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
His Girl Friday (1940)
as McCue
Wings (1927)
as Lieutenant Cameron
The Jazz Singer (1927)
as Agent (uncredited)
Onionhead (1958)
as 'Windy' Woods
Woman of the Year (1942)
as Phil Whittaker
They Drive by Night (1940)
as Irish McGurn
Alice in Wonderland (1933)
as Tweedledee
You and Me (1938)
as Cuffy
Woman Trap (1936)
as Mopsy
The Ten Commandments (1923)
as The Boy in the Rain (uncredited)
Man's Favorite Sport? (1964)
as Major Phipps
Stage Door Canteen (1943)
as Roscoe Karns
The Woman in Red (1935)
as Man in court room (uncredited)
Twentieth Century (1934)
as Owen O'Malley
Dirigible (1931)
as Sock McGuire
Stowaway (1932)
as Insp. Redding
Object: Alimony (1928)
as Al Bryant
Petticoat Politics (1941)
as Joe Higgins
Copy (1929)
as City Editor John Mack
If I Had a Million (1932)
as Private O'Brien
Yokel Boy (1942)
as Al Devers
Minstrel Man (1944)
as Lasses White
One Way Passage (1932)
as S.S. Maloa Bartender (uncredited)
Cain and Mabel (1936)
as Reilly
Dollar Down (1925)
as Gene Meadows
Gambling Ship (1933)
as Blooey
Beggars of Life (1928)
as Lame Hoppy
The Desert Bride (1928)
as Pvt. Terry
Lawyer Man (1932)
as Merritt - Reporter (uncredited)
Front Page Woman (1935)
as Toots O'Grady
Footsteps in the Dark (1941)
as Monahan
Old Acquaintance (1943)
as Charlie Archer
One Way to Love (1946)
as Hobie Simmons
The Gay Vagabond (1941)
as Arthur Dixon / Jerry Dixon
King of Chinatown (1939)
as Rip Harrigan
Alibi Ike (1935)
as Carey
Dangerous to Know (1938)
as Duncan
Tip-Off Girls (1938)
as Tom Benson aka Tommy Logan
That's My Man (1947)
as Toby Gleeton
Night After Night (1932)
as Leo
Today We Live (1933)
as McGinnis
A Lady's Profession (1933)
as Tony
Riding High (1943)
as Shorty
Warming Up (1928)
as Hippo
Ladies of the Big House (1931)
as Frank - Twenty Questions player (uncredited)
Laughing Sinners (1931)
as Fred Geer
Murder Goes to College (1937)
as Sim Perkins
The Women in His Life (1933)
as Aloysius Lester
A Tragedy at Midnight (1942)
as Cassidy
Speed to Spare (1948)
as Kangaroo
Grand Slam (1933)
as Contest Radio Announcer
The Inside Story (1948)
as Eustace Peabody
Clarence (1937)
as Clarence Smith
Texas, Brooklyn & Heaven (1948)
as Officer Carmody
They Call It Sin (1932)
as Brad - Rehearsal Director (uncredited)
Dancing Co-Ed (1939)
as Joe Drews
His Butler's Sister (1943)
as Fields
Something Always Happens (1928)
as George
Road to Happiness (1941)
as Charley Grady
You'd Be Surprised (1926)
as Party Guest (uncredited)
Bluff (1924)
as Jack Hallowell
Come On, Marines! (1934)
as Spud McGurke
Vigilantes of Boomtown (1947)
as Bill Delaney
The Flying Fleet (1929)
as Shipwrecked Radio Operator (uncredited)
The Shopworn Angel (1928)
as Dance Director
Conquering the Woman (1922)
as Shorty Thompson
Elmer and Elsie (1934)
as Rocky Cott
Saturday's Children (1940)
as Willie Sands
Night of Mystery (1937)
as Sergeant Heath
The Navy Way (1944)
as Frankie Gimble
Everything's on Ice (1939)
as Felix Miller
Many a Slip (1931)
as Stan Price
Pleasure (1931)
as Arnie
Ladies Must Live (1940)
as Pete Larrabee
That's Right – You're Wrong (1939)
as Mal Stamp
Three Married Men (1936)
as Peter Cary
This Thing Called Love (1929)
as Harry Bertrand
The Vanishing Pioneer (1928)
as Ray Hearn
The Midnight Express (1924)
as Switch Hogan
Week-End Marriage (1932)
as Jim Davis
The Trail of '98 (1928)
as Man on Ship (uncredited)
Little Accident (1930)
as Gilbert
Win That Girl (1928)
as Johnny Norton II
New York Nights (1929)
as Johnny Dolan
Under-Cover Man (1932)
as Dannie
On Such a Night (1937)
as Joe Flynn
Ritzy (1927)
as Smith's Valet
Her Own Money (1922)
as Jerry Woodward
Double Alibi (1940)
as Jeremiah Jenkins
Thanks for the Memory (1938)
as George Kent
You Can't Escape Forever (1942)
as 'Mac' McTurk
The Crooked Circle (1932)
as Harry Carter
My Son, The Hero (1943)
as Big-Time Morgan
Two Against the World (1932)
as Segall, reporter
Jazz Mad (1928)
as Sol Levy
Border Flight (1936)
as Calico Smith
Man Trouble (1930)
as Scott
The Life of the Party (1920)
as Sam Perkins
I Sell Anything (1934)
as Monk
Four Hours to Kill! (1935)
as Johnson
Hi, Good Lookin'! (1944)
as Archie
Partners in Crime (1937)
as Sim Perkins
Wings in the Dark (1935)
as Nick Williams
High Pressure (1932)
as Telephone Salesman (uncredited)
The Trouper (1922)
Actor
Meet the Missus (1940)
as Joe Higgins
Red Hot Tires (1935)
as Bud Keene
Two-Fisted (1935)
as Chick Moran
The Costello Case (1930)
as Blair
The Family Honor (1920)
as Dal Tucker
Beau Sabreur (1928)
as Buddy
Shoot the Works (1934)
as Sailor Burke
Troopers Three (1930)
as Bugs
Poor Relations (1919)
as Henry
One Sunday Afternoon (1933)
as Snappy Downer
The Gorilla (1930)
as Simmons
Other Men's Daughters (1923)
as Hubert
Moran of the Marines (1928)
as Swatty
Devil's Cargo (1948)
as Lt. Hardy
Left Over Ladies (1931)
as 'Scoop'
I Ring Doorbells (1946)
as Stubby
Safety in Numbers (1930)
as Bertram Shapiro
Black Eyes and Blues (1941)
as Alfred Harmon
Ten Modern Commandments (1927)
as Benny Burnaway
The Foolish Virgin (1924)
as Chuck Brady
A Species of Mexican Man (1915)
Actor
The Roadhouse Murder (1932)
as Dale
Play Girl (1932)
as Gambler (uncredited)
Avalanche (1946)
as Red Kelly
The Overland Limited (1925)
as Patrick Henry Madden
Mr. Carlson of Arizona (1915)
Actor
A Western Governor's Humanity (1915)
as The Sheriff
Scandal Street (1938)
as Austin Brown
Half Shot at Sunrise (1941)
as Henry Warren
The Man Tamer (1921)
as Bradley P. Caldwell Jr
From Champion to Tramp (1915)
as The Girl's Father