Gertrude Astor
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.
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Movies (223)
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 80 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)
Apache Drums
1951 · Townswoman (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)
Montana
1950 · Townswoman (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 · Mrs. Larkin
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)
Calcutta
1946 · Nightclub Patron (uncredited)
The Best Years of Our Lives
1946 · Wedding Guest (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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Synthetic Sin
1929 · Sheila Kelly
Chasing Husbands
1928
A Woman of Affairs
1928 · Party Guest (uncredited)
The Butter and Egg Man
1928 · Fanny Lehman
Stocks and Blondes
1928 · Goldie
Hit of the Show
1928 · Trece
Five and Ten Cent Annie
1928 · Blonde
The Family Group
1928
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 Irresistible Lover
1927 · Dolly Carleton
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
Sin Cargo
1926 · Mary Wickham
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
The Wife Who Wasn't Wanted
1925 · Greta
Kentucky Pride
1925 · Mrs. Beaumont
Pursued
1925 · Madame La Grande
The Charmer
1925 · Bertha Sedgwick
The Verdict
1925 · Mrs. Ronsard
Folly of Youth
1925 · Evelyn Cartwright
The Reckless Sex
1925 · Lucile Dupré
Laughing Ladies
1925 · The Married Man's Wife
Robes of Sin
1924
The Ridin' Kid from Powder River
1924 · 'Kansas' Lou
The Silent Watcher
1924 · Mrs. Steele
All's Swell on the Ocean
1924
The Torrent
1924 · The Cast-Off
Fight and Win
1924
Broadway or Bust
1924 · Mrs. Dean Smythe
Secrets
1924 · Mrs. Manwaring
The Wanters
1923 · Mrs. Van Pelt
Flaming Youth
1923 · Annie
The Six-Fifty
1923 · Christine Palmer
Hollywood
1923 · Gertrude Astor
Rupert of Hentzau
1923 · Paula
The Ne'er-Do-Well
1923 · Edith Cortlandt
Alice Adams
1923 · Mildred Palmer
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
Occasionally Yours
1920 · Mona
Burning Daylight
1920 · Lucille
The Lion Man
1919 · Celeste La Rue
The Wicked Darling
1919 · Adele Hoyt
Loot
1919 · Lady Gwendolyn
Pretty Smooth
1919 · Mrs. Hanson
The Delicious Little Devil
1919 · Auditioning Dancer (uncredited)
What Am I Bid?
1919 · Diana Newlands
The Brazen Beauty
1918 · Mrs. Augusta Van Ruysdael
The Girl Who Wouldn't Quit
1918 · Stella Carter
Vamping the Vamp
1918 · Thedeska - The Vamp
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 Gray Ghost
1917 · Lady Gwendolyn
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
