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.
178 acting credits
Acting · 178
The Andy Griffith Show
1960
Maverick
1957
Dragnet
1951
The Virginian
1962
Dr. Kildare
1961
The Philco Television Playhouse
1948
Climax!
1954
Cheyenne
1955
Ben Casey
1961
Burke's Law
1963
Lawman
1958
Green Acres
1965
The Odd Couple
1970
The Donna Reed Show
1958
Thriller
1960
The Streets of San Francisco
1972
Mister Ed
1961
Sea Hunt
1958
Sugarfoot
1957
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1955
Father Knows Best
1954
My Favorite Martian
1963
The Real McCoys
1957
The Partridge Family
1970
Bronco
1958
The Millionaire
1955
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
1958
The Barbara Stanwyck Show
1960
Casablanca
1942
Lux Video Theatre
1950
December Bride
1954
The Third Man
1959
Yancy Derringer
1958
Tightrope
1959
Public Defender
1954
The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.
1966
Racket Squad
1951
The Alaskans
1959
Shane
1966
The Searchers
1956
Jericho
1966
Tate
1960
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
1962
General Electric Theater
1953
The Grapes of Wrath
1940
His Girl Friday
1940
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
1951
Anatomy of a Murder
1959
Elmer Gantry
1960
Donovan's Reef
1963
The Sons of Katie Elder
1965
No Time for Sergeants
1964
The High and the Mighty
1954
Cheyenne Autumn
1964
Two Rode Together
1961
North to Alaska
1960
Jungle Book
1942
Firecreek
1968
Arabian Nights
1942
A Patch of Blue
1965
P.J.
1968
Nothing Sacred
1937
The Sea Chase
1955
Hans Christian Andersen
1952
A Big Hand for the Little Lady
1966
La Classe américaine
1993
The Prize
1963
All That Money Can Buy
1941
Captain Kidd
1945
Out of the Fog
1941
The Gun Runners
1958
Wife vs. Secretary
1936
The Shepherd of the Hills
1941
Let Us Live
1939
Our Daily Bread
1934
The Jackpot
1950
The Fugitive
1947
The Road to Glory
1936
Getting Away from It All
1972
Whipsaw
1935
Hell Bent for Leather
1960
Woman on the Run
1950
The Mad Miss Manton
1938
The Country Doctor
1936
Unchained
1955
The Long Voyage Home
1940
Upperworld
1934
Those Calloways
1964
Buccaneer's Girl
1950
Blondie on a Budget
1940
I'll Take Sweden
1965
The Other Woman
1954
Hi, Nellie!
1934
Belle Le Grand
1951
Larceny, Inc.
1942
Dark Waters
1944
The Big Steal
1949
Hail, Hero!
1969
Street Scene
1931
Thunder in the Night
1935
The Big Land
1957
Four Wives
1939
Hollow Triumph
1948
Arrowsmith
1931
Angels Over Broadway
1940
7 Faces of Dr. Lao
1964
Ambush at Tomahawk Gap
1953
Doubting Thomas
1935
Doc
1969
Adventure
1945
Man on a Bus
1955
Angel's Holiday
1937
Seventh Heaven
1937
Passion
1954
Knute Rockne All American
1940
Million Dollar Baby
1941
Goodbye, My Fancy
1951
Stand Up and Fight
1939
I, the Jury
1953
Roughly Speaking
1945
The Three Musketeers
1935
She Had to Eat
1937
Charlie Chan in Paris
1935
Black Fury
1935
Reaching from Heaven
1948
Joy of Living
1938
He Was Her Man
1934
The Impostor
1944
Reunion
1936
One More Spring
1935
High Conquest
1947
Counsellor at Law
1933
My Girl Tisa
1948
The Farmer Takes a Wife
1935
Honeymoon in Bali
1939
Ring Around the Moon
1936
At Gunpoint
1955
Breakdowns of 1942
1942
Captain China
1950
The Strange Case of Dr. Meade
1938
Tortilla Flat
1942
My World Dies Screaming
1958
Thunder Afloat
1939
The Flying Missile
1950
Girls' Dormitory
1936
Ski Patrol
1940
Swing Shift Maisie
1943
Chasing Yesterday
1935
Fifty Roads to Town
1937
The Chaser
1938
The Great Hotel Murder
1935
Servants' Entrance
1934
365 Nights in Hollywood
1934
On Their Own
1940
Meet Nero Wolfe
1936
Johnny Concho
1956
Model Wife
1941
The Bad Man of Brimstone
1937
Straight Is the Way
1934
River Gang
1945
Saturday's Children
1940
Song of Scheherazade
1947
Silk Hat Kid
1935
Fit for a King
1937
Let's Fall in Love
1933
Mickey the Kid
1939
Youth Will Be Served
1940
Frasier, the Sensuous Lion
1973
Revolt in the Big House
1958
An American Romance
1944
16 Fathoms Deep
1948
Sing and Like It
1934
New Wine
1941
Babies for Sale
1940
Alias a Gentleman
1948
Five of a Kind
1938
Orchids to You
1935
Man of Iron
1935