Roscoe Karns
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Roscoe Karns (September 7, 1891 – February 6, 1970) was an American actor who appeared in nearly 150 films between 1915 and 1964. He specialized in cynical, wise-cracking (and often tipsy) characters, and his rapid-fire delivery enlivened many comedies and crime thrillers in the 1930s and 1940s. Though he appeared in numerous silent films, such as Wings and Beggars of Life, his career didn't really take off until sound arrived. Arguably his best-known film role was the annoying bus passenger Oscar Shapeley, who tries to pick up Claudette Colbert in the Oscar-winning comedy It Happened One Night (1934), quickly followed by one of his best performances as the boozy press agent Owen O'Malley in Howard Hawks' Twentieth Century. (Six years later, he co-starred as one of the reporters in another Hawks classic, His Girl Friday.) In 1937, Paramount teamed him with Lynne Overman as a pair of laconic private eyes in two B comedy-mysteries, Murder Goes to College and Partners in Crime. From 1950 to 1954, Karns played the title role in the popular DuMont Television Network series Rocky King, Inside Detective. His son, character actor Todd Karns, also appeared in that series. From 1959 to 1962, Karns was cast as Admiral Walter Shafer in seventy-three of the ninety-five episodes of the CBS military sitcom/drama series, Hennesey, starring Jackie Cooper in the title role of a United States Navy physician, and Abby Dalton as nurse Martha Hale. His final film was another Hawks comedy, Man's Favorite Sport?, in 1964. Karns was born in San Bernardino, California, and died in Los Angeles. Description above from the Wikipedia article Roscoe Karns, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia
Known for
Credits
It Happened One Night (1934)
as Oscar Shapeley
Dirigible (1931)
as Sock McGuire
Onionhead (1958)
as 'Windy' Woods
Wings (1927)
as Lieutenant Cameron
Yokel Boy (1942)
as Al Devers
They Drive by Night (1940)
as Irish McGurn
The Jazz Singer (1927)
as Agent (uncredited)
His Girl Friday (1940)
as McCue
Dollar Down (1925)
as Gene Meadows
Woman of the Year (1942)
as Phil Whittaker
Petticoat Politics (1941)
as Joe Higgins
Object: Alimony (1928)
as Al Bryant
Woman Trap (1936)
as Mopsy
That's My Man (1947)
as Toby Gleeton
Front Page Woman (1935)
as Toots O'Grady
Warming Up (1928)
as Hippo
The Ten Commandments (1923)
as The Boy in the Rain (uncredited)
Man's Favorite Sport? (1964)
as Major Phipps
A Lady's Profession (1933)
as Tony
Beggars of Life (1928)
as Lame Hoppy
You'd Be Surprised (1926)
as Party Guest (uncredited)
My Son, The Hero (1943)
as Big-Time Morgan
Bluff (1924)
as Jack Hallowell
One Way to Love (1946)
as Hobie Simmons
Copy (1929)
as City Editor John Mack
Clarence (1937)
as Clarence Smith
The Shopworn Angel (1928)
as Dance Director
You and Me (1938)
as Cuffy
Ladies Must Live (1940)
as Pete Larrabee
Three Cheers for Love (1936)
as Doc 'Short Circuit' Wilson
Alice in Wonderland (1933)
as Tweedledee
Stage Door Canteen (1943)
as Roscoe Karns
Tip-Off Girls (1938)
as Tom Benson aka Tommy Logan
Stowaway (1932)
as Insp. Redding
Conquering the Woman (1922)
as Shorty Thompson
Shoot the Works (1934)
as Sailor Burke
The Midnight Express (1924)
as Switch Hogan
Mr. Carlson of Arizona (1915)
Actor
The Gay Vagabond (1941)
as Arthur Dixon / Jerry Dixon
Night of Mystery (1937)
as Sergeant Heath
The Family Honor (1920)
as Dal Tucker
Something Always Happens (1928)
as George
Twentieth Century (1934)
as Owen O'Malley
The Life of the Party (1920)
as Sam Perkins
Elmer and Elsie (1934)
as Rocky Cott
Half Shot at Sunrise (1941)
as Henry Warren
Today We Live (1933)
as McGinnis
