Eddie Quillan

Eddie Quillan
Edward Quillan (March 31, 1907 – July 19, 1990) was an American film actor and singer whose career began as a child on the vaudeville stages and silent film and continued through the age of television in the 1980s.
Vaudeville and silent films
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, into a family of vaudeville performers, Quillan made his stage debut at the age of seven alongside his parents, Scottish-born Joseph Quillan and his wife Sarah, as well as his siblings in their act titled 'The Rising Generation'. By the early 1920s he was called upon by film director Mack Sennett to perform a screen test for Mack Sennett Studios. Sennett signed Quillan to a contract in 1922.
Quillan's very first film appearance was in the 1922 comedy short Up and at 'Em. His next performance was in the 1926 comedy short The Love Sundae opposite actress Alice Day. His next ten film appearances (all released in 1926) were all comedy shorts that were vehicles for Day. He would spend most of the remaining years of the 1920s in comedy shorts featuring actresses Ruth Taylor and Madeline Hurlock. In 1928, Quillan starred in the Vitaphone short film A Little Bit of Everything, notable because it featured his siblings Marie, Joseph and John in starring roles. Marie Quillan would eventually embark on a film career of her own and appear opposite her brother once more, in the 1929 comedy Nosy Neighbors.
Quillan's first feature-length film was the 1928 comedy-drama Show Folks opposite actress Lina Basquette, in which Quillan appropriately plays a vaudeville dancer. The film was a modest success and also featured actress Carole Lombard. Quillan's breakout role (and first dramatic film role) was in the 1929 Cecil B. DeMille directed silent film The Godless Girl. The film paired Quillan once again with Basquette and starred Marie Prevost and Noah Beery, Sr. His subsequent exposure from the film landed him a contract with Pathé studios.
Talkies and television
Quillan would remain a popular leading and secondary actor throughout the sound film era and would appear in such notable films as 1935's Mutiny on the Bounty with Clark Gable, Charles Laughton, and Franchot Tone, 1939's Young Mr. Lincoln opposite Henry Fonda and Alice Brady, as Connie Rivers in John Ford's 1940 film adaptation of the John Steinbeck novel The Grapes of Wrath opposite Henry Fonda, in 1943's Alaska Highway and It Ain't Hay opposite the comedic duo Abbott and Costello.
Quillan's breezy screen personality was seen in "B" musicals, comedies, and even serials during the 1940s. In 1948 Columbia Pictures producer Jules White teamed Quillan with veteran movie comic Wally Vernon for a series of comedy short subjects. White emphasized extreme physical comedy in these films, and Vernon and Quillan made a good team, enthusiastically engaging in pratfalling, kick-in-the-pants slapstick. The series ran through 1956.
Beginning in the late 1950s, Quillan began to make the transition to television and by the 1960s could be seen frequently appearing as a guest actor in such series as The Andy Griffith Show, Petticoat Junction, Perry Mason, and approximately five appearances on the camp-horror comedy series The Addams Family. He was a regular on the Anthony Franciosa sitcom Valentine's Day from 1964 to 1965, and from 1968 through 1971 he appeared as Eddie Edson on the comedy Julia opposite actress Diahann Carroll.
Through the 1950s and 1960s, Quillan continued to appear in motion pictures, but in increasingly smaller roles and often in bit parts. One notable appearance of the era was his role of Sandy in the 1954 Vincente Minnelli directed musical Brigadoon, starring Gene Kelly, Van Johnson and Cyd Charisse. Quillan also appeared in the uncredited role of Mr. Cassidy in the 1969 Gene Kelly film adaptation of Hello, Dolly!, starring Barbra Streisand and Walter Matthau and featuring Louis Armstrong. Quillan appeared in My Three Sons as Mr Hewlett (1961) and also appeared on the western television adventure series The Rifleman as Angus Evans. He appeared twice in the fourth season: in “Mark's Rifle” (episode 150) and “Conflict” (episode 155).
Quillan was cast as Hill Beachy, and as Job Darius, in two 1961 episodes of Death Valley Days
In the 1970s, Quillan made guest appearances on such varied television series as Baretta, Chico and the Man, Gunsmoke, Here's Lucy, and Mannix. After meeting and befriending actor and director Michael Landon, he played numerous bit roles in the popular television series Little House on the Prairie. Quillan also performed in the Landon-directed series Highway to Heaven and Father Murphy during the 1980s. Quillan made his last television appearance in a 1987 episode of the television crime-mystery series Matlock.
Death
Quillan died of cancer in North Hollywood, California in 1990 and was interred at the San Fernando Mission Cemetery in Mission Hills, Los Angeles, California.
