailey

Acting

Nell Bailey, taking a lesson from the married lives of her sister, Luella Logan, and her mother, agrees to marry Danny Kester provided that he will sp...

We Moderns

We Moderns

1925

as Sir Robert Sundale

Acting

Mary Sundale is a young woman who spurns her childhood sweetheart to attach herself to a large group of riotous, semi-artistic young people and become...

Seven Sinners

Seven Sinners

1925

as Pious Joe McDowell

6.0
Acting

Six burglars separately break into the Vickers mansion on Long Island to loot the safe but catch each other in the act. They all pretend to be members...

Winds of Chance

Winds of Chance

1925

as Tom Linton

4.8
Acting

A love triangle set against the turn-of-the-century gold rush.

A Thief in Paradise

A Thief in Paradise

1925

as Noel Jardine

6.0
Acting

Years of failure and bad luck have made Maurice Blake a beachcomber on an island in the Samoas, earning a precarious living by diving for pearls with ...

Cheaper to Marry

Cheaper to Marry

1925

as Riddle

Acting

Dick Tyler is the junior partner in the law firm of Knight and Tyler. He tries to convince his partner, Jim Tyler, than it's cheaper to be married tha...

Idle Tongues

Idle Tongues

1924

as Judge Daniel Webster Copeland

Acting

After serving 5 years in prison for embezzling church funds, Dr. Ephraim Nye returns to Ostable and the scornful gossip of its residents, led by Althe...

Madonna of the Streets

Madonna of the Streets

1924

as Lord Patrington

Acting

Rev. John Morton, who is determined to follow as closely as possible the teachings of Jesus, inherits a considerable fortune when his uncle dies. Shor...

How to Educate a Wife

How to Educate a Wife

1924

as Henry Bancks

Acting

Business failure Ernest Todd is advised by his friend, Billy Breese, to enlist his wife's charms as a means of winning customers.

Daddies

Daddies

1924

as James Crockett

5.0
Acting

A group of confirmed bachelors finds their informal "anti-matrimony club" turned into a home for adopted orphans when six orphaned children are sudden...

Tiger Rose

Tiger Rose

1923

as Hector McCollins

4.5
Acting

Originally a Broadway play by Willard Macks, Lenore Ulric played the lead on Broadway and reprises her role for this film. At the Wutchi Wum trading p...

A Chapter in Her Life

A Chapter in Her Life

1923

as Mr. Everingham

5.5
Acting

Jewel stays with her grizzled, angry grandfather while her parents are overseas on business. Family squabbling is brought to heel through love and und...

Dulcy

Dulcy

1923

as Mr. Forbes

Acting

Dulcy, a devoted but scatterbrained bride, tries to improve her absent husband's finances by inviting two of his business prospects to dinner. Though ...

Three Wise Fools

Three Wise Fools

1923

as Theodore Findley

Acting

Sydney Fairchild, the daughter of a woman who was once loved by three bachelors, surprises the men with a visit. Findley, Trumbull, and Gaunt honor th...

Souls for Sale

Souls for Sale

1923

as Self - Celebrity Actor (uncredited)

6.2
Acting

A young woman hits Hollywood, determined to become a star.

Crinoline and Romance

Crinoline and Romance

1923

as Col. Charles E. Cavanaugh

Acting
The Christian

The Christian

1923

as Lord Storm

Acting

Glory Quayle and John Storm, sweethearts since childhood on the Isle of Man, go to London, Glory to become a nurse and John to enter a monastery. Inst...

The Strangers' Banquet

The Strangers' Banquet

1922

as Uncle Sam

Acting

In managing the shipyard inherited from her father, Derith Keogh has considerable labor problems and accedes to the unreasonable demands of John Treve...

Remembrance

Remembrance

1922

as John P. Grout

Acting

Although he graduated from that time-worn university, the college of hard knocks, the tireless efforts of John P. Grout have paid off. He owns a numbe...

The Dust Flower

The Dust Flower

1922

Acting

Trying to escape her gloomy existence, Letty attempts suicide but is stopped by Rashleigh Allerton, a millionaire, who asks her to be his wife to spit...

Fools First

Fools First

1922

as Denton Drew

Acting

Tommy Frazer is one of a gang of crooks lead by "Tony the Wop". Frazer gets caught and is sent up the river for three years on a forgery rap. When he ...

My Boy

My Boy

1921

as Captain Bill

5.9
Acting

An orphan escapes immigration officials at Ellis Island and goes to live with an old ship's master who can't find work and can't pay the rent.

Little Lord Fauntleroy

Little Lord Fauntleroy

1921

as Earl of Dorincourt

7.0
Acting

An American boy turns out to be the long-lost heir of a British fortune. He is sent to live with the cold and unsentimental lord who oversees the trus...

Alice Adams

Alice Adams

N/A

as Virgil Adams

Acting

Alice (Florence Vidor) is not satisfied with her family's financial situation and tries to convince others that she comes from a wealthy family. In th...