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