--- name: "Eddie Quillan" canonical: "https://film.one/person/eddie-quillan" roles: ["Actor"] born: "31 March 1907" died: "19 July 1990" reviewed_on_fi1m: 3 average_fi1m_score: 84 average_as: "actor" average_over: 3 updated: "2026-09-20T00:08:34.675881+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Eddie Quillan Actor. Born 31 March 1907 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Died 19 July 1990. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 31 March 1907, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA - **Died:** 19 July 1990 - **Active:** 1935–1985 - **Also known as:** Edward Quillan - **Average Fi1m score:** 84, as actor, over 3 titles - **Fi1m score by decade:** 1930s 83 (1), 1940s 86 (1), 1980s 82 (1) - **Score spread:** 3 at 80+, 0 at 60–79, 0 under 60 - **Lead roles:** 0 of 2 acting credits billed first or second - **Genres:** Drama 3, Adventure 1, Comedy 1, Crime 1, History 1, Mystery 1 - **Screen time:** 4 hours of reviewed films - **Box office:** $6m across 2 films with figures - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Quillan, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q330382, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0703600/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/8521 ## Fi1m on Eddie Quillan > A vaudeville child and Sennett comic who spent the sound years as the small, eager face at the edge of large films. When a director cut to him, it was to remind us who would pay for the heroes' decisions. He was used better than he was ever written. In *Mutiny on the Bounty* (1935) Eddie Quillan is Tommy Ellison, a seaman taken from a pub with a baby left at home, and Frank Lloyd cuts to him whenever the picture needs us to remember what Bligh's discipline costs. Quillan does not do much with those cuts. He does not have to; he has a face that reads as a boy's from the back of a cinema, and the film uses it as a caption. It is a small part, and it is the one we think of first when his name comes up. He had been a professional for a long time before that. He came out of a family vaudeville act, The Rising Generation, and was making shorts for Mack Sennett from 1922, close to twenty of them. *Show Folks* (1928) was his first feature, and Cecil B. DeMille's *The Godless Girl* (1929) gave him a dramatic part and a contract with Pathé. The sound years put him where he would stay, one rung down from the names on the poster: *Mutiny*, then two films for John Ford with Henry Fonda, *Young Mr. Lincoln* (1939) and *The Grapes of Wrath* (1940). What he brought from Sennett was the habit of casing the set before the cameras turned. He told the Los Angeles Times in 1981: "The first thing I’d do when I got on the set was to see where the doors are, where the props are and figure out what I might do in the way of (funny) business." That habit gives his supporting parts a busyness the scripts rarely asked for, and it also marks the limit. His Connie Rivers in *The Grapes of Wrath* is the son-in-law who has married into the Joads and is not sure he wanted to, and Ford gives him and Dorris Bowdon less than they need. Quillan has nowhere to put the energy and the part fades. We felt sorrier for Connie than the film seems to want us to, because Quillan plays him as a boy who has only just noticed how long the road is. After 1940 the parts got smaller and the films got cheaper: B-pictures, musical shorts and serials through the 1940s, then *Brigadoon* (1954) for Vincente Minnelli, then television from the late 1950s, including several turns on Michael Landon's series in the 1970s and 80s. He was