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IMDbPro

Eddie Quillan(1907-1990)

  • Actor
  • Soundtrack
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Eddie Quillan
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on March 31, 1907, Eddie Quillan was seven years old and already performing in vaudeville with his sister and three brothers in an act called "The Rising Generation." His parents, Joseph Quillan and Sarah Quillan, were well-known performers with Joseph himself managing the family act. Booked in such top places as the Orpheum Theatre, the kids eventually took a screen test for Mack Sennett but only Eddie was chosen. Beginning with the short film A Love Sundae (1926), Eddie would make nearly 20 two-reeler shorts with Sennett.

Freelancing a couple of years later, he played the lead in The Godless Girl (1928) and The Sophomore (1929) and received a contract at Pathe Studios, but he wasn't really leading-man material what with his rubbery face and short stature. Nevertheless, his high energy and sharp comedy instincts earned him many support roles in such films as Big Money (1930), Girl Crazy (1932), Mutiny on the Bounty (1935), Young Mr. Lincoln (1939) and The Grapes of Wrath (1940), to cite some of his more popular films.

Discouraged with playing simple roles such as bellhops, soda jerks, et al., he continued on in "B" pictures until Sensation Hunters (1945), when his film career finally fell away. He owned and operated a bowling alley for a time but eventually returned to the film industry, with middling results and infrequent appearances, among them Brigadoon (1954). Light-hearted fluff also came his way in the next decade with The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (1966), Angel in My Pocket (1969) and How to Frame a Figg (1971), but his contributions were relatively minor. His career experienced a minor resurgence during the 1960s and 1970s on TV when he guested on such series as Mannix (1967), Lucas Tanner (1974), Police Story (1973), and Baretta (1975). A close friendship with actor Michael Landon led to work for Eddie in several of Landon's TV vehicles, including Little House on the Prairie (1974) and Father Murphy (1981) and "Highway to Heaven" (1984)_.

The never-married Eddie died in Burbank, California of cancer in 1990 at age 83, and was interred at the San Fernando Mission Cemetery in Mission Hills.
BornMarch 31, 1907
DiedJuly 19, 1990(83)
BornMarch 31, 1907
DiedJuly 19, 1990(83)
IMDbProStarmeter
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Photos121

Parley Baer and Eddie Quillan in The Addams Family (1964)
Bud Abbott, Shemp Howard, Cecil Kellaway, Grace McDonald, Leighton Noble, Patsy O'Connor, Eugene Pallette, Eddie Quillan, and David Hacker in It Ain't Hay (1943)
Bud Abbott, Grace McDonald, Leighton Noble, Patsy O'Connor, and Eddie Quillan in It Ain't Hay (1943)
Shemp Howard, Eddie Quillan, and David Hacker in It Ain't Hay (1943)
Shemp Howard, Eddie Quillan, and David Hacker in It Ain't Hay (1943)
Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Shemp Howard, Eddie Quillan, and David Hacker in It Ain't Hay (1943)
Lou Costello, Eddie Quillan, and David Hacker in It Ain't Hay (1943)
Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Shemp Howard, Leighton Noble, Eddie Quillan, and David Hacker in It Ain't Hay (1943)
Mary Carlisle, Johnny Downs, and Eddie Quillan in Hawaiian Nights (1939)
Lon Chaney Jr., Iris Adrian, and Eddie Quillan in Too Many Blondes (1941)
Madeline Hurlock and Eddie Quillan in Catalina, Here I Come (1927)
Marian Nixon and Eddie Quillan in Geraldine (1929)

Known for

Clark Gable and Mamo Clark in Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
Mutiny on the Bounty
7.6
  • Ellison
  • 1935
Henry Fonda, John Carradine, Jane Darwell, Dorris Bowdon, Frank Darien, and Russell Simpson in The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
The Grapes of Wrath
8.1
  • Connie
  • 1940
The Mandarin Mystery (1936)
The Mandarin Mystery
5.3
  • Ellery Queen
  • 1936
John T. Murray, Eddie Quillan, and Sally Starr in Night Work (1930)
Night Work
6.2
  • Willie
  • 1930

