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.
Known For
Sunset Boulevard
(1950)
Courtier (uncredited)
The Sound of Music
(1965)
Party Guest (uncredited)
A Place in the Sun
(1951)
Bit Part (uncredited)
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
(1962)
Townswoman (uncredited)
All About Eve
(1950)
Sarah Siddons Awards Guest (uncredited)
Around the World in Eighty Days
(1956)
Extra (uncredited)
The Wolf Man
(1941)
Townswoman (uncredited)
Caged
(1950)
Inmate (uncredited)
Monsieur Verdoux
(1947)
Garden Party Guest (uncredited)
A Star Is Born
(1954)
Racetrack Spectator (uncredited)
Dragonwyck
(1946)
Nurse (uncredited)
3 Godfathers
(1948)
Saloon Girl (uncredited)
The Best Years of Our Lives
(1946)
Wedding Guest (uncredited)
Sergeant Rutledge
(1960)
Courtroom Spectator (uncredited)
The Women
(1939)
Mud Bath Nurse (uncredited)
The Horse Soldiers
(1959)
Townswoman
Full Filmography
Acting
Under Two Flags
(1915)
Venetia
Cheyenne's Pal
(1917)
Dancehall girl
Polly Redhead
(1917)
Lady Caroline
The Devil's Pay Day
(1917)
Hazel Davidson
The Rescue
(1917)
Mrs. Hendricks
Bondage
(1917)
Eugenia Darth
The Little Orphan
(1917)
Emmeline Warren
The Scarlet Crystal
(1917)
Helen Forbes
The Price of a Good Time
(1917)
Mis Schyler
The Lash of Power
(1917)
Phyllis Ward
The Girl Who Won Out
(1917)
Mrs. Walsh
Bombs and Banknotes
(1917)
His Daughter
Bucking Broadway
(1917)
Gladys
The Brazen Beauty
(1918)
Mrs. Augusta Van Ruysdael
The Wicked Darling
(1919)
Adele Hoyt
What Am I Bid?
(1919)
Diana Newlands
Loot
(1919)
Lady Gwendolyn
The Branding Iron
(1920)
Betty Morena
Through The Back Door
(1921)
Louise Reeves
The Concert
(1921)
Eva
Her Mad Bargain
(1921)
Ruth Beresford
Lorna Doone
(1922)
Countess of Brandir (uncredited)
Beyond the Rocks
(1922)
Morella Winmarleigh
Hurricane's Gal
(1922)
Phyllis Fairfield
Seeing's Believing
(1922)
The Wall Flower
(1922)
Pamela Shiel
The Impossible Mrs. Bellew
(1922)
Alice Granville
The Ninety and Nine
(1922)
Kate Van Dyke
Skin Deep
(1922)
Mrs. Carlson
You Never Know
(1922)
Miriam Folansbee
The Kentucky Derby
(1922)
Helen Gordon
The Ne'er-Do-Well
(1923)
Edith Cortlandt
Hollywood
(1923)
Gertrude Astor
The Wanters
(1923)
Mrs. Van Pelt
Rupert of Hentzau
(1923)
Paula
Secrets
(1924)
Mrs. Manwaring
Robes of Sin
(1924)
The Silent Watcher
(1924)
Mrs. Steele
Broadway or Bust
(1924)
Mrs. Dean Smythe
The Ridin' Kid from Powder River
(1924)
'Kansas' Lou
The Torrent
(1924)
The Cast-Off
Stage Struck
(1925)
Lillian Lyons
Kentucky Pride
(1925)
Mrs. Beaumont
The Charmer
(1925)
Bertha Sedgwick
Satan in Sables
(1925)
Dolores Sierra
The Strong Man
(1926)
Lily de Broadway
Kiki
(1926)
Paulette Mascar
The Boy Friend
(1926)
Mrs. White
Behind the Front
(1926)
French barmaid
Tell 'Em Nothing
(1926)
Mrs. Gladstone
The Cheerful Fraud
(1926)
Rose
The Country Beyond
(1926)
Mrs. Andrews
Don Juan's 3 Nights
(1926)
Baroness von Minden
Wife Tamers
(1926)
Mrs. Barry
Dizzy Daddies
(1926)
A Former Flame
The Old Soak
(1926)
Sylvia De Costa
The Small Bachelor
(1927)
Fanny
The Cat and the Canary
(1927)
Cecily
Oh, What a Man!