never going to lead. He was short, his face was rubber, and the studios had decided early what that meant. The way to watch him is to stop looking at Gable or Fonda for a moment and see where the film has put the person who will pay for their decisions. It is usually Quillan, and he is usually ready with something to do with his hands. ## Biography Eddie Quillan was an American actor and singer. His career began in vaudeville and silent films in the 1920s and continued into television until the 1980s. Quillan appeared in films including *Mutiny on the Bounty* (1935) as Tommy Ellison, *Young Mr. Lincoln* (1939), and *The Grapes of Wrath* (1940) as Connie Rivers. In the 1940s he starred in a series of comedy shorts for Columbia Pictures. He made numerous guest appearances on television series such as *The Addams Family*, *Columbo* and *Little House on the Prairie*. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.* ## On Fi1m (3) - *Moonlighting* (1985), Fi1m 82, as Abbie Cadabra — [page](https://film.one/tv/moonlighting.md) - *The Grapes of Wrath* (1940), Fi1m 86, as Connie Rivers — [page](https://film.one/film/the-grapes-of-wrath.md) - *Mutiny on the Bounty* (1935), Fi1m 83, as Tommy Ellison — [page](https://film.one/film/mutiny-on-the-bounty.md) ## Complete filmography (168) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Matlock* (1986), series, as David Sears - *Hell Town* (1985), series, as Poco Loco - *Father of Hell Town* (1985), as Smitty - *Moonlighting* (1985), series, as Abbie Cadabra — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/tv/moonlighting.md) - *Highway to Heaven* (1984), series, Actor - *The A-Team* (1983), series, as Old Man - *For the Love of It* (1980), as Wino - *The Great Cash Giveaway Getaway* (1980), as Alfred Ammonet - *White Mama* (1980), as Old White Man - *The Darker Side of Terror* (1979), as Watchman - *Kaz* (1978), series, Actor - *The Case of the Baltimore Girls* (1978), as Tompkins - *Mad Bull* (1977), as Rafferty - *Melvin Purvis G-Man* (1975), as Hotel Clerk - *The Strongest Man in the World* (1975), as Mr. Willoughby - *Baretta* (1975), series, Actor - *Police Woman* (1974), series, Actor - *Little House on the Prairie* (1974), series, as Shorty, Gargan - *Petrocelli* (1974), series, Actor - *Lucas Tanner* (1974), series, Actor - *Hitchhike!* (1974), as Counterman - *She Lives!* (1973), as Janitor - *Incident on a Dark Street* (1973), as Security Guard - *The Judge and Jake Wyler* (1972), as Billy Lambert - *The Streets of San Francisco* (1972), series, Actor - *Now You See Him, Now You Don't* (1972), as Charlie, School Custodian (uncredited) - *Nichols* (1971), series, as Agent - *Columbo* (1971), series, as Ferguson — Fi1m 86, [page](https://film.one/tv/columbo.md) - *How to Frame a Figg* (1971), as Old Man - *The Over-the-Hill Gang Rides Again* (1970), as Silver Dollar Bartender (uncredited) - *Hello, Dolly!* (1969), as Mr. Cassidy (uncredited) - *Love, American Style* (1969), series, Actor - *Here's Lucy* (1968), series, as Cab Driver, Jackson - *Adam-12* (1968), series, as T.J. - *Julia* (1968), series, Actor - *The Shakiest Gun in the West* (1968), as Train Porter (uncredited) - *Mannix* (1967), series, Actor - *The Guns of Will Sonnett* (1967), series, Actor - *Cimarron Strip* (1967), series, as Guard - *Frankie and Johnny* (1966), as Cashier (uncredited) - *The Ghost and Mr. Chicken* (1966), as Elevator Operator - *Batman* (1966), series, as Newsie - *The F.B.I.