Gertrude Astor (November 9, 1887 - November 9, 1977) was an American motion picture character actress, who began her career playing trombone on a riverboat.
Career
Born in Rockport, Ohio, Astor was a prolific performer, between 1915 and 1962 she appeared in over 250 movies. Her first know credit is in a Biograph short in 1915. She then became a contract player at Universal. A tall, angular 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 vamp who plants stolen money on Harry Langdon in 1926's The Strong Man, and as Laura LaPlante's wisecracking travelling companion in 1927's The Cat and the Canary.
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 on her 90th birthday from a stroke.
Selected filmography
The Gray Ghost (1917)
The Rescue (1917)
Cheyenne's Pal (1917)
Bucking Broadway (1917)
The Lion's Claws (1918)
The Brazen Beauty (1918)
The Wicked Darling (1919)
The Lion Man (1919)
Kentucky Pride (1925)
The Cat and the Canary (1927)
The Fatal Warning (1929)
Come Clean (1931)
External links
Gertrude Astor at the Internet Movie Database
Gertrude Astor at Allmovie
Gertrude Astor at Find A Grave
Persondata
NAME
Astor, Gertrude
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
Aster, Gertrude
SHORT DESCRIPTION
Actress
DATE OF BIRTH
November 9, 1887
PLACE OF BIRTH
Lakewood, Ohio
DATE OF DEATH
November 9, 1977
PLACE OF DEATH
Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California
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Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gertrude_Astor"
Categories: 1887 births | 1977 deaths | American film actors | American silent film actors | American television actors | Burials at Hollywood Forever Cemetery | Deaths from stroke | People from Lakewood, Ohio | Ohio actors
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