(1927)
The Bandit
The Taxi Dancer
(1927)
Kitty Lane
Uncle Tom's Cabin
(1927)
Mrs. St. Clare (uncredited)
A Woman of Affairs
(1928)
Party Guest (uncredited)
Rose-Marie
(1928)
Wanda
The Butter and Egg Man
(1928)
Fanny Lehman
The Family Group
(1928)
Chasing Husbands
(1928)
Untamed
(1929)
Mrs. Mason
Synthetic Sin
(1929)
Sheila Kelly
Two Weeks Off
(1929)
Agnes
The Fall of Eve
(1929)
Mrs. Ford
Frozen Justice
(1929)
Moosehide Kate
The Fatal Warning
(1929)
Be Yourself!
(1930)
Lillian
Dames Ahoy
(1930)
The Blonde
Live and Learn
(1930)
Mrs. Brown
Come Clean
(1931)
Mrs. Hardy
Hell Bound
(1931)
Rosie
Poker Widows
(1931)
Mrs. Thomas Regan
High Hats and Low Brows
(1932)
Mrs. Billingsgate
While Paris Sleeps
(1932)
They Never Come Back
(1932)
Kate
In Walked Charley
(1932)
Gertrude Henderson
Western Limited
(1932)
Mrs. Winters
Flaming Gold
(1932)
Escort Service Madam
Running Hollywood
(1932)
Gertrude Astor
Carnival Lady
(1933)
Zandra, Fortune Teller
I Have Lived
(1933)
Harriet Naisson
Ship of Wanted Men
(1933)
Vera
Crook's Tour
(1933)
Mrs Dorigan
Wine, Women and Song
(1933)
Jennie Tilson
The Plumber and the Lady
(1933)
Mrs. Otto Mauser
Guilty Parents
(1934)
Marie
I'll Take Vanilla
(1934)
Mom
The Chases of Pimple Street
(1934)
Gertrude Astor - Lucas' Fiancee (uncredited)
Wedding Belles
(1934)
I Don't Remember
(1935)
Sophie Glick
Here Comes the Band
(1935)
Undetermined Secondary Role (uncredited)
Northern Frontier
(1935)
Mae
Cappy Ricks Returns
(1935)
Speaker (uncredited)
It's in the Air
(1935)
(uncredited)
Border Brigands
(1935)
Big Six -Saloon Girl
Honeymoon Limited
(1935)
Lady Devonshire
No More Ladies
(1935)
Nightclub Patron (uncredited)
Manhattan Monkey Business
(1935)
Gwendolyn
The Drunkard
(1935)
Peggy
Empty Saddles
(1936)
Eloise Hayes
San Francisco
(1936)
Drunk's Girl (uncredited)
Great Guy
(1936)
Party Guest (Uncredited)
Postal Inspector
(1936)
Woman with Drumsticks (uncredited)
All Over Town
(1937)
Mamie
Rich Relations
(1937)
Wells Fargo
(1937)
Pioneer Woman
Easy Living
(1937)
Saleswoman (uncredited)
The Big Broadcast of 1938
(1938)
Woman (uncredited)
Tassels in the Air
(1938)
Louella Pindell (uncredited)
The Llano Kid
(1939)
Saloon Hostess
The Women
(1939)
Mud Bath Nurse (uncredited)
Dust Be My Destiny
(1939)
Dame (uncredited)
$1,000 a Touchdown
(1939)
McGlen Wife (uncredited)
Misbehaving Husbands
(1940)
Gossiping Friend
The Doctor Takes a Wife
(1940)
Extra
Hold Back the Dawn
(1941)
Young Woman in Bar (uncredited)
The Wolf Man
(1941)
Townswoman (uncredited)
Lost Canyon
(1942)
Mrs. Anson
Moontide
(1942)
Woman
Reap the Wild Wind
(1942)
Ball Guest (uncredited)
Frisco Lil
(1942)
Idaho
(1943)
Party Guest
