Gus Schilling
Born June 20, 1908 (Age: 117)
•
New York City, New York, USA
Biography
August "Gus" Schilling (June 20, 1908 - June 16, 1957) was an American actor. August "Gus" Schilling (June 20, 1908 – June 16, 1957) was an American film actor who started in burlesque comedy and usually played nervous comic roles, often unbilled. A friend of Orson Welles, he appeared in five of the director's films — Citizen Kane (first screen performance), The Magnificent Ambersons, The Lady from Shanghai, Macbeth and Touch of Evil (final performance, released posthumously). Born in New York City, Schilling had a rubber face and flustered gestures which made him a natural comedian and he began his career understudying comedy stars Bert Lahr and Joe Penner on Broadway. He soon became a favorite among burlesque comedians, who welcomed him into the burlesque profession. Schilling was in a relationship with burlesque star Betty Rowland and the couple toured in the Minsky burlesque troupe. Orson Welles saw Schilling in New York and followed him to Florida. There Welles hired Schilling to appear in a stage production featuring several Shakespearean scenes. "I learned my part by taking the script to Welles and having him translate the lines to everyday English," Schilling recalled in 1939. Welles promised Schilling a part in Welles's first motion picture, and kept his promise: Schilling is featured in Citizen Kane (1941). This established Schilling in Hollywood movies as a "nervous" comedian (he plays a jittery symphony conductor in Olsen and Johnson's Hellzapoppin', for example). He also co-starred with character comedian Richard Lane in a series of 11 comedy shorts for Columbia Pictures; the series ran from 1945 to 1950.
August "Gus" Schilling (June 20, 1908 - June 16, 1957) was an American actor.
August "Gus" Schilling (June 20, 1908 – June 16, 1957) was an American film actor who started in burlesque comedy and usually played nervous comic roles, often unbilled. A friend of Orson Welles, he appeared in five of the director's films — Citizen Kane (first screen performance), The Magnificent Ambersons, The Lady from Shanghai, Macbeth and Touch of Evil (final performance, released posthumously).
Born in New York City, Schilling had a rubber face and flustered gestures which made him a natural comedian and he began his career understudying comedy stars Bert Lahr and Joe Penner on Broadway. He soon became a favorite among burlesque comedians, who welcomed him into the burlesque profession. Schilling was in a relationship with burlesque star Betty Rowland and the couple toured in the Minsky burlesque troupe.
Orson Welles saw Schilling in New York and followed him to Florida. There Welles hired Schilling to appear in a stage production featuring several Shakespearean scenes. "I learned my part by taking the script to Welles and having him translate the lines to everyday English," Schilling recalled in 1939. Welles promised Schilling a part in Welles's first motion picture, and kept his promise: Schilling is featured in Citizen Kane (1941). This established Schilling in Hollywood movies as a "nervous" comedian (he plays a jittery symphony conductor in Olsen and Johnson's Hellzapoppin', for example). He also co-starred with character comedian Richard Lane in a series of 11 comedy shorts for Columbia Pictures; the series ran from 1945 to 1950.
Read more
Filmography
Touch of Evil
1958
•
as Eddie Farnham (uncredited)
•
Age: 49
Bigger Than Life
1956
•
as Druggist (uncredited)
•
Age: 48
Glory
1956
•
as Joe Page
•
Age: 47
Rebel Without a Cause
1955
•
as Attendant (uncredited)
•
Age: 47
Run for Cover
1955
•
as Doc Ridgeway
•
Age: 46
Executive Suite
1954
•
as Newsstand Vendor (uncredited)
•
Age: 45
She Couldn't Say No
1954
•
as Ed Gruman
•
Age: 45
Hit Parade of 1951
1950
•
as Studio Guide
•
Age: 42
Our Very Own
1950
•
as Frank
•
Age: 42
No Image
High Blood Pleasure
1945
•
as Gus
•
Age: 37
River Gang
1945
•
as Dopey Charlie
•
Age: 37
A Thousand and One Nights
1945
•
as Jafar
•
Age: 37
See My Lawyer
1945
•
as J. Ambrose Winkler aka Winky
•
Age: 36
It's a Pleasure
1945
•
as Bill Evans
•
Age: 36
You Were Never Lovelier
1942
•
as Fernando
•
Age: 34
The Magnificent Ambersons
1942
•
as Drug Clerk (uncredited)
•
Age: 34
There's One Born Every Minute
1942
•
as Professor Asa Quisenberry
•
Age: 34
Broadway
1942
•
as Joe
•
Age: 33
Dr. Kildare's Victory
1942
•
as Leo Cobb
•
Age: 33
Hellzapoppin'
1941
•
as Orchestra Conductor
•
Age: 33
Appointment for Love
1941
•
as Gus
•
Age: 33
It Started with Eve
1941
•
as Raven
•
Age: 33
Ice-Capades
1941
•
as Dave
•
Age: 33
Citizen Kane
1941
•
as John
•
Age: 32
The Penalty
1941
•
as Bank Teller (uncredited)
•
Age: 32
Lucky Devils
1941
•
as Aloysius Grimshaw
•
Age: 32