Selected filmography
Up and at 'Em (1922)
Catalina Here I Come (1927, Short) - Eddie - the Cook
Show Folks (1928) - Eddie Kehoe
Geraldine (1929) - Eddie Able
Noisy Neighbors (1929) - Eddie Van Revel
The Godless Girl (1929) - Samuel 'Bozo' Johnson - The Goat
The Sophomore (1929) - Joe Collins
Night Work (1930) - Willie
Big Money (1930) - Eddie
Sweepstakes (1931) - Bud Doyle
The Tip-Off (1931) - Thomas 'Tommy' Jordan
The Big Shot (1931) - Ray Smith
Girl Crazy (1932) - Danny Churchill
Strictly Personal (1933) - Thomas Jefferson Reed
Broadway to Hollywood (1933) - Ted Hackett III
Meet the Baron (1933) - Man at Dock (uncredited)
Hollywood Party (1934) - Bob Benson
Gridiron Flash (1935) - Thomas Burke
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) - Ellison
The Gentleman from Louisiana (1936) - Tod Mason
The Mandarin Mystery (1936) - Ellery Queen
London by Night (1937) - Bill
Big City (1937) - Mike Edwards
Swing, Sister, Swing (1938) - Chick 'Satchel Lips' Peters
Made for Each Other (1939) - Conway
The Family Next Door (1939) - Sammy Pierce
The Flying Irishman (1939) - Henry Corrigan
Young Mr. Lincoln (1939) - Adam Clay
Hawaiian Nights (1939) - Ray Peters
Allegheny Uprising (1939) - Anderson
The Grapes of Wrath (1940) - Connie Rivers
La Conga Nights (1940) - Titus Endover
Margie (1940) - Joe
Dancing on a Dime (1940) - Jack Norcross
Dark Streets of Cairo (1940) - Jerry Jones
Where Did You Get That Girl? (1941) - Joe Olsen
Six Lessons from Madame La Zonga (1941) - Skat
The Flame of New Orleans (1941) - 3rd Sailor
Too Many Blondes (1941) - Wally Pelton
Flying Blind (1941) - Riley
Kid Glove Killer (1942) - Eddie Wright
Priorities on Parade (1942) - Sticks O'Hara
It Ain't Hay (1943) - Harry the Horse
Follow the Band (1943) - Marvin Howe
Alaska Highway (1943) - Pompadour 'Shorty' Jones
Melody Parade (1943) - Jimmy Tracy
Here Comes Kelly (1943) - James Aloysius 'Jimmy' Kelly
Hi'ya, Sailor (1943) - Corky Mills
The Impostor (1944) - Cochery
Hi, Good Lookin'! (1944) - Dynamo Carson
This Is the Life (1944) - Gus
Slightly Terrific (1944) - Charlie Young
Twilight on the Prairie (1944) - Phil
Dixie Jamboree (1944) - Jeff Calhoun
Moonlight and Cactus (1944) - Stubby Lamont
Dark Mountain (1944) - Willie Dinsmire
Mystery of the River Boat (1944, Serial) - Jug Jenks
Jungle Queen (1945) - Chuck Kelly
Song of the Sarong (1945) - Tony Romans
Jungle Raiders (1945, Serial) - Joe Riley
Sensation Hunters (1945) - Ray Lawson
A Guy Could Change (1946) - George Cummings
Sideshow (1950) - Big Top
Brigadoon (1954) - Sandy
The Ladies Man (1961) - Wolf Man (scenes deleted)
Who's Got the Action? (1962) - Dingo the Telephone Repairman (uncredited)
Papa's Delicate Condition (1963) - Tom (uncredited)
Come Blow Your Horn (1963) - Elevator Boy (uncredited)
Summer Magic (1963) - Mailman (uncredited)
Promises! Promises! (1963) - Bartender
Gunfight at Comanche Creek (1963) - Hotel Clerk
Take Her, She's Mine (1963) - Gateman (uncredited)
Move Over, Darling (1963) - Bellboy
Viva Las Vegas (1964) - Master of Ceremonies (uncredited)
Advance to the Rear (1964) - Sgt. Smitty (uncredited)
Zebra in the Kitchen (1965) - Man Watching TV (uncredited)
The Bounty Killer (1965) - Pianist
The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (1966) - Elevator Operator (uncredited)
Frankie and Johnny (1966) - Cashier (uncredited)
Batman year 2, episode 45 (1967) - Newsie
Eight on the Lam (1967) - Car Dealer (uncredited)
The Wicked Dreams of Paula Schultz (1968) - Cologne Salesman (uncredited)
The Shakiest Gun in the West (1968) - Train Porter (uncredited)
Did You Hear the One About the Traveling Saleslady? (1968) - Salesman
Angel in My Pocket (1969) - Reverend Beckwith
Hello, Dolly! (1969) - Mr. Cassidy (uncredited)
How to Frame a Figg (1971) - Old Man
Now You See Him, Now You Don't (1972) - Charlie, School Custodian (uncredited)
The Strongest Man in the World (1975) - Mr. Willoughby
Mr. Too Little (1978) - Concessionaire
References
External links/Sources
Eddie Quillan at The International Silent Movie
Eddie Quillan at The New York Times Movies
1907 births
1990 deaths
American male film actors
American male silent film actors
American male television actors
Vaudeville performers
Male actors from Philadelphia
Deaths from cancer in California
20th-century American male actors
Burials at San Fernando Mission Cemetery