John Qualen
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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
Credits
Casablanca (1943)
as Berger
The Searchers (1956)
as Lars Jorgensen
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
as Peter Ericson
Doc (1969)
as Luke
Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
as Deputy Sheriff Sulo
Passion (1954)
as Gaspar Melo
The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
as Muley Graves
The Sons of Katie Elder (1965)
as Charlie Biller
The Prize (1963)
as Oscar
A Patch of Blue (1965)
as Mr. Faber
I'll Take Sweden (1965)
as Olaf
A Big Hand for the Little Lady (1966)
as Jesse Buford
North to Alaska (1960)
as Logger
P.J. (1968)
as Poppa
Donovan's Reef (1963)
as Deckhand Who Cries 'Man Overboard' (uncredited)
His Girl Friday (1940)
as Earl Williams
Hi, Nellie! (1934)
as Steve (uncredited)
Knute Rockne All American (1940)
as Lars Knutson Rockne
Cheyenne Autumn (1964)
as Svenson (uncredited)
Woman on the Run (1950)
as Maibus
Breakdowns of 1942 (1942)
as Self
Buccaneer's Girl (1950)
as Vegetable Seller
The High and the Mighty (1954)
as Jose Locota
Jungle Book (1942)
as The Barber
The Long Voyage Home (1940)
as Axel
Hell Bent for Leather (1960)
as Old Ben
Charlie Chan in Paris (1935)
as Concierge, Dufresne's Hotel (bit)
Let Us Live (1939)
as Dan (uncredited)
I, the Jury (1953)
as Dr. R.H. Vickers, Veterinarian
The Sea Chase (1955)
as Chief Engineer Schmitt
Hollow Triumph (1948)
as Dr. Swangron
Our Daily Bread (1934)
as Chris (as John T. Qualen)
Hans Christian Andersen (1952)
as Burgomaster
Wife vs. Secretary (1936)
as Mr. Jenkins (uncredited)
Two Rode Together (1961)
as Ole Knudsen
Elmer Gantry (1960)
as Sam - Storekeeper
Five of a Kind (1938)
as Asa Wyatt
All That Money Can Buy (1941)
as Miser Stevens
Model Wife (1941)
as The Janitor
Nothing Sacred (1937)
as Fireman (uncredited)
Those Calloways (1964)
as Ernie Evans
Girls' Dormitory (1936)
as Toni
Babies for Sale (1940)
as Howard Anderson
The Shepherd of the Hills (1941)
as Coot Royal
Reaching from Heaven (1948)
as The Stranger
An American Romance (1944)
as Anton Dubechek
Captain Kidd (1945)
as Bart Blivens
My Girl Tisa (1948)
as Svenson
La Classe américaine (1993)
as V12 (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Mad Miss Manton (1938)
as Night Watchman at Subway Construction Site
Tortilla Flat (1942)
as Jose Maria Corcoran
The Big Land (1957)
as Sven Johnson
The Fugitive (1947)
as A Refugee Doctor
Ring Around the Moon (1936)
as Bill Harvey
Arabian Nights (1942)
as Aladdin
Out of the Fog (1941)
as Olaf Johnson
Firecreek (1968)
as Hall
7 Faces of Dr. Lao (1964)
as Luther Lindquist
The Farmer Takes a Wife (1935)
as Sol Tinker
Adventure (1945)
as Model T
Seventh Heaven (1937)
as Sewer Rat
Ambush at Tomahawk Gap (1953)
as Jonas P. Travis
The Jackpot (1950)
as Mr. Ferguson (uncredited)
The Gun Runners (1958)
as Pop
At Gunpoint (1955)
as Livingstone
Meet Nero Wolfe (1936)
as Olaf
Johnny Concho (1956)
as Jake
Arrowsmith (1931)
as Henry Novak (uncredited)
Fit for a King (1937)
as Otto
He Was Her Man (1934)
as Dutch, Santa Avila's Cabbie
The Road to Glory (1936)
as Duflous
Whipsaw (1935)
as Will Dabson
Angels Over Broadway (1940)
as Charles Engle
The Country Doctor (1936)
as Asa Wyatt
Joy of Living (1938)
as Oswego
Song of Scheherazade (1947)
as Lorenzo
Larceny, Inc. (1942)
as Sam Bachrach
Street Scene (1931)
as Karl Olsen (as John M. Qualen)
Blondie on a Budget (1940)
as Ed Fuddle
The Big Steal (1949)
as Julius Seton
Counsellor at Law (1933)
as Breitstein
The Three Musketeers (1935)
as Planchet
She Had to Eat (1937)
as Sleepy
Let's Fall in Love (1933)
as Bjorkman
Stand Up and Fight (