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.
Acting
Movie
Citizen Kane
as John
1941
Movie
Rebel Without a Cause
as Attendant (uncredited)
1955
Movie
Touch of Evil
as Eddie Farnham (uncredited)
1958
Movie
The Lady from Shanghai
as Goldfish
1947
Movie
The Magnificent Ambersons
as Drug Clerk (uncredited)
1942
Movie
Bigger Than Life
as Druggist (uncredited)
1956
Movie
Macbeth
as A Porter
1948
Movie
On Dangerous Ground
as Lucky
1951
Movie
Hellzapoppin'
as Orchestra Conductor
1941
Movie
Executive Suite
as Newsstand Vendor (uncredited)
1954
Movie
You Were Never Lovelier
as Fernando
1942
Movie
Run for Cover
as Doc Ridgeway
1955
Movie
It Started with Eve
as Raven
1941
Movie
A Thousand and One Nights
as Jafar
1945
Movie
She Couldn't Say No
as Ed Gruman
1954
Movie
Our Very Own
as Frank
1950
Movie
Presenting Lily Mars
as Scotty - Stage Manager
1943
Movie
Calendar Girl
as Eddie Gaskin
1947
Movie
The Amazing Mrs. Holliday
1943
Movie
Appointment for Love
as Gus
1941
Movie
Dr. Kildare's Victory
as Leo Cobb
1942
Movie
Hers to Hold
as Rosey Blake
1943
Movie
The Return of October
as Benny
1948
Movie
Ice-Capades
as Dave
1941