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