
Acting
Born June 20, 1908 · New York City, New York, USA
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.

Touch of Evil
1958

Bigger Than Life
1956

Glory
1956

Rebel Without a Cause
1955

Run for Cover
1955

Executive Suite
1954

She Couldn't Say No
1954

One Big Affair
1952

On Dangerous Ground
1951

Honeychile
1951

Gasoline Alley
1951

Hit Parade of 1951
1950

Our Very Own
1950

Bride for Sale
1949
Flung by a Fling
1949
He's in Again
1949

Angel on the Amazon
1948

The Return of October
1948

Macbeth
1948
Pardon My Lamb Chop
1948
Two Nuts in a Rut
1948

The Lady from Shanghai
1947
Wedding Belle
1947
Training for Trouble
1947

Stork Bites Man
1947

Calendar Girl
1947

Pardon My Terror
1946
Hot Water
1946

Dangerous Business
1946

Ain't Love Cuckoo?
1946
High Blood Pleasure
1945

River Gang
1945

A Thousand and One Nights
1945

See My Lawyer
1945

It's a Pleasure
1945

Sing a Jingle
1944

Larceny with Music
1943

Hers to Hold
1943

Presenting Lily Mars
1943

Chatterbox
1943

The Amazing Mrs. Holliday
1943

Lady Bodyguard
1943

You Were Never Lovelier
1942

The Magnificent Ambersons
1942

There's One Born Every Minute
1942

Broadway
1942

Dr. Kildare's Victory
1942

Hellzapoppin'
1941

Appointment for Love
1941

It Started with Eve
1941

Ice-Capades
1941

Citizen Kane
1941

The Penalty
1941

Lucky Devils
1941

Dr. Kildare's Crisis
1940

Mexican Spitfire Out West
1940

Pop Always Pays
1940