The Avenging Rider
(1943)
Martha
The Kansan
(1943)
Blonde Townswoman
The Climax
(1944)
Woman in Audience Behind Franz (Uncredited)
Weird Woman
(1944)
Party Guest (uncredited)
Girls of the Big House
(1945)
Railroad Matron
Leave Her to Heaven
(1945)
Prison Matron (uncredited)
Swingin' on a Rainbow
(1945)
Bit Part (uncredited)
An Angel Comes To Brooklyn
(1945)
Eva Tanguay (uncredited)
Dragonwyck
(1946)
Nurse (uncredited)
Crack-Up
(1946)
Nagging Wife on Train (Uncredited)
Calcutta
(1946)
Nightclub Patron (uncredited)
Sister Kenny
(1946)
Doctor (uncredited)
The Best Years of Our Lives
(1946)
Wedding Guest (uncredited)
Monsieur Verdoux
(1947)
Garden Party Guest (uncredited)
Fun on a Weekend
(1947)
Party Guest (Uncredited)
3 Godfathers
(1948)
Saloon Girl (uncredited)
Music Man
(1948)
Joe Palooka in Winner Take All
(1948)
Mrs. Howard
Sitting Pretty
(1948)
Townswoman (uncredited)
My Dear Secretary
(1948)
Miss Gee (uncredited)
Here Comes Trouble
(1948)
Woman with Dog (uncredited)
The File on Thelma Jordon
(1949)
Juror (Uncredited)
Sunset Boulevard
(1950)
Courtier (uncredited)
Bunco Squad
(1950)
Club Patron (uncredited)
Caged
(1950)
Inmate (uncredited)
All About Eve
(1950)
Sarah Siddons Awards Guest (uncredited)
Again Pioneers
(1950)
Mrs. Jans
Woman in Hiding
(1950)
Woman in Drugstore (uncredited)
When Worlds Collide
(1951)
Traveler (uncredited)
A Place in the Sun
(1951)
Bit Part (uncredited)
Thunder on the Hill
(1951)
Village Woman (uncredited)
Scandal Sheet
(1952)
Neighbor (uncredited)
Paula
(1952)
Mrs. Brown (uncredited)
Fort Osage
(1952)
Townswoman (uncredited)
The Old West
(1952)
Townswoman (uncredited)
Scared Stiff
(1953)
Man with Spaghetti's Wife (uncredited)
Deep in My Heart
(1954)
Dorothy's Nurse (uncredited)
A Star Is Born
(1954)
Racetrack Spectator (uncredited)
Daddy Long Legs
(1955)
Art Gallery Patron (uncredited)
Wichita
(1955)
Saloon Madam (uncredited)
The Virgin Queen
(1955)
Lady-in-Waiting - 2nd Group
Around the World in Eighty Days
(1956)
Extra (uncredited)
My Man Godfrey
(1957)
Party Guest (uncredited)
The Female Animal
(1958)
Actress on Movie Set (uncredited)
The Horse Soldiers
(1959)
Townswoman
The Best of Everything
(1959)
Leading Woman in Play (uncredited)
Sergeant Rutledge
(1960)
Courtroom Spectator (uncredited)
The Devil's Hand
(1961)
The Elderly Cultist
All in a Night's Work
(1961)
Customer (uncredited)
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
(1962)
Townswoman (uncredited)
The Unsinkable Molly Brown
(1964)
Denver Party Guest (uncredited)
The Sound of Music
(1965)
Party Guest (uncredited)
Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter
(1966)
Townswoman