---
name: "Jeff Gillen"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/jeff-gillen"
fi1m_id: "jeff-gillen"
imdb_id: "nm0318832"
tmdb_id: 12715
roles: []
born: "2 November 1942"
died: "27 June 1995"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
average_over: 1
updated: "2026-09-26T01:00:27.694626+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."
---

# Jeff Gillen

## Identity

Jeff Gillen

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/jeff-gillen
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** jeff-gillen
- **IMDb ID:** nm0318832
- **TMDB ID:** 12715
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0318832/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/12715

Actor. Born 2 November 1942 in Ohio, USA. Died 27 June 1995.

## Details

- **Born:** 2 November 1942, Ohio, USA
- **Died:** 27 June 1995
- **Elsewhere:** https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0318832/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/12715

## Biography

Jeff Gillen (1942–1995) was an American actor and director. He is best known for playing the department store Santa Claus in the 1983 film *A Christmas Story*.

Born Jeffrey Howard Gillen in Ohio, he trained at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and began his career in stage productions. He directed the 1974 horror film *Deranged* and appeared in supporting roles in films including *Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things* (1972), *Dead of Night* (1974), *Absence of Malice* (1981), *Easy Money* (1983) and *Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach* (1988). He also had television credits such as an episode of *Only Fools and Horses* (1991).

Gillen died of a heart attack in North Miami Beach, Florida.

*Sources: imdb.com, findagrave.com.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *A Christmas Story* (1983), Fi1m 79, as Santa Claus — [page](https://film.one/film/a-christmas-story.md)

## Complete filmography (12)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach* (1988), as Thief's Victim
- *A Christmas Story* (1983), as Santa Claus — Fi1m 79, [page](https://film.one/film/a-christmas-story.md)
- *Easy Money* (1983), as Bettor
- *Absence of Malice* (1981), as Reporter
- *Nobody's Perfekt* (1981), as Window Washer
- *Dead of Night* (1974), as Bartender · Assistant Director
- *The Great Masquerade* (1974), as Fancher
- *Deranged* (1974), Director
- *Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things* (1972), as Jeff
- *She-Man: A Story of Fixation* (1967), Screenplay
- *The Wild Rebels* (1967), as Fats
- *The Emperor's New Clothes* (1966), Producer

---
© 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/jeff-gillen