Movie Mania

Gertrude Astor

Gertrude Astor

Born on November 9th, 1887

Lakewood, Ohio, USA

Died on November 9th, 1977

Biography

Gertrude Astor (Born Gertrude Eyster November 9, 1887 – November 9, 1977) was an American motion picture character actress, who began her career playing trombone on a riverboat. Born in Lakewood, Ohio, Astor at the age of 12 ran off and joined a woman's band as a trombone player and toured the states. In New York she left the band to obtain film work and got a job as an extra before her career took off. Astor was a prolific performer, between 1915 and 1962 she appeared in over 250 movies. Her first known credit is in a Biograph short in 1915. She then became a contract player at Universal. A tall, angular and beautiful woman, Astor frequently towered over the leading men of the era; thus, she was most frequently utilized in comedy roles as aristocrats, golddiggers and "heroine's best pal". Her best-known silent appearances were as the visiting stage star in Stage Struck (1925) with Gloria Swanson, as the vamp who plants stolen money on Harry Langdon in The Strong Man (1926), and as Laura LaPlante's wisecracking travelling companion in The Cat and the Canary (1927). Astor worked prolifically at Hal Roach studios with such headliners as Laurel and Hardy, Our Gang, and especially Charley Chase. She was also kept busy at Columbia Pictures' short subjects unit. She continued to play bits in feature films throughout the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. She was briefly glimpsed as the first murder victim in the Sherlock Holmes adventure The Scarlet Claw and was among the ranks of dress extras in 1956's Around the World in Eighty Days. Her last appearance was in John Ford's The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. In her later years, Astor was a welcome guest at several Sons of the Desert gatherings, and became an honorary member of the Way Out West tent. She died in Woodland Hills, California from a stroke. She is interred in the Abbey of Psalms in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood, CA.

Filmography

Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter

1966

Townswoman

The Sound of Music

1965

Party Guest (uncredited)

The Unsinkable Molly Brown

1964

Denver Party Guest (uncredited)

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

1962

Townswoman (uncredited)

The Devil's Hand

1961

The Elderly Cultist

Two Rode Together

1961

Mrs. Wringle (uncredited)

All in a Night's Work

1961

Customer (uncredited)

Sergeant Rutledge

1960

Courtroom Spectator (uncredited)

The Best of Everything

1959

Leading Woman in Play (uncredited)

The Tingler

1959

Member of Silent Movie Audience (uncredited)

The Horse Soldiers

1959

Townswoman (uncredited)

The Female Animal

1958

Actress on Movie Set (uncredited)

My Man Godfrey

1957

Party Guest (uncredited)

Around the World in Eighty Days

1956

Extra (uncredited)

The Virgin Queen

1955

Lady-in-Waiting - 2nd Group

Wichita

1955

Saloon Madam (uncredited)

Daddy Long Legs

1955

Art Gallery Patron (uncredited)

Deep in My Heart

1954

Dorothy's Nurse (uncredited)

A Star Is Born

1954

Racetrack Spectator (uncredited)

Scared Stiff

1953

Man with Spaghetti's Wife (uncredited)

Angel Face

1953

Matron (uncredited)

The Old West

1952

Townswoman (uncredited)

The Merry Widow

1952

Reception Guest (uncredited)

Paula

1952

Mrs. Brown (uncredited)

Fort Osage

1952

Townswoman (uncredited)

Scandal Sheet

1952

Neighbor (uncredited)

Thunder on the Hill

1951

Village Woman (uncredited)

When Worlds Collide

1951

Traveler (uncredited)

A Place in the Sun

1951

Bit Part (uncredited)

All About Eve

1950

Sarah Siddons Awards Guest (uncredited)

Again Pioneers

1950

Mrs. Jans

Bunco Squad

1950

Club Patron (uncredited)

Sunset Boulevard

1950

Courtier (uncredited)

Caged

1950

Inmate (uncredited)

Woman in Hiding

1950

Woman in Drugstore (uncredited)

The File on Thelma Jordon

1949

Juror (Uncredited)

The Doolins of Oklahoma

1949

Saloon Girl (uncredited)

3 Godfathers

1948

Saloon Girl (uncredited)

My Dear Secretary

1948

Miss Gee (uncredited)

