Cast & creator
Gertrude Astor
Best known for I Love Lucy, The Sound of Music, Sunset Boulevard
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.
Also known as: Gertrude Aster, Gertrude Irene Eyster
223
film credits
2
television credits
225
1915–1966 · acting roles
7.1
average across scored titles
Signature credits
Known for
Across film & television
Filmography (225)
Showing 225 of 225 credits
I Love Lucy
Showgirl #4
1951
The Sound of Music
Party Guest (uncredited)
1965
Sunset Boulevard
Courtier (uncredited)
1950
My Mother the Car
1965
All About Eve
Sarah Siddons Awards Guest (uncredited)
1950
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
Townswoman (uncredited)
1962
The Wolf Man
Townswoman (uncredited)
1941
Around the World in 80 Days
Extra (uncredited)
1956
A Place in the Sun
Bit Part (uncredited)
1951
The Best Years of Our Lives
Wedding Guest (uncredited)
1946
3 Godfathers
Saloon Girl (uncredited)
1948
A Star Is Born
Racetrack Spectator (uncredited)
1954
The Horse Soldiers
Townswoman (uncredited)
1959
Leave Her to Heaven
Prison Matron (uncredited)
1945
Reap the Wild Wind
Ball Guest (uncredited)
1942
The Women
Mud Bath Nurse (uncredited)
1939
Angel Face
Matron (uncredited)
1953
The Tingler
Member of Silent Movie Audience (uncredited)
1959
Daddy Long Legs
Art Gallery Patron (uncredited)
1955
All in a Night's Work
Customer (uncredited)
1961
The Virgin Queen
Lady-in-Waiting - 2nd Group
1955
The Unsinkable Molly Brown
Denver Party Guest (uncredited)
1964
Monsieur Verdoux
Garden Party Guest (uncredited)
1947
Dragonwyck
Nurse (uncredited)
1946
When Worlds Collide
Traveler (uncredited)
1951
Deep in My Heart
Dorothy's Nurse (uncredited)
1954
The Best of Everything
Leading Woman in Play (uncredited)
1959
Two Rode Together
Mrs. Wringle (uncredited)
1961
The Merry Widow
Reception Guest (uncredited)
1952
Scared Stiff
Man with Spaghetti's Wife (uncredited)
1953
The File on Thelma Jordon
Juror (uncredited)
1949
San Francisco
Drunk's Girl (uncredited)
1936
The Scarlet Claw
1944
Thunder on the Hill
Village Woman (uncredited)
1951
My Dear Secretary
Miss Gee (uncredited)
1948
Hold Back the Dawn
Young Woman in Bar (uncredited)
1941
Caged
Inmate (uncredited)
1950
Sergeant Rutledge
Courtroom Spectator (uncredited)
1960
Moontide
Woman (uncredited)
1942
Sister Kenny
Doctor (uncredited)
1946
Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter
Townswoman
1966
The Doolins of Oklahoma
Saloon Girl (uncredited)
1949
Dick Tracy
Woman (uncredited)
1945
Easy Living
Saleswoman (uncredited)
1937
Sitting Pretty
Townswoman (uncredited)
1948
My Man Godfrey
Party Guest (uncredited)
1957
The Cat and the Canary
Cecily
1927
It's in the Air
(uncredited)
1935
Fun on a Weekend
Party Guest (uncredited)
1947
The Doctor Takes a Wife
Extra (uncredited)
1940
Dust Be My Destiny
Dame (uncredited)
1939
Polly Redhead
Lady Caroline
1917
Paula
Mrs. Brown (uncredited)
1952
Here Comes the Band
Undetermined Secondary Role (uncredited)
1935
Wife Tamers
Mrs. Barry
1926
The Female Animal
Actress on Movie Set (uncredited)
1958
Wichita
Saloon Madam (uncredited)
1955
The Delicious Little Devil
Auditioning Dancer (uncredited)
1919
Empty Saddles
Eloise Hayes
1936
The Climax
Woman in Audience Behind Franz (Uncredited)
1944
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Mrs. St. Clare (uncredited)
1927
Chasing Husbands
1928
Burning Daylight
Lucille
1920
Kiki
Paulette Mascar
1926
The Big Broadcast of 1938
Woman (uncredited)
1938
Girls of the Big House
Railroad Matron
1945
$1,000 a Touchdown
McGlen Wife (uncredited)
1939
Through the Back Door
Louise Reeves
1921
Scandal Sheet
Neighbor (uncredited)
1952
Woman in Hiding
Woman in Drugstore (uncredited)
1950
The Wife Who Wasn't Wanted
Greta
1925
Apache Drums
Townswoman (uncredited)
1951
Sin Cargo
Mary Wickham
1926
The Kansan
Blonde Townswoman
1943
Joe Palooka in Winner Take All
Mrs. Howard
1948
Tassels in the Air
Louella Pindell (uncredited)
1938
Crack-Up
Nagging Wife on Train (Uncredited)
1946
High Hats and Low Brows
Mrs. Billingsgate
1932
A Woman of Affairs
Party Guest (uncredited)
1928
The Devil's Hand
The Elderly Cultist
1961
Swingin' on a Rainbow
Bit Part (uncredited)
1945
Wells Fargo
Pioneer Woman
1937
Montana
Townswoman (uncredited)
1950
The Ridin' Kid from Powder River
'Kansas' Lou
1924
Great Guy
Party Guest (Uncredited)
1936
The Verdict
Mrs. Ronsard
1925
Come Clean
Mrs. Hardy
1931
Hit of the Show
Trece
1928Western Limited
Mrs. Winters
1932
Ship of Wanted Men
Vera
1933
Here Comes Trouble
Woman with Dog (uncredited)
1948
Fort Osage
Townswoman (uncredited)
1952
Weird Woman
Party Guest (uncredited)
1944
Bunco Squad
Club Patron (uncredited)
1950
The Girl Who Won Out
Mrs. Walsh
1917
They Never Come Back
Kate
1932
All's Swell on the Ocean
1924
I'll Take Vanilla
Mom
1934
Wives Never Know
Mrs. Merchant (uncredited)
1936
The Devil's Pay Day
Hazel Davidson
1917The Plumber and the Lady
Mrs. Otto Mauser
1933
Lost Canyon
Mrs. Anson
1942Frisco Lil
1942
The Cohens and the Kellys in Paris
Paulette
1928
Bondage
Eugenia Darth
1917
Postal Inspector
Woman with Drumsticks (uncredited)
1936
Twin Beds
Mrs. Solari
1929
The Ne'er-Do-Well
Edith Cortlandt
1923
Again Pioneers
Mrs. Jans
1950
Beyond the Rocks
Morella Winmarleigh
1922
Hollywood
Gertrude Astor
1923
Pretty Smooth
Mrs. Hanson
1919
Five and Ten Cent Annie
Blonde
1928
Loot
Lady Gwendolyn
1919I Don't Remember
Sophie Glick
1935
No More Ladies
Nightclub Patron (uncredited)
1935
Wine, Women and Song
Jennie Tilson
1933
The Lash of Power
Phyllis Ward
1917
The Butter and Egg Man
Fanny Lehman
1928
Pursued
Madame La Grande
1925
The Concert
Eva
1921
Calcutta
Nightclub Patron (uncredited)
1946
Untamed
Mrs. Mason
1929
Alice Adams
Mildred Palmer
1923Poker Widows
Mrs. Thomas Regan
1931
Flaming Youth
Annie
1923
An Angel Comes To Brooklyn
Eva Tanguay (uncredited)
1945
The Girl Who Wouldn't Quit
Stella Carter
1918
The Impossible Mrs. Bellew
Alice Granville
1922
Behind the Front
French barmaid
1926
The Fall of Eve
Mrs. Ford
1929
Flaming Gold
Escort Service Madam
1932
While Paris Sleeps
1932
Idaho
Party Guest
1943
Honeymoon Limited
Lady Devonshire
1935Running Hollywood
Gertrude Astor
1932
Cheyenne's Pal
Dancehall girl
1917The Reckless Sex
Lucile Dupré
1925
The Ninety and Nine
Kate Van Dyke
1922
The Price of a Good Time
Mis Schyler
1917
Bad Boy
1935
The Cheerful Fraud
Rose
1926
Stocks and Blondes
Goldie
1928
Satan in Sables
Dolores Sierra
1925
The Lion Man
Celeste La Rue
1919
Be Yourself!
Lillian
1930
Don Juan's 3 Nights
Baroness von Minden
1926
What Am I Bid?
Diana Newlands
1919
The Wall Flower
Pamela Shiel
1922
Fight and Win
1924
Oh, What a Man!
The Bandit
1927
The Brazen Beauty
Mrs. Augusta Van Ruysdael
1918
The Old West
Townswoman (uncredited)
1952
The Scarlet Crystal
Helen Forbes
1917
Rupert of Hentzau
Paula
1923
Music Man
Mrs. Larkin
1948
The Little Orphan
Emmeline Warren
1917
Northern Frontier
Mae
1935
The Family Group
1928
The Avenging Rider
Martha
1943
The Six-Fifty
Christine Palmer
1923
The Strong Man
Lily de Broadway
1926
Kentucky Pride
Mrs. Beaumont
1925
The Gray Ghost
Lady Gwendolyn
1917
The Boy Friend
Mrs. White
1926
The Fatal Warning
1929
In Walked Charley
Gertrude Henderson
1932
Broadway or Bust
Mrs. Dean Smythe
1924Bombs and Banknotes
His Daughter
1917
The Llano Kid
Saloon Hostess
1939
Rich Relations
1937
Misbehaving Husbands
Gossiping Friend
1940
Rose-Marie
Wanda
1928
Folly of Youth
Evelyn Cartwright
1925
Manhattan Monkey Business
Gwendolyn
1935
The Wanters
Mrs. Van Pelt
1923
Stage Struck
Lillian Lyons
1925
The Taxi Dancer
Kitty Lane
1927
Dames Ahoy
The Blonde
1930
The Irresistible Lover
Dolly Carleton
1927
Hell Bound
Rosie
1931
The Chases of Pimple Street
Gertrude Astor - Lucas' Fiancee (uncredited)
1934
Ginsberg the Great
Sappho
1927
Two Weeks Off
Agnes
1929
The Branding Iron
Betty Morena
1920
The Silent Watcher
Mrs. Steele
1924
Lightning Lariats
Girl
1927
Border Brigands
Big Six -Saloon Girl
1935
Synthetic Sin
Sheila Kelly
1929
Bucking Broadway
Gladys (uncredited)
1917
Carnival Lady
Zandra, Fortune Teller
1933
Guilty Parents
Marie
1934
Her Mad Bargain
Ruth Beresford
1921Cappy Ricks Returns
Speaker (uncredited)
1935
The Country Beyond
Mrs. Andrews
1926
The Rescue
Mrs. Hendricks
1917Wedding Belles
1934
Frozen Justice
Moosehide Kate
1929
Washee Ironee
Woman at Party
1934Live and Learn
Mrs. Brown
1930The Torrent
The Cast-Off
1924Vamping the Vamp
Thedeska - The Vamp
1918
All Over Town
Mamie
1937
The Kentucky Derby
Helen Gordon
1922
Under Two Flags
Venetia
1915
Lorna Doone
Countess of Brandir (uncredited)
1922Borrowed Finery
Maisie
1925
The Wicked Darling
Adele Hoyt
1919
Seeing's Believing
Aunt Sue
1922
The Small Bachelor
Fanny
1927
Skin Deep
Mrs. Carlson
1922
Crook's Tour
Mrs Dorigan
1933
The Drunkard
Peggy
1935
Robes of Sin
1924
Occasionally Yours
Mona
1920
Secrets
Mrs. Manwaring
1924
Tell 'Em Nothing
Mrs. Gladstone
1926
The Charmer
Bertha Sedgwick
1925
I Have Lived
Harriet Naisson
1933
Dizzy Daddies
A Former Flame
1926
The Old Soak
Sylvia De Costa
1926
Laughing Ladies
The Married Man's Wife
1925
Hurricane's Gal
Phyllis Fairfield
1922Ship of Souls
Doris Barnes
1925
You Never Know
Miriam Folansbee
1922