John Qualen
Born December 06, 1899 (Age: 126)
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Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Biography
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.
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.
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Filmography
La Classe américaine
1993
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as V12 (archive footage) (uncredited)
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Age: 94
Frasier, the Sensuous Lion
1973
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as Old Man on Porch
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Age: 73
Getting Away from It All
1972
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as Charlie Erickson
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Age: 72
Hail, Hero!
1969
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as Billy Hurd
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Age: 69
Doc
1969
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as Luke
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Age: 69
A Patch of Blue
1965
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as Mr. Faber
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Age: 66
The Sons of Katie Elder
1965
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as Charlie Biller
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Age: 65
I'll Take Sweden
1965
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as Olaf
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Age: 65
Those Calloways
1964
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as Ernie Evans
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Age: 64
Cheyenne Autumn
1964
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as Svenson (uncredited)
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Age: 64
7 Faces of Dr. Lao
1964
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as Luther Lindquist
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Age: 64
The Prize
1963
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as Oscar
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Age: 64
Donovan's Reef
1963
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as Deckhand Who Cries 'Man Overboard' (uncredited)
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Age: 63
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
1962
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as Peter Ericson
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Age: 62
Two Rode Together
1961
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as Ole Knudsen
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Age: 61
North to Alaska
1960
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as Logger
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Age: 60
Elmer Gantry
1960
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as Sam - Storekeeper
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Age: 60
Hell Bent for Leather
1960
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as Old Ben
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Age: 60
Anatomy of a Murder
1959
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as Deputy Sheriff Sulo Kangas
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Age: 59
Revolt in the Big House
1958
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as Doc
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Age: 59
My World Dies Screaming
1958
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as Jonah Snell
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Age: 58
The Gun Runners
1958
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as Pop
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Age: 58
Johnny Concho
1956
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as Jake
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Age: 56
The Searchers
1956
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as Lars Jorgensen
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Age: 56
At Gunpoint
1955
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as Livingstone
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Age: 56
Unchained
1955
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as Leonard Haskins
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Age: 55
The Sea Chase
1955
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as Chief Engineer Schmitt
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Age: 55
Man on a Bus
1955
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as Second Prisoner
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Age: 55
The Other Woman
1954
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as Papasha
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Age: 54
Passion
1954
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as Gaspar Melo
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Age: 54
The High and the Mighty
1954
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as Jose Locota
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Age: 54
I, the Jury
1953
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as Dr. R.H. Vickers, Veterinarian
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Age: 53
Ambush at Tomahawk Gap
1953
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as Jonas P. Travis
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Age: 53
The Flying Missile
1950
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as Lars Hansen
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Age: 51
Woman on the Run
1950
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as Maibus
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Age: 50
The Jackpot
1950
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as Mr. Ferguson (uncredited)
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Age: 50
Buccaneer's Girl
1950
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as Vegetable Seller
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Age: 50
Captain China
1950
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as Geech
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Age: 50
Adventure
1945
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as Model T
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Age: 46
Captain Kidd
1945
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as Bart Blivens
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Age: 45
River Gang
1945
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as Uncle Bill
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Age: 45
Roughly Speaking
1945
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as Svend Olsen
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Age: 45
Breakdowns of 1942
1942
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as Self
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Age: 43
Arabian Nights
1942
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as Aladdin
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Age: 43
Tortilla Flat
1942
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as Jose Maria Corcoran
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Age: 42
Larceny, Inc.
1942
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as Sam Bachrach
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Age: 42
Jungle Book
1942
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as The Barber
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Age: 42
All That Money Can Buy
1941
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as Miser Stevens
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Age: 41
New Wine
1941
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as Hasslinger's Clerk
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Age: 41
The Shepherd of the Hills
1941
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as Coot Royal
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Age: 41
Out of the Fog
1941
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as Olaf Johnson
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Age: 41
Million Dollar Baby
1941
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as Dr. Patterson
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Age: 41
Model Wife
1941
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as The Janitor
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Age: 41
Arrowsmith
1931
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as Henry Novak (uncredited)
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Age: 32
Street Scene
1931
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as Karl Olsen (as John M. Qualen)
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Age: 31