Joe Palooka in Winner Take All

1948

Mrs. Howard

Music Man

1948

Character TBA

Here Comes Trouble

1948

Woman with Dog (uncredited)

Sitting Pretty

1948

Townswoman (uncredited)

Monsieur Verdoux

1947

Garden Party Guest (uncredited)

Fun on a Weekend

1947

Party Guest (Uncredited)

The Best Years of Our Lives

1946

Wedding Guest (uncredited)

Calcutta

1946

Nightclub Patron (uncredited)

Sister Kenny

1946

Doctor (uncredited)

Crack-Up

1946

Nagging Wife on Train (Uncredited)

Dragonwyck

1946

Nurse (uncredited)

Leave Her to Heaven

1945

Prison Matron (uncredited)

Dick Tracy

1945

Woman (uncredited)

An Angel Comes To Brooklyn

1945

Eva Tanguay (uncredited)

Girls of the Big House

1945

Railroad Matron

Swingin' on a Rainbow

1945

Bit Part (uncredited)

The Climax

1944

Woman in Audience Behind Franz (Uncredited)

The Scarlet Claw

1944

Character TBA

Weird Woman

1944

Party Guest (uncredited)

The Kansan

1943

Blonde Townswoman

The Avenging Rider

1943

Martha

Idaho

1943

Party Guest

Lost Canyon

1942

Mrs. Anson

Moontide

1942

Woman (uncredited)

Reap the Wild Wind

1942

Ball Guest (uncredited)

Frisco Lil

1942

Character TBA

The Wolf Man

1941

Townswoman (uncredited)

Hold Back the Dawn

1941

Young Woman in Bar (uncredited)

Misbehaving Husbands

1940

Gossiping Friend

The Doctor Takes a Wife

1940

Extra (uncredited)

The Llano Kid

1939

Saloon Hostess

$1,000 a Touchdown

1939

McGlen Wife (uncredited)

Dust Be My Destiny

1939

Dame (uncredited)

The Women

1939

Mud Bath Nurse (uncredited)

Tassels in the Air

1938

Louella Pindell (uncredited)

The Big Broadcast of 1938

1938

Woman (uncredited)

Wells Fargo

1937

Pioneer Woman

All Over Town

1937

Mamie

Easy Living

1937

Saleswoman (uncredited)

Rich Relations

1937

Character TBA

Empty Saddles

1936

Eloise Hayes

Great Guy

1936

Party Guest (Uncredited)

Wives Never Know

1936

Mrs. Merchant (uncredited)

Postal Inspector

1936

Woman with Drumsticks (uncredited)

San Francisco

1936

Drunk's Girl (uncredited)

I Don't Remember

1935

Sophie Glick

Manhattan Monkey Business

1935

Gwendolyn

Bad Boy

1935

Character TBA

It's in the Air

1935

(uncredited)

Cappy Ricks Returns

1935

Speaker (uncredited)

Here Comes the Band

1935

Undetermined Secondary Role (uncredited)

Honeymoon Limited

1935

Lady Devonshire

No More Ladies

1935

Nightclub Patron (uncredited)

Border Brigands

1935

Big Six -Saloon Girl

The Drunkard

1935

Peggy

Northern Frontier

1935

Mae

The Chases of Pimple Street

1934

Gertrude Astor - Lucas' Fiancee (uncredited)

Washee Ironee

1934

Woman at Party

Wedding Belles

1934

Character TBA

I'll Take Vanilla

1934

Mom

Guilty Parents

1934

Marie

Carnival Lady

1933

Zandra, Fortune Teller

Crook's Tour

1933

Mrs Dorigan

Ship of Wanted Men

1933

Vera

I Have Lived

1933

Harriet Naisson

The Plumber and the Lady

1933

Mrs. Otto Mauser

Wine, Women and Song

1933

Jennie Tilson

Flaming Gold

1932

Escort Service Madam

Western Limited

1932

Mrs. Winters

High Hats and Low Brows

1932

Mrs. Billingsgate

They Never Come Back

1932

Kate

While Paris Sleeps

1932

Character TBA

In Walked Charley

1932

Gertrude Henderson

Running Hollywood

1932

Gertrude Astor

Poker Widows

1931

Mrs. Thomas Regan

Come Clean

1931

Mrs. Hardy

Hell Bound

1931

Rosie

Live and Learn

1930

Mrs. Brown

Dames Ahoy

1930

The Blonde

Be Yourself!