If I Had a Million (1932)
as Private O'Brien
Murder Goes to College (1937)
as Sim Perkins
Border Flight (1936)
as Calico Smith
You Can't Escape Forever (1942)
as 'Mac' McTurk
The Woman in Red (1935)
as Man in court room (uncredited)
The Trail of '98 (1928)
as Man on Ship (uncredited)
Gambling Ship (1933)
as Blooey
Footsteps in the Dark (1941)
as Monahan
They Call It Sin (1932)
as Brad - Rehearsal Director (uncredited)
Her Own Money (1922)
as Jerry Woodward
Moran of the Marines (1928)
as Swatty
That's Right – You're Wrong (1939)
as Mal Stamp
One Way Passage (1932)
as S.S. Maloa Bartender (uncredited)
Left Over Ladies (1931)
as 'Scoop'
One Sunday Afternoon (1933)
as Snappy Downer
Old Acquaintance (1943)
as Charlie Archer
Four Hours to Kill! (1935)
as Johnson
Thanks for the Memory (1938)
as George Kent
His Butler's Sister (1943)
as Fields
This Thing Called Love (1929)
as Harry Bertrand
Minstrel Man (1944)
as Lasses White
Come On, Marines! (1934)
as Spud McGurke
Under-Cover Man (1932)
as Dannie
Lawyer Man (1932)
as Merritt - Reporter (uncredited)
King of Chinatown (1939)
as Rip Harrigan
Ladies of the Big House (1931)
as Frank - Twenty Questions player (uncredited)
Ritzy (1927)
as Smith's Valet
A Tragedy at Midnight (1942)
as Cassidy
Texas, Brooklyn & Heaven (1948)
as Officer Carmody
Laughing Sinners (1931)
as Fred Geer
Double Alibi (1940)
as Jeremiah Jenkins
The Foolish Virgin (1924)
as Chuck Brady
Avalanche (1946)
as Red Kelly
Black Eyes and Blues (1941)
as Alfred Harmon
Riding High (1943)
as Shorty
Other Men's Daughters (1923)
as Hubert
Hi, Good Lookin'! (1944)
as Archie
Scandal Street (1938)
as Austin Brown
Dangerous to Know (1938)
as Duncan
Night After Night (1932)
as Leo
Week-End Marriage (1932)
as Jim Davis
Wings in the Dark (1935)
as Nick Williams
High Pressure (1932)
as Telephone Salesman (uncredited)
On Such a Night (1937)
as Joe Flynn
Alibi Ike (1935)
as Carey
Little Accident (1930)
as Gilbert
Everything's on Ice (1939)
as Felix Miller
Win That Girl (1928)
as Johnny Norton II
Devil's Cargo (1948)
as Lt. Hardy
Safety in Numbers (1930)
as Bertram Shapiro
The Roadhouse Murder (1932)
as Dale
The Navy Way (1944)
as Frankie Gimble
The Crooked Circle (1932)
as Harry Carter
The Women in His Life (1933)
as Aloysius Lester
Two Against the World (1932)
as Segall, reporter
Cain and Mabel (1936)
as Reilly
Poor Relations (1919)
as Henry
New York Nights (1929)
as Johnny Dolan
The Inside Story (1948)
as Eustace Peabody
Partners in Crime (1937)
as Sim Perkins
Troopers Three (1930)
as Bugs
The Desert Bride (1928)
as Pvt. Terry
Road to Happiness (1941)
as Charley Grady
Speed to Spare (1948)
as Kangaroo
Meet the Missus (1940)
as Joe Higgins
From Champion to Tramp (1915)
as The Girl's Father
Red Hot Tires (1935)
as Bud Keene
The Gorilla (1930)
as Simmons
I Sell Anything (1934)
as Monk
Three Married Men (1936)
as Peter Cary
The Vanishing Pioneer (1928)
as Ray Hearn
The Flying Fleet (1929)
as Shipwrecked Radio Operator (uncredited)
Vigilantes of Boomtown (1947)
as Bill Delaney
A Western Governor's Humanity (1915)
as The Sheriff
Dancing Co-Ed (1939)
as Joe Drews
Play Girl (1932)
as Gambler (uncredited)
A Species of Mexican Man (1915)
Actor
Beau Sabreur (1928)
as Buddy
Man Trouble (1930)
as Scott
Grand Slam (1933)
as Contest Radio Announcer
Two-Fisted (1935)
as Chick Moran
Jazz Mad (1928)
as Sol Levy
The Costello Case (1930)
as Blair
The Man Tamer (1921)
as Bradley P. Caldwell Jr
Saturday's Children (1940)
as Willie Sands
Pleasure (1931)
as Arnie
I Ring Doorbells (1946)
as Stubby
Ten Modern Commandments (1927)
as Benny Burnaway
Many a Slip (1931)
as Stan Price
The Trouper (1922)
Actor
The Overland Limited (1925)
as Patrick Henry Madden