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Edward "Eddie" Quillan (March 31, 1907 – July 19, 1990) was an American film actor whose career began as a child on the vaudeville stages and silent film and continued through the age of television in the 1980s.
Quillan's very first film appearance was in the 1922 comedy short Up and at 'Em. His next performance was in the 1926 comedy short The Love Sundae opposite actress Alice Day.
Quillan would remain a popular leading and secondary actor throughout the sound film era and would appear in such notable films as 1935's Mutiny on the Bounty with Clark Gable, Charles Laughton, and Franchot Tone, 1939's Young Mr. Lincoln opposite Henry Fonda and Alice Brady, as 'Connie Rivers' in John Ford's 1940 film adaptation of the John Steinbeck novel The Grapes of Wrath opposite Henry Fonda, in 1943's Alaska Highway and It Ain't Hay opposite the comedic duo Abbott and Costello.
Quillan's breezy screen personality was seen in "B" musicals, comedies, and even serials during the 1940s. In 1948 Columbia Pictures producer Jules White teamed Quillan with veteran movie comic Wally Vernon for a series of comedy short subjects. White emphasized extreme physical comedy in these films, and Vernon and Quillan made a good team, enthusiastically engaging in pratfalling, kick-in-the-pants slapstick. The series ran through 1956.
Beginning in the late 1950s, Quillan began to make the transition to the medium of television and by the 1960s could be seen frequently appearing as a guest actor in such series as The Andy Griffith Show, Petticoat Junction, Perry Mason, and approximately five appearances on the camp-horror comedy series The Addams Family. He was a regular on the Anthony Franciosa sitcom Valentine's Day from 1964 to 1965, and from 1968 through 1971 he appeared as "Eddie Edson" on the television drama Julia opposite actress Diahann Carroll.
Through the 1950s and 1960s, Quillan continued to appear in motion pictures, but in increasingly smaller roles and often in bit parts. One notable appearance of the era was his role of 'Sandy' in the 1954 Vincente Minnelli directed musical Brigadoon. Quillan also appeared in the uncredited role of 'Mr.Cassidy' in the 1969 Gene Kelly film adaptation of Hello, Dolly!. Quillan appeared in My Three Sons as Mr Hewlett (1961) and also appeared on the western television adventure series The Rifleman as Angus Evans.
In the 1970s, Quillan made guest appearances on such varied television series as Mannix, Here's Lucy, Chico and the Man and Baretta. After meeting and befriending actor and director Michael Landon, he played numerous bit roles in the popular television series Little House on the Prairie. Quillan also performed in the Landon-directed series Highway to Heaven and Father Murphy during the 1980s. Quillan made his last television appearance in a 1987 episode of the television crime-mystery series Matlock.
Bell Hop
Bookkeeper Abner Keller
Agent
Photographer
Buffalo Bill
Mr. Vincent
Briggs
Ferguson
Bartender
Old Man
Newsie
Hotel Clerk
Dick
Mort
T.J.
Ephraim Smith (uncredited)
Inn Landlord
Mr. Stokey
Proprietor
Cab Driver
Jackson
Abbie Cadabra
Amos Wick
Elevator Starter
Mr. Jellybean
Horace Beesley
Mr. Digby
George Bass
Clyde Arbogast
Joe Digby
Mel Jones
Cowhand (uncredited)
Barkeep
Telegrapher
Horace Arnold
Agent
Poco Loco
Conway
Connie Rivers
Tommy Ellison
Mr. Cassidy (uncredited)
Ray Lawson
Master of Ceremonies (uncredited)
Mr. Willoughby
Bartender
Charlie, School Custodian (uncredited)
Sandy
Cashier (uncredited)
Elevator Operator
Old Man
Train Porter (uncredited)
Boston Mailman
Security Guard
Bellboy
Elevator Boy (uncredited)
Adam Clay
Silver Dollar Bartender (uncredited)
Rafferty
Will Anderson
Buddy Doyle
Stevens House Room Clerk
Willie Dinsmire
Bob Benson
Ted Hackett III
Mike Edwards
Man Watching TV
Pianist
Harry, the Horse
Old White Man
Bouteau
George Cummings
Henry Corrigan
Hotel Clerk
Eddie Kehoe
Chuck Kelly
Chuck Kelly
Titus Endover
Jimmy Tracy
Skat
Joe Olsen
Jerry Jones
Jug Jenks [Chs. 1-4, 7]
Wino
Eddie
Pompadour 'Shorty' Jones
Gus
Stubby Lamont
Jeff Calhoun
Eddie Wright
3rd Sailor
Charlie Young
Riley
Tompkins
Samuel 'Bozo' Johnson
Smitty
Chick 'Satchel Lips' Peters
Tommy
Janitor
Willie Musher
Billy Lambert
Big Top
Man at Dock (uncredited)
Ray Smith
Tommy "Cherub" Burke
Tony Romans
Joe Collins
Jimmy Kelly
Watchman
Wally Pelton
Phil
Eddie
Ray Peters
Jack Norcross
Ellery Queen
Sammy Pierce
Joe Riley
Tod Mason
Sticks O'Hara
Dynamo Carson
Young Flint
(archive footage)
Counterman
Eddie McGrew
Eddie
Marvin Howe
Eddie
Corky Mills
Alfred Ammonet
Danny Churchill
Eddie Dunn - the Freshman
Bill
Eddie McManus
Eddie
Officer Eddie Chase
Eddie Able
Thomas ("Tommy") Jefferson Reed
Buddy Jones
Eddie
Eddie Knight
Eddie