
Gus Schilling
Personal Info
Known for
Acting
Gender
Male
Birthday
1908-06-20
Day of Death
1957-06-16 (48 years old)
Place of Birth
New York City, New York, USA
Gus Schilling
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.
Known For
Acting
(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)
Executive Suite
as Newsstand Vendor (uncredited)
(1954)
She Couldn't Say No
as Ed Gruman
(1952)
One Big Affair
as Mr. Rush
(1951)
Gasoline Alley
as Joe Allen
(1951)
On Dangerous Ground
as Lucky
(1951)
Honeychile
as Window Washer
(1950)
Hit Parade of 1951
as Studio Guide
(1950)
Our Very Own
as Frank
(1949)
Bride for Sale
as Timothy
(1949)
He's in Again
as Gus
(1949)
Flung by a Fling
as Capt. Gus Schilling
(1948)
The Return of October
as Benny
(1948)
Macbeth
as A Porter
(1948)
Angel on the Amazon
as Dean Hartley
(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)
Stork Bites Man
as Hubert Butterfield
(1947)
Calendar Girl
as Eddie Gaskin
(1947)
Training for Trouble
as Gus Schilling
(1947)
Wedding Belle
as Gus Schilling
(1946)
Dangerous Business
as Alexander Pough
(1946)
Pardon My Terror
as Gus
(1946)
Ain't Love Cuckoo?
as Gus Schilling
(1946)
Hot Water
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
(1945)
High Blood Pleasure
as Gus
(1944)
Sing a Jingle
as Bucky
(1943)
Lady Bodyguard
as Bughouse Sweeney
(1943)
(1943)
Chatterbox
as Gillie
(1943)
Presenting Lily Mars
as Scotty - Stage Manager
(1943)
Larceny with Music
as Austin J. Caldwell
(1943)
Hers to Hold
as Rosey Blake
(1942)
The Magnificent Ambersons
as Drug Clerk (uncredited)
(1942)
Broadway
as Joe
(1942)
Dr. Kildare's Victory
as Leo Cobb
(1942)
There's One Born Every Minute
as Professor Asa Quisenberry
(1942)
You Were Never Lovelier
as Fernando
(1941)
Citizen Kane
as John
(1941)
Hellzapoppin'
as Orchestra Conductor
(1941)
Appointment for Love
as Gus
(1941)
It Started with Eve
as Raven
(1941)
Ice-Capades
as Dave
(1941)
The Penalty
as Bank Teller (uncredited)
(1941)
Lucky Devils
as Aloysius Grimshaw
(1940)
Mexican Spitfire Out West
as Hotel Desk Clark
(1940)
Dr. Kildare's Crisis
as Orderly Cleaning Window
(1940)
Pop Always Pays
as City Dump Watchman