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