Gertrude Astor
Known For: Acting
Gender: Female
Date of Birth: November 9, 1887
Day of Death: November 9, 1977 (90 years old)
Place of Birth: Lakewood, Ohio, USA
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.
1966
1965
1964
1962
1961
1960
1959
1958
1957
1956
1955
1954
1953
1952
1951
1950
1949
1948
1947
1946
1945
1944
1943
1942
1941
1940
1939
1938
1937
1936
1935
Actor Peggy
The Drunkard
Actor Sophie Glick
I Don't Remember
Actor Undetermined Secondary Role (uncredited)
Here Comes the Band
Actor Mae
Northern Frontier
Actor Speaker (uncredited)
Cappy Ricks Returns
Actor (uncredited)
It's in the Air
Actor Big Six -Saloon Girl
Border Brigands
Actor Lady Devonshire
Honeymoon Limited
Actor Nightclub Patron (uncredited)
No More Ladies
Actor Gwendolyn
Manhattan Monkey Business
Actor
Bad Boy
1934
1933
1932
1931
1930
1929
1928
1927
1926
Actor Sylvia De Costa
The Old Soak
Actor Lily de Broadway
The Strong Man
Actor Baroness von Minden
Don Juan's 3 Nights
Actor Mrs. Barry
Wife Tamers
Actor Paulette Mascar
Kiki
Actor A Former Flame
Dizzy Daddies
Actor Mrs. White
The Boy Friend
Actor French barmaid
Behind the Front
Actor Mrs. Gladstone
Tell 'Em Nothing
Actor Rose
The Cheerful Fraud
Actor Mrs. Andrews
The Country Beyond
1925
1924
1923
1922
Actor Kate Van Dyke
The Ninety and Nine
Actor Mrs. Carlson
Skin Deep
Actor Miriam Folansbee
You Never Know
Actor Countess of Brandir (uncredited)
Lorna Doone
Actor Helen Gordon
The Kentucky Derby
Actor Morella Winmarleigh
Beyond the Rocks
Actor Phyllis Fairfield
Hurricane's Gal
Actor Aunt Sue
Seeing's Believing
Actor Pamela Shiel
The Wall Flower
Actor Alice Granville
The Impossible Mrs. Bellew
1921
1920
1919
1918
1917
Actor Helen Forbes
The Scarlet Crystal
Actor Mis Schyler
The Price of a Good Time
Actor Phyllis Ward
The Lash of Power
Actor Mrs. Walsh
The Girl Who Won Out
Actor His Daughter
Bombs and Banknotes
Actor Gladys (uncredited)
Bucking Broadway
Actor Dancehall girl
Cheyenne's Pal
Actor Lady Caroline
Polly Redhead
Actor Eugenia Darth
Bondage
Actor Hazel Davidson
The Devil's Pay Day
Actor Mrs. Hendricks
The Rescue
Actor Emmeline Warren
The Little Orphan
