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