Claude Gillingwater

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.

He proved to be an excellent crabapple foil for 20th Century-Fox moppet star Shirley Temple in Poor Little Rich Girl (1936) and subsequently appeared in two more of her pictures - Just Around the Corner (1938) and Little Miss Broadway (1938). Gillingwater played a few more curmudgeons in his last years but this period of time was to be marked by acute sadness and physical/mental hardship.

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.

Some of his more distinctive parts came with the films A Tale of Two Cities (1935) (as Jarvis Lorry), Mississippi (1935) and The Prisoner of Shark Island (1936).

He was represented in the 1930s by the Hallam Cooley Agency and S. George Ullman.

A founding member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (1927), he advanced into the talking era of films with equal verve, although his roles were, more often than not, token grouches.

Nilsson in Winds of Chance (1925), and Colleen Moore in Oh Kay! (1928). Sometimes his character's names reflected his curt, stern image -- names such as John P. Grout, Lord Storm and Simon Peck.

A rash of leading/co-starring roles came with the immediate impact of this single success, including Crinoline and Romance (1923) with Viola Dana, Alice Adams (1923) with Florence Vidor, Dulcy (1923) with Constance Talmadge, and Three Wise Fools (1923) with Eleanor Boardman.

This disagreeable typecast began to assert itself with his second movie three years later as the grumbling, icy-souled Earl of Dorincourt whose grandson helps reveal his tenderer side in Little Lord Fauntleroy (1921), which starred America's sweetheart Mary Pickford in a dual role.

More than not, however, he was supporting the Hollywood elite such as kid star Jackie Coogan in My Boy (1921), Richard Dix in Fools First (1922) and The Christian (1923), 'Leonore Ulric' in Tiger Rose (1923), Alla Nazimova in Madonna of the Streets (1924), Ronald Colman in A Thief in Paradise (1925), Anna Q.

1918 was a banner year for Gillingwater for he not only appeared in the hit Broadway show "Three Wise Fools," but also made his silent film debut in support of Gladys Leslie and Richard Barthelmess in Wild Primrose (1918).

The last film mentioned gave him the opportunity to repeat his 1918 Broadway triumph.

Gillingwater proceeded strongly on the Broadway stage beginning with a melodramatic role in "A Young Wife" (1899). This led to a well-received series of parts for the next full decade in New York ranging from high drama ("Madame Butterfly", "Du Barry") to operettas ("Mlle. Modiste," "The Old Town," "The Girl in the Train") to original works ("The Only Son," "The New Secretary").

Born Claude Benton Gillingwater on August 2, 1879, in the small Mississippi River town of Louisiana, Missouri, he was the son of James E. and Lucy (Hunter) Gillingwater and attended St. Louis High School. For a time he was an apprentice to a lawyer uncle, but he eventually left home and joined a traveling stock company. Gradually building up his nascent career on the stage, he was discovered by theater impresario David Belasco.