* (1965), series, as Amos Wick - *Lost in Space* (1965), series, as Bartender - *The Big Valley* (1965), series, as Hotel Clerk - *The Bounty Killer* (1965), as Pianist - *Zebra in the Kitchen* (1965), as Man Watching TV - *Branded* (1965), series, as Cowhand (uncredited) - *Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.* (1964), series, Actor - *Daniel Boone* (1964), series, as Ephraim Smith (uncredited), Inn Landlord, Mr. Stokey, Proprietor - *The Man from U.N.C.L.E.* (1964), series, as Scotty MacPherson - *The Addams Family* (1964), series, as Horace Beesley, Mr. Digby, George Bass, Clyde Arbogast, Joe Digby - *Valentine's Day* (1964), series, as Grover Cleveland Fipple - *Viva Las Vegas* (1964), as Master of Ceremonies (uncredited) - *Move Over, Darling* (1963), as Bellboy - *Gunfight at Comanche Creek* (1963), as Stevens House Room Clerk - *Glynis* (1963), series, Actor - *Petticoat Junction* (1963), series, as Dick, Mort - *Burke's Law* (1963), series, as Elevator Starter, Mr. Jellybean - *Temple Houston* (1963), series, Actor - *Promises! Promises!* (1963), as Bartender - *Summer Magic* (1963), as Boston Mailman (uncredited) - *Come Blow Your Horn* (1963), as Elevator Boy (uncredited) - *The Lucy Show* (1962), series, as Mr. Vincent, Briggs - *87th Precinct* (1961), series, Actor - *Mister Ed* (1961), series, Actor - *Surfside 6* (1960), series, Actor - *The Andy Griffith Show* (1960), series, as Bell Hop - *Pete and Gladys* (1960), series, Actor - *Lifetime of Comedy* (1960), as (archive footage) - *The Detectives* (1959), series, Actor - *The Alaskans* (1959), series, Actor - *Law of the Plainsman* (1959), series, as Horace Arnold - *The Rifleman* (1958), series, Actor - *The Texan* (1958), series, Actor - *Perry Mason* (1957), series, as Bookkeeper Abner Keller, Agent · Photographer - *Richard Diamond, Private Detective* (1957), series, as Mel Jones - *Come on Seven* (1956), as Eddie - *Jungle Safari* (1956), as Chuck Kelly - *He Took a Powder* (1955), as Eddie - *Gunsmoke* (1955), series, as Barkeep, Telegrapher - *Nobody's Home* (1955), Actor - *His Pest Friend* (1955), as Eddie - *The Bob Cummings Show* (1955), series, as Sargeant Hall Bender, Air Sergeant - *Brigadoon* (1954), as Sandy - *Doggie in the Bedroom* (1954), as Eddie - *A-Hunting They Did Go* (1953), Actor - *He Popped His Pistol* (1953), as Eddie - *Strop, Look and Listen* (1952), as Eddy - *Heebie Gee-Gees* (1952), as Eddie - *A Fool and His Honey* (1952), as Eddie - *Fun on the Run* (1951), Actor - *He Flew the Shrew* (1951), as Eddie - *House About It* (1950), Actor - *Sideshow* (1950), as Big Top - *Let Down Your Aerial* (1949), Actor - *Parlor, Bedroom and Wrath* (1948), Actor - *Crabbin' in the Cabin* (1948), as Eddie - *A Guy Could Change* (1946), as George Cummings - *Sensation Hunters* (1945), as Ray Lawson - *Jungle Raiders* (1945), as Joe Riley - *Song of the Sarong* (1945), as Tony Romans - *Jungle Queen* (1945), as Chuck Kelly - *Mystery of the Riverboat* (1944), as Jug Jenks [Chs. 1-4, 7] - *Moonlight and Cactus* (1944), as Stubby Lamont - *Dark Mountain* (1944), as Willie Dinsmire - *Dixie Jamboree* (1944), as Jeff Calhoun - *This Is the Life* (1944), as Gus - *Twilight on the Prairie* (1944), as Phil - *Slightly Terrific* (1944), as Charlie Young - *Hi, Good Lookin'!* (1944), as Dynamo Carson - *The Impostor* (1944), as Bouteau - *Hi'ya, Sailor* (1943), as Corky Mills - *Here Comes Kelly* (1943), as Jimmy Kelly - *Melody Parade* (1943), as Jimmy Tracy - *Alaska Highway* (1943), as Pompadour 'Shorty' Jones - *Follow the Band* (1943), as Marvin Howe - *It Ain't Hay* (1943), as Harry, the Horse - *Priorities on Parade* (1942), as Sticks O'Hara - *Kid Glove Killer* (1942), as Eddie Wright - *Flying Blind* (1941), as Riley - *Too Many Blondes* (1941), as Wally Pelton - *The Flame of New Orleans* (1941), as 3rd Sailor - *Six Lessons From Madame La Zonga* (1941), as Skat - *Where Did You Get That Girl?