1930

Lillian

Untamed

1929

Mrs. Mason

Frozen Justice

1929

Moosehide Kate

Twin Beds

1929

Mrs. Solari

The Fall of Eve

1929

Mrs. Ford

Two Weeks Off

1929

Agnes

The Fatal Warning

1929

Character TBA

Synthetic Sin

1929

Sheila Kelly

Chasing Husbands

1928

Character TBA

A Woman of Affairs

1928

Party Guest (uncredited)

The Butter and Egg Man

1928

Fanny Lehman

Five and Ten Cent Annie

1928

Blonde

The Family Group

1928

Character TBA

Rose-Marie

1928

Wanda

The Cohens and the Kellys in Paris

1928

Paulette

Oh, What a Man!

1927

The Bandit

Ginsberg the Great

1927

Sappho

The Small Bachelor

1927

Fanny

Uncle Tom's Cabin

1927

Mrs. St. Clare (uncredited)

The Cat and the Canary

1927

Cecily

The Taxi Dancer

1927

Kitty Lane

Lightning Lariats

1927

Girl

The Cheerful Fraud

1926

Rose

The Strong Man

1926

Lily de Broadway

The Country Beyond

1926

Mrs. Andrews

Tell 'Em Nothing

1926

Mrs. Gladstone

The Old Soak

1926

Sylvia De Costa

Don Juan's 3 Nights

1926

Baroness von Minden

The Boy Friend

1926

Mrs. White

Kiki

1926

Paulette Mascar

Wife Tamers

1926

Mrs. Barry

Dizzy Daddies

1926

A Former Flame

Behind the Front

1926

French barmaid

Ship of Souls

1925

Doris Barnes

Stage Struck

1925

Lillian Lyons

Satan in Sables

1925

Dolores Sierra

Borrowed Finery

1925

Maisie

Kentucky Pride

1925

Mrs. Beaumont

The Charmer

1925

Bertha Sedgwick

The Reckless Sex

1925

Lucile Dupré

Laughing Ladies

1925

The Married Man's Wife

Robes of Sin

1924

Character TBA

The Ridin' Kid from Powder River

1924

'Kansas' Lou

The Silent Watcher

1924

Mrs. Steele

All's Swell on the Ocean

1924

Character TBA

The Torrent

1924

The Cast-Off

Broadway or Bust

1924

Mrs. Dean Smythe

Secrets

1924

Mrs. Manwaring

The Wanters

1923

Mrs. Van Pelt

Hollywood

1923

Gertrude Astor

Rupert of Hentzau

1923

Paula

The Ne'er-Do-Well

1923

Edith Cortlandt

The Ninety and Nine

1922

Kate Van Dyke

You Never Know

1922

Miriam Folansbee

The Kentucky Derby

1922

Helen Gordon

The Impossible Mrs. Bellew

1922

Alice Granville

Lorna Doone

1922

Countess of Brandir (uncredited)

Skin Deep

1922

Mrs. Carlson

Hurricane's Gal

1922

Phyllis Fairfield

Beyond the Rocks

1922

Morella Winmarleigh

Seeing's Believing

1922

Aunt Sue

The Wall Flower

1922

Pamela Shiel

Her Mad Bargain

1921

Ruth Beresford

Through The Back Door

1921

Louise Reeves

The Concert

1921

Eva

The Branding Iron

1920

Betty Morena

The Wicked Darling

1919

Adele Hoyt

Loot

1919

Lady Gwendolyn

What Am I Bid?

1919

Diana Newlands

The Brazen Beauty

1918

Mrs. Augusta Van Ruysdael

Bucking Broadway

1917

Gladys (uncredited)

The Lash of Power

1917

Phyllis Ward

The Price of a Good Time

1917

Mis Schyler

Bondage

1917

Eugenia Darth

The Girl Who Won Out

1917

Mrs. Walsh

Cheyenne's Pal

1917

Dancehall girl

The Rescue

1917

Mrs. Hendricks

The Little Orphan

1917

Emmeline Warren

Polly Redhead

1917

Lady Caroline

The Scarlet Crystal

1917

Helen Forbes

The Devil's Pay Day

1917

Hazel Davidson

Bombs and Banknotes

1917

His Daughter

Under Two Flags

1915

Venetia