Credits

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IMDbPro

Actor

  • Andy Griffith in Matlock (1986)
    Matlock
  • George Peppard, Mr. T, Dirk Benedict, and Dwight Schultz in The A-Team (1983)
    The A-Team
  • Michael Landon in Highway to Heaven (1984)
    Highway to Heaven
  • Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd in Moonlighting (1985)
    Moonlighting
  • Hell Town (1985)
    Hell Town
  • Hell Town (1985)
    Hell Town
  • Brian Keith and Daniel Hugh Kelly in Hardcastle and McCormick (1983)
    Hardcastle and McCormick
  • Melissa Sue Anderson, Melissa Gilbert, Michael Landon, Karen Grassle, Richard Bull, Sidney Greenbush, Jonathan Gilbert, Rachel Lindsay Greenbush, and Katherine MacGregor in Little House on the Prairie (1974)
    Little House on the Prairie
    • ...
  • Father Murphy (1981)
    Father Murphy
  • Johnny the Dog in Here's Boomer (1980)
    Here's Boomer
  • Jeff Conaway, Henry Gibson, Tom Bosley, and Deborah Raffin in For the Love of It (1980)
    For the Love of It
  • Marla Gibbs, Paul Benedict, Franklin Cover, Sherman Hemsley, Roxie Roker, Isabel Sanford, and Berlinda Tolbert in The Jeffersons (1975)
    The Jeffersons
  • ABC Afterschool Specials (1972)
    ABC Afterschool Specials
  • Kaz (1978)
    Kaz
  • Robert Forster in The Darker Side of Terror (1979)
    The Darker Side of Terror

Soundtrack

  • Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse in Brigadoon (1954)
    Brigadoon
    • (uncredited)
  • Mariska Aldrich, George Cleveland, William Gargan, Nancy Kelly, Fuzzy Knight, and Eddie Quillan in Song of the Sarong (1945)
    Song of the Sarong
    • (uncredited)
  • Guy Kibbee and Frances Langford in Dixie Jamboree (1944)
    Dixie Jamboree
  • Armida, Mary Beth Hughes, Eddie Quillan, Irene Ryan, and Tim Ryan in Melody Parade (1943)
    Melody Parade
  • Lon Chaney Jr., Helen Parrish, Eddie Quillan, and Rudy Vallee in Too Many Blondes (1941)
    Too Many Blondes
    • ("Whistle Your Blues To a Bluebird")
  • Marlene Dietrich, Mischa Auer, Bruce Cabot, Andy Devine, and Roland Young in The Flame of New Orleans (1941)
    The Flame of New Orleans
  • William Frawley, Peter Lind Hayes, Frank Jenks, Grace McDonald, Robert Paige, Eddie Quillan, and Phillip Terry in Dancing on a Dime (1940)
    Dancing on a Dime
  • Henry Fonda, John Carradine, Jane Darwell, Dorris Bowdon, Frank Darien, and Russell Simpson in The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
    The Grapes of Wrath
    • (uncredited)
  • Walt Disney, Oliver Hardy, Ruth Channing, Irene Hervey, Stan Laurel, Marion O'Connell, Lupe Velez, and Beatrice Hagen in Hollywood Party (1934)
    Hollywood Party
    • (uncredited)
  • Alice Brady, Jackie Cooper, and Frank Morgan in Broadway to Hollywood (1933)
    Broadway to Hollywood
    • (uncredited)
  • Mitzi Green, Dorothy Lee, Eddie Quillan, Bert Wheeler, and Robert Woolsey in Girl Crazy (1932)
    Girl Crazy
    • (uncredited)
  • Ginger Rogers and Eddie Quillan in The Tip-Off (1931)
    The Tip-Off
    • ("I Surrender Dear", uncredited)
  • Sweepstakes (1931)
    Sweepstakes
    • (uncredited)
  • Sally O'Neil and Eddie Quillan in The Sophomore (1929)
    The Sophomore
  • Show Folks (1928)
    Show Folks
    • (uncredited)

Personal details

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    • March 31, 1907
    • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
    • July 19, 1990
    • Burbank, California, USA(cancer)
  • Recurring role of Eddie, the messenger on multiple episodes of "Julia."
  • Publicity listings
    • 5 Articles

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    One of five children of Sarah and Joseph Quillan, including players John Quillan and Marie Quillan.
  • Quotes
    [In 1972 interview] Casting directors are so young these days they haven't a clue as to who I am or what I've done. How do you tell someone you've been in over 100 movies?

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