* (1941), as Joe Olsen - *Dark Streets of Cairo* (1940), as Jerry Jones - *Dancing on a Dime* (1940), as Jack Norcross - *La Conga Nights* (1940), as Titus Endover - *The Grapes of Wrath* (1940), as Connie Rivers — Fi1m 86, [page](https://film.one/film/the-grapes-of-wrath.md) - *Allegheny Uprising* (1939), as Will Anderson - *Hawaiian Nights* (1939), as Ray Peters - *Young Mr. Lincoln* (1939), as Adam Clay - *The Flying Irishman* (1939), as Henry Corrigan - *The Family Next Door* (1939), as Sammy Pierce - *Made for Each Other* (1939), as Conway - *Swing, Sister, Swing* (1938), as Chick 'Satchel Lips' Peters - *Big City* (1937), as Mike Edwards - *London by Night* (1937), as Bill - *The Mandarin Mystery* (1936), as Ellery Queen - *The Gentleman from Louisiana* (1936), as Tod Mason - *Mutiny on the Bounty* (1935), as Tommy Ellison — Fi1m 83, [page](https://film.one/film/mutiny-on-the-bounty.md) - *Gridiron Flash* (1934), as Tommy "Cherub" Burke - *Hollywood Party* (1934), as Bob Benson - *Meet the Baron* (1933), as Man at Dock (uncredited) - *Broadway to Hollywood* (1933), as Ted Hackett III - *Strictly Personal* (1933), as Thomas ("Tommy") Jefferson Reed - *Girl Crazy* (1932), as Danny Churchill - *The Big Shot* (1931), as Ray Smith - *The Tip-Off* (1931), as Tommy - *Sweepstakes* (1931), as Buddy Doyle - *Stout Hearts and Willing Hands* (1931), as Eddie - *Big Money* (1930), as Eddie - *Night Work* (1930), as Willie Musher - *The Sophomore* (1929), as Joe Collins - *Noisy Neighbors* (1929), as Eddie Van Revel - *Geraldine* (1929), as Eddie Able - *Show Folks* (1928), as Eddie Kehoe - *The Godless Girl* (1928), as Samuel 'Bozo' Johnson - *Love in a Police Station* (1927), as Officer Eddie Chase - *The Bull Fighter* (1927), as Young Flint - *For Sale, a Bungalow* (1927), as Eddie - *The Golf Nut* (1927), as Eddie - *The College Kiddo* (1927), as Eddie Dunn - the Freshman - *Catalina, Here I Come* (1927), as Eddie - *Kitty from Killarney* (1926), as Eddie McManus - *Should Husbands Marry?* (1926), as Eddie McGrew - *The Perils of Petersboro* (1926), as Eddie Knight - *Her Actor Friend* (1926), as Buddy Jones ## Gallery - ![Portrait of Eddie Quillan (1931)](https://film.one/media/person/469257/gallery-abe5b94becc7.jpg) Portrait of Eddie Quillan (1931) — Uncredited, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/Eddie_Quillan_-_The_Picture_Show_Annual%2C_1931.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Portrait of Eddie Quillan (1931)](https://film.one/media/person/469257/gallery-9f0a2dc4bf5f.jpg) Portrait of Eddie Quillan (1931) — Uncredited, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d5/Eddie_Quillan_-_Cine-Mundial%2C_February_1931.jpg/1280px-Eddie_Quillan_-_Cine-Mundial%2C_February_1931.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Eddie Quillan](https://film.one/media/person/469257/gallery-56721f8025fc.jpg) Eddie Quillan — Trailer screenshot Licencing information : https://web.archive.org/web/20080321033709/http://www.sabucat.com/?pg=copyright and http://www.creativeclearance.com/guidelines.html#D2, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/Eddie_Quillan_in_Broadway_to_Hollywood_trailer.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Eddie Quillan](https://film.one/media/person/469257/gallery-c69f9d35a06c.jpg) Eddie Quillan — Image via TMDB --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/eddie-quillan