John Qualen
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
John Qualen (born Johan Mandt Kvalen, December 8, 1899 – September 12, 1987) was a Canadian-American character actor of Norwegian heritage who specialized in Scandinavian roles.
Qualen was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, the son of immigrants from Norway; his father was a Lutheran minister and changed the family's original surname, "Kvalen", to "Qualen" – though some sources give Oleson, later Oleson Kvalen as Qualen's earlier surnames. His father's ministering meant many moves and John was 20 when he graduated from Elgin High School in 1920. Though he was awarded a scholarship to Northwestern University after he won an oratory contest he never attended college. In a Milwaukee Journal interview he said he needed to start working and did so with the Chattaqua Circuit. Eventually reaching Broadway, he gained his big break as the Swedish janitor in Elmer Rice's Street Scene. His movie career began when he recreated the role in the film version. This was followed by his appearance in John Ford's Arrowsmith (1931) which began a more than thirty year membership in the director's "stock company", with important supporting roles in The Searchers (1956), Two Rode Together (1961), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) and Cheyenne Autumn (1964).
Appearing in well over one hundred films, and acting extensively on television into the 1970s, Qualen performed many of his roles with various accents, usually Scandinavian, often intended for comic effect. Three of his more memorable roles showcase his versatility. Qualen assumed a Midwestern dialect as Muley, who recounts the destruction of his farm by the bank in Ford's The Grapes of Wrath (1940), and as the confused killer Earl Williams in Howard Hawks' classic comedy His Girl Friday (also 1940). As Berger, the jewelry-selling Norwegian resistance member in Michael Curtiz' Casablanca (1942), he essayed a light Scandinavian accent, but put on a thicker Mediterranean accent as the homeward-bound fisherman Locota in William Wellman's The High and the Mighty (1954)
Qualen was treasurer of The Authors Club and historian of The Masquers, Hollywood's social group for actors.
John Qualen was blind in his later years. He died of heart failure in 1987 in Torrance, California, and was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale. He was survived by his three daughters.
Known for
The Andy Griffith Show
Henry Bennett
Maverick
Maverick
Leland Mills
The Virginian
Gosta Swenson
Cheyenne
Dragnet
Climax!
Geist
Dr. Kildare
Mr. Callahan
Lawman
Doc Shea
Green Acres
Mr. Appleby
Green Acres
Willie Dunhill
Ben Casey
Burke's Law
Richard Prince (uncredited)
The Donna Reed Show
Zeke
The Philco Television Playhouse
Gus Gruntle
Hollow Triumph
Swangron
The Odd Couple
Groundskeeper
The Odd Couple
Mr. Larson
The Odd Couple
Sam
7 Faces of Dr. Lao
Luther Lindquist
Father Knows Best
Old Man
Thriller
Streetcar Conductor
Sea Hunt
The High and the Mighty
Jose Locota
Casablanca
Berger
Mister Ed
Mister Ed
Milo Simmons
My Favorite Martian
Matt
The Streets of San Francisco
Frank Casey
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Mr. Stepp
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Mr. Crabtree
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Elmer Shore
Arrowsmith
Henry Novak (uncredited)
Angels Over Broadway
Charles Engle
The Jackpot
Mr. Ferguson (uncredited)
The Partridge Family
The Old Man
The Real McCoys
Frank
Sugarfoot
Jens Jensen
Four Wives
Frank
Black Fury
Mike Shemanski
Bronco
The Three Musketeers
Planchet
Woman on the Run
Maibus
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
Peter Ericson
The Fugitive
A Refugee Doctor
The Long Voyage Home
Axel
The Farmer Takes a Wife
Sol Tinker
The Millionaire
Harry Stonewall Jackson
December Bride
The Prize
Oscar
Seventh Heaven
Sewer Rat
The Shepherd of the Hills
Coot Royal
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
La Classe américaine
V12 (archive footage) (uncredited)
Two Rode Together
Ole Knudsen
Thunder Afloat
Milo
The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.
Dr. Elmer Spritzer
Tortilla Flat
Jose Maria Corcoran
A Big Hand for the Little Lady
Jesse Buford
The Road to Glory
Duflous
He Was Her Man
Dutch, Santa Avila's Cabbie
She Had to Eat
Sleepy
Song of Scheherazade
Lorenzo
Cheyenne Autumn
Svenson (uncredited)
The Big Land
Sven Johnson
Adventure
Model T
Whipsaw
Will Dabson
Arabian Nights
Aladdin
The Big Steal
Julius Seton
The Flying Missile
Lars Hansen
The Third Man
The Mad Miss Manton
Night Watchman at Subway Construction Site
Lux Video Theatre
Eddie
P.J.
Poppa
The Grapes of Wrath
Muley Graves
The Sea Chase
Chief Engineer Schmitt
Joy of Living
Oswego
Public Defender
Ames
Hi, Nellie!
Steve (uncredited)
Racket Squad
North to Alaska
Logger
The Barbara Stanwyck Show
Ski Patrol
Gustaf
Breakdowns of 1942
Self
Knute Rockne All American
Lars Knutson Rockne
Out of the Fog
Olaf Johnson
The Sons of Katie Elder
Charlie Biller
River Gang
Uncle Bill
Chasing Yesterday
Coccoz
Johnny Concho
Jake
High Conquest
Peter Oberwalder Sr.
Let's Fall in Love
Bjorkman
Let's Fall in Love
Svente Bjorkman
The Searchers
Lars Jorgensen
Tightrope
Stand Up and Fight
Davy
The Impostor
Monge
The Alaskans
Nothing Sacred
Fireman (uncredited)
I'll Take Sweden
Olaf
Captain China
Geech
Reunion
Asa Wyatt
Unchained
Leonard Haskins
Yancy Derringer
Capt. Sven Larsen
Charlie Chan in Paris
Concierge, Dufresne's Hotel (bit)
Elmer Gantry
Sam - Storekeeper
Donovan's Reef
Deckhand Who Cries 'Man Overboard' (uncredited)
Hell Bent for Leather
Old Ben
Dark Waters
Uncle Norbert
Belle Le Grand
Corky McGee
The Bad Man of Brimstone
Loco
All That Money Can Buy
Miser Stevens
Jungle Book
The Barber
Roughly Speaking
Svend Olsen
Goodbye, My Fancy
Professor Dingley
A Patch of Blue
Mr. Faber
Shane
Old Man
Doubting Thomas
Von Blitzen
Man on a Bus
Second Prisoner
Hans Christian Andersen
Burgomaster
Saturday's Children
First Carpenter (uncredited)
One More Spring
Auctioneer
The Great Hotel Murder
Ole
Getting Away from It All
Charlie Erickson
Our Daily Bread
Chris (as John T. Qualen)
Babies for Sale
Howard Anderson
Upperworld
Janitor
The Other Woman
Papasha
Hail, Hero!
Billy Hurd
Anatomy of a Murder
Deputy Sheriff Sulo
I, the Jury
Dr. R.H. Vickers, Veterinarian
Alias a Gentleman
No End
Frasier, the Sensuous Lion
Old Man on Porch
My World Dies Screaming
Jonah Snell
Blondie on a Budget
Ed Fuddle
Girls' Dormitory
Toni
Swing Shift Maisie
Horatio Curley
Buccaneer's Girl
Vegetable Seller
Let Us Live
Dan (uncredited)
My Girl Tisa
Svenson
Youth Will Be Served
Clem Howie
Jericho
An American Romance
Anton Dubechek
Revolt in the Big House
Doc
On Their Own
Peters
Orchids to You
Smith
Doc
Luke
The Gun Runners
Pop
Honeymoon in Bali
Meek Man (uncredited)
His Girl Friday
Earl Williams
Wife vs. Secretary
Mr. Jenkins (uncredited)
Silk Hat Kid
Mr. Fossbender
Thunder in the Night
Hotel Porter
Ambush at Tomahawk Gap
Jonas P. Travis
Reaching from Heaven
The Stranger
16 Fathoms Deep
Capt. Athos
Mickey the Kid
Mailman
Tate
Sam
No Time for Sergeants
Man of Iron
Collins
Angel's Holiday
Waldo Everett
Model Wife
The Janitor
Million Dollar Baby
Dr. Patterson
New Wine
Hasslinger's Clerk
Fit for a King
Otto
Sing and Like It
Oswald (as John M. Qualen)
Street Scene
Karl Olsen (as John M. Qualen)
Straight Is the Way
Mr. Clapman (uncredited)
Five of a Kind
Asa Wyatt
Fifty Roads to Town
Sheriff Dow
Ring Around the Moon
Bill Harvey
Firecreek
Hall
Meet Nero Wolfe
Olaf
General Electric Theater
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
Pop Bradshaw
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
Peleg Brewster
Captain Kidd
Bart Blivens
Passion
Gaspar Melo
Larceny, Inc.
Sam Bachrach
Those Calloways
Ernie Evans
At Gunpoint
Livingstone
Counsellor at Law
Breitstein
The Country Doctor
Asa Wyatt
Servants' Entrance
Detective
The Chaser
Lars
The Strange Case of Dr. Meade
Stoner
365 Nights in Hollywood
Prof. Herman Ellenbogen