Gus Schilling

from New York City, New York, USA

Artwork for Citizen Kane

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.

Timeline

1958Aged 50

  • Poster for Touch of Evil

    Eddie Farnham (uncredited)

1956Aged 48

  • Poster for Glory

    Joe Page

  • Poster for Bigger Than Life

    Druggist (uncredited)

1955Aged 47

  • Poster for Run for Cover

    Doc Ridgeway

  • Poster for Rebel Without a Cause

    Attendant (uncredited)

1954Aged 46

  • Poster for She Couldn't Say No

    Ed Gruman

  • Poster for Executive Suite

    Newsstand Vendor (uncredited)

1952Aged 44

  • Poster for One Big Affair

    Mr. Rush

1951Aged 43

  • Poster for Gasoline Alley

    Joe Allen

  • Poster for Honeychile

    Window Washer

  • Poster for On Dangerous Ground

    Lucky

1950Aged 42

  • Poster for Our Very Own

    Frank

  • Poster for Hit Parade of 1951

    Studio Guide

1949Aged 41

1948Aged 40

1947Aged 39

1946Aged 38

1945Aged 37

1944Aged 36

  • Poster for Sing a Jingle

    Bucky

1943Aged 35

  • Poster for Lady Bodyguard

    Bughouse Sweeney

  • Poster for The Amazing Mrs. Holliday

    (Unknown)

  • Poster for Chatterbox

    Gillie

  • Poster for Presenting Lily Mars

    Scotty - Stage Manager

  • Poster for Hers to Hold

    Rosey Blake

  • Poster for Larceny with Music

    Austin J. Caldwell

1942Aged 34

  • Poster for Dr. Kildare's Victory

    Leo Cobb

  • Poster for Broadway

    Joe

  • Poster for There's One Born Every Minute

    Professor Asa Quisenberry

  • Poster for The Magnificent Ambersons

    Drug Clerk (uncredited)

  • Poster for You Were Never Lovelier

    Fernando

1941Aged 33

  • Poster for Lucky Devils

    Aloysius Grimshaw

  • Poster for The Penalty

    Bank Teller (uncredited)

  • Poster for Citizen Kane

    John

  • Poster for Ice-Capades

    Dave

  • Poster for It Started with Eve

    Raven

  • Poster for Appointment for Love

    Gus

  • Poster for Hellzapoppin'

    Orchestra Conductor

1940Aged 32

  • Poster for Pop Always Pays

    City Dump Watchman

  • Poster for Mexican Spitfire Out West

    Hotel Desk Clark

  • Poster for Dr. Kildare's Crisis

    Orderly Cleaning Window