William Gillespie

Acting

William Gillespie

Born 1894-01-23 · Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, UK

William Gillespie (24 January 1894 – 23 June 1938) was a Scottish actor. Gillespie started in Hollywood films from the silent era. He played in about 180 films between 1915 and 1939, although his appearances were often uncredited. Gillespie frequently appeared in Hal Roach comedies from 1917, usually as stuffy official or manager. He supported such "slapstick comedians" as Charlie Chaplin, Charley Chase, Our Gang, and Laurel and Hardy, but was most prolific supporting Harold Lloyd in 60 films.

Acting credits

Safety Last! poster
7.7

When a store clerk organizes a contest to climb the outside of a tall building, circumstances force him to make the perilous climb himself.

Safety Last!

1923

Now or Never poster
6.2

A young man, unaccustomed to children, must accompany a young girl on a train trip.

Now or Never

1921

Smithy poster
5.8

After being discharged from the 372nd infantry, on account of a bean shortage, smithy seeks employment. He finds a job on a construction site, where he helps to build a house, and soon causes havoc amongst the other workers. The construction company owner leaves for a week, and tells his secretary to send a letter to Mr. Smith telling him to complete the construction of the house while he (the owner) is away. The letter is accidently sent to Smithy who manages to complete the house. When the owner returns the house is complete, and Smithy is commended until the last support beam is removed...

Smithy

1924

Wandering Papas poster
5.4

A cook for bridge constructors is told to collect food for dinner-Ritz style trout, Palmer house rabbit and a 15cm frosted cake. He sets off into the wide open spaces to collect the food, coming into contact with a mad hermit, who hates anybody seeing his daughter, before returning to cook dinner.

Wandering Papas

1926

Dr. Jack poster
6.8

Country doctor Jack Jackson is called in to treat the Sick-Little-Well-Girl, who has been making Dr. Saulsbourg and his sanitarium very rich after years of unsuccessful treatment.

Dr. Jack

1922

Wide Open Spaces poster
6.3

Wide Open Spaces is a 1924 Western silent film starring Stan Laurel.

Wide Open Spaces

1924

Why Worry? poster
6.5

A hypochondriac vacations in the tropics for the fresh air - and finds himself in the middle of a revolution instead.

Why Worry?

1923

Double Whoopee poster
6.8

Stan and Ollie wreak havoc at an upper class hotel in their jobs as footman (Hardy) and doorman (Laurel). They partially undress blonde bombshell Jean Harlow (in a brief appearance) and repeatedly escort a stuffy nobleman into an empty elevator shaft.

Double Whoopee

1929

They Won't Believe Me poster
6.5

On trial for murdering his girlfriend, philandering stockbroker Larry Ballentine takes the stand to claim his innocence and describe the actual, but improbable sounding, sequence of events that led to her death.

They Won't Believe Me

1947

Scorching Sands poster
5.9

The misadventures of two intrepid explorers in the Egyptian desert.

Scorching Sands

1923

No artwork available
6.2

Snub plays a rich guy who wants to impress the ladies with his virility. So he pays a tough boxer to take a dive in a staged fight, though the fight definitely does not go anything like expected.

Looking for Trouble

1919

Horse Shy poster
7.0

Despite his fear of horses, Eddie Hamilton takes part in a fox hunt, in order to impress the daughter of his host, Colonel Calhoun.

Horse Shy

1928

Grandma's Boy poster
6.4

A meek young man must find the courage within when a rogue tramp menaces his hometown.

Grandma's Boy

1922

Cabin in the Sky poster
6.5

When compulsive gambler Little Joe Jackson dies in a drunken fight, he awakens in purgatory, where he learns that he will be sent back to Earth for six months to prove that he deserves to be in heaven. He awakens, remembering nothing and struggles to do right by his devout wife, Petunia, while an angel known as the General and the devil's son, Lucifer Jr., fight for his soul.

Cabin in the Sky

1943

The Immigrant poster
7.3

A European immigrant endures a challenging voyage only to get into trouble as soon as he arrives in New York.

The Immigrant

1917

Get Out and Get Under poster
6.4

The comic adventures of a new car owner.

Get Out and Get Under

1920

Sure-Mike! poster
7.0

Vermuda, a saleswoman in a department store, is very late for work. She relies on a ruse to fool the floorwalker, and when that doesn't work, she relies on her friendship with the store manager. But she is soon disillusioned as to where she really stands with the manager.

Sure-Mike!

1925

All Wet poster
5.8

Charley Chase has car trouble.

All Wet

1924

The Music Box poster
7.5

The Laurel & Hardy Moving Co. have a challenging job on their hands (and backs): hauling a player piano up a monumental flight of stairs to Prof. von Schwarzenhoffen's house. Their task is complicated by a sassy nursemaid and, unbeknownst to them, the impatient Prof. von Schwarzenhoffen himself. But the biggest problem is the force of gravity, which repeatedly pulls the piano back down to the bottom of the stairs.

The Music Box

1932

Helping Grandma poster
7.0

The kids' adopted grandma decides to sell her store, but can't decide whom to sell it to. The kids try to help her out.

Helping Grandma

1931

No artwork available
7.5

Don't Park There was one of a series of two-reel comedies Will Rogers made for producer Hal Roach during the 1923-4 season. The story amounts to little more than a one-joke anecdote, but oddly enough the joke is more relevant now than it was in 1924: this is the tale of a man who can't run a simple errand in the city because he can't find a parking space.

Don't Park There

1924

Somewhere in Turkey poster
6.0

Our hero, a professor in Turkey, challenges a Sultan for the affections of a girl.

Somewhere in Turkey

1918

The Cure poster
6.8

An alcoholic checks into a health spa and his antics promptly throw the establishment into chaos.

The Cure

1917

Wrong Again poster
6.8

Stable hands Stan and Ollie are tending a thoroughbred named "Blue Boy." But when they overhear two men talking about a $5000 reward for the return of the stolen "Blue Boy," they miss the part about it being the painting, not the horse. They take the horse to the owner's house to claim the reward. The owner instructs them to put "Blue Boy" on the piano and Ollie explains, "these millionaires are peculiar."

Wrong Again

1929