Gus Schilling

Birthday: 1908-06-20
Deathday: 1957-06-16
Birthplace: New York City, New York, USA
Gender: Male
Owned By: Unowned

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.

Credits

Year Title Character
1958-03-30 Touch of Evil Eddie Farnham (uncredited)
1956-11-20 Bigger Than Life Druggist (uncredited)
1956-01-11 Glory Joe Page
1955-10-27 Rebel Without a Cause Attendant (uncredited)
1955-04-29 Run for Cover Doc Ridgeway
1954-02-15 She Couldn't Say No Ed Gruman
1952-02-22 One Big Affair Mr. Rush
1951-12-13 On Dangerous Ground Lucky
1951-10-20 Honeychile Window Washer
1951-01-02 Gasoline Alley Joe Allen
1950-10-15 Hit Parade of 1951 Studio Guide
1950-07-27 Our Very Own Frank
1949-11-12 Bride for Sale Timothy
1949-05-12 Flung by a Fling Capt. Gus Schilling
1949-01-13 He's in Again Gus
1948-11-01 Angel on the Amazon Dean Hartley
1948-10-26 The Return of October Benny
1948-10-01 Macbeth A Porter
1948-06-10 Pardon My Lamb Chop Gus
1948-02-10 Two Nuts in a Rut Gus Schilling, Lane's assistant
1947-12-24 The Lady from Shanghai Goldfish
1947-08-09 Wedding Belle Gus Schilling
1947-07-03 Training for Trouble Gus Schilling
1947-06-21 Stork Bites Man Hubert Butterfield
1947-01-31 Calendar Girl Eddie Gaskin
1946-09-12 Pardon My Terror Gus
1946-07-25 Hot Water Gus
1946-06-20 Dangerous Business Alexander Pough
1946-06-06 Ain't Love Cuckoo? Gus Schilling
1945-12-06 High Blood Pleasure Gus
1945-09-21 River Gang Dopey Charlie
1945-07-20 A Thousand and One Nights Jafar
1945-03-09 See My Lawyer J. Ambrose Winkler aka Winky
1945-03-03 It's a Pleasure Bill Evans
1944-01-07 Sing a Jingle Bucky
1943-09-10 Larceny with Music Austin J. Caldwell
1943-07-16 Hers to Hold Rosey Blake
1943-04-29 Presenting Lily Mars Scotty - Stage Manager
1943-04-27 Chatterbox Gillie
1943-02-19 The Amazing Mrs. Holliday
1943-01-02 Lady Bodyguard Bughouse Sweeney
1942-11-19 You Were Never Lovelier Fernando
1942-07-10 The Magnificent Ambersons Drug Clerk (uncredited)
1942-06-26 There's One Born Every Minute Professor Asa Quisenberry
1942-05-08 Broadway Joe
1942-02-04 Dr. Kildare's Victory Leo Cobb
1941-12-25 Hellzapoppin' Orchestra Conductor
1941-10-31 Appointment for Love Gus
1941-09-26 It Started with Eve Raven
1941-08-19 Ice-Capades Dave
1941-04-17 Citizen Kane John
1941-03-13 The Penalty Bank Teller (uncredited)
1941-01-03 Lucky Devils Aloysius Grimshaw
1940-11-29 Dr. Kildare's Crisis Orderly Cleaning Window
1940-10-29 Mexican Spitfire Out West Hotel Desk Clark
1940-06-21 Pop Always Pays City Dump Watchman