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