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
The Donna Reed Show
Zeke
The Philco Television Playhouse
Gus Gruntle
The Real McCoys
Frank
Dragnet
Climax!
Geist
Maverick
Maverick
Leland Mills
Father Knows Best
Old Man
The Odd Couple
Groundskeeper
The Odd Couple
Mr. Larson
The Odd Couple
Sam
My Favorite Martian
Matt
Ben Casey
Dr. Kildare
Mr. Callahan
Thriller
Streetcar Conductor
The Virginian
Gosta Swenson
Burke's Law
Richard Prince (uncredited)
Cheyenne
Sea Hunt
Green Acres
Mr. Appleby
Green Acres
Willie Dunhill
Mister Ed
Mister Ed
Milo Simmons
The Partridge Family
The Old Man
The Third Man
The Barbara Stanwyck Show
The Streets of San Francisco
Frank Casey
The Millionaire
Harry Stonewall Jackson
Sugarfoot
Jens Jensen
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Mr. Stepp
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Mr. Crabtree
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Elmer Shore
Bronco
The Alaskans
Yancy Derringer
Capt. Sven Larsen
December Bride
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
Peter Ericson
The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.
Dr. Elmer Spritzer
Lux Video Theatre
Eddie
Public Defender
Ames
Casablanca
Berger
Racket Squad
Tate
Sam
No Time for Sergeants
Shane
Old Man
Tightrope
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
Pop Bradshaw
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
Peleg Brewster
Jericho
General Electric Theater
The Searchers
Lars Jorgensen
Street Scene
Karl Olsen (as John M. Qualen)
Anatomy of a Murder
Deputy Sheriff Sulo
His Girl Friday
Earl Williams
The Grapes of Wrath
Muley Graves
North to Alaska
Logger
Nothing Sacred
Fireman (uncredited)
The Sons of Katie Elder
Charlie Biller
Woman on the Run
Maibus
Jungle Book
The Barber
Cheyenne Autumn
Svenson (uncredited)
Elmer Gantry
Sam - Storekeeper
Two Rode Together
Ole Knudsen
Dark Waters
Uncle Norbert
Hollow Triumph
Swangron
Donovan's Reef
Deckhand Who Cries 'Man Overboard' (uncredited)
Reaching from Heaven
The Stranger
The High and the Mighty
Jose Locota
A Big Hand for the Little Lady
Jesse Buford
La Classe américaine
V12 (archive footage) (uncredited)
Arabian Nights
Aladdin
7 Faces of Dr. Lao
Luther Lindquist
Captain Kidd
Bart Blivens
Out of the Fog
Olaf Johnson
The Long Voyage Home
Axel
Firecreek
Hall
Buccaneer's Girl
Vegetable Seller
A Patch of Blue
Mr. Faber
Let Us Live
Dan (uncredited)
The Mad Miss Manton
Night Watchman at Subway Construction Site
Model Wife
The Janitor
The Gun Runners
Pop
All That Money Can Buy
Miser Stevens
The Big Steal
Julius Seton
The Prize
Oscar
The Farmer Takes a Wife
Sol Tinker
The Sea Chase
Chief Engineer Schmitt
Wife vs. Secretary
Mr. Jenkins (uncredited)
Seventh Heaven
Sewer Rat
Saturday's Children
First Carpenter (uncredited)
The Chaser
Lars
I'll Take Sweden
Olaf
Joy of Living
Oswego
Arrowsmith
Henry Novak (uncredited)
The Shepherd of the Hills
Coot Royal
Tortilla Flat
Jose Maria Corcoran
The Fugitive
A Refugee Doctor
River Gang
Uncle Bill
Swing Shift Maisie
Horatio Curley
Larceny, Inc.
Sam Bachrach
Goodbye, My Fancy
Professor Dingley
Johnny Concho
Jake
P.J.
Poppa
Knute Rockne All American
Lars Knutson Rockne
One More Spring
Auctioneer
The Big Land
Sven Johnson
At Gunpoint
Livingstone
Adventure
Model T
Hans Christian Andersen
Burgomaster
The Strange Case of Dr. Meade
Stoner
Upperworld
Janitor
Those Calloways
Ernie Evans
My Girl Tisa
Svenson
Our Daily Bread
Chris (as John T. Qualen)
Thunder in the Night
Hotel Porter
Doubting Thomas
Von Blitzen
Breakdowns of 1942
Self
Man of Iron
Collins
Honeymoon in Bali
Meek Man (uncredited)
Hail, Hero!
Billy Hurd
Passion
Gaspar Melo
The Road to Glory
Duflous
Hi, Nellie!
Steve (uncredited)
The Country Doctor
Asa Wyatt
Blondie on a Budget
Ed Fuddle
Song of Scheherazade
Lorenzo
Ambush at Tomahawk Gap
Jonas P. Travis
Ski Patrol
Gustaf
High Conquest
Peter Oberwalder Sr.
Five of a Kind
Asa Wyatt
I, the Jury
Dr. R.H. Vickers, Veterinarian
Man on a Bus
Second Prisoner
Thunder Afloat
Milo
The Jackpot
Mr. Ferguson (uncredited)
Revolt in the Big House
Doc
Million Dollar Baby
Dr. Patterson
Charlie Chan in Paris
Concierge, Dufresne's Hotel (bit)
Black Fury
Mike Shemanski
Meet Nero Wolfe
Olaf
Hell Bent for Leather
Old Ben
Sing and Like It
Oswald (as John M. Qualen)
The Impostor
Monge
The Great Hotel Murder
Ole
Captain China
Geech
Alias a Gentleman
No End
Four Wives
Frank
The Flying Missile
Lars Hansen
Roughly Speaking
Svend Olsen
He Was Her Man
Dutch, Santa Avila's Cabbie
The Three Musketeers
Planchet
Unchained
Leonard Haskins
Babies for Sale
Howard Anderson
Angels Over Broadway
Charles Engle
Reunion
Asa Wyatt
Youth Will Be Served
Clem Howie
Orchids to You
Smith
Girls' Dormitory
Toni
Getting Away from It All
Charlie Erickson
365 Nights in Hollywood
Prof. Herman Ellenbogen
Servants' Entrance
Detective
The Other Woman
Papasha
Angel's Holiday
Waldo Everett
Doc
Luke
Belle Le Grand
Corky McGee
Frasier, the Sensuous Lion
Old Man on Porch
Whipsaw
Will Dabson
She Had to Eat
Sleepy
Stand Up and Fight
Davy
Fit for a King
Otto
Chasing Yesterday
Coccoz
16 Fathoms Deep
Capt. Athos
Let's Fall in Love
Bjorkman
Let's Fall in Love
Svente Bjorkman
Straight Is the Way
Mr. Clapman (uncredited)
The Bad Man of Brimstone
Loco
Fifty Roads to Town
Sheriff Dow
Counsellor at Law
Breitstein
An American Romance
Anton Dubechek
Silk Hat Kid
Mr. Fossbender
Ring Around the Moon
Bill Harvey
On Their Own
Peters
Mickey the Kid
Mailman
New Wine
Hasslinger's Clerk
My World Dies Screaming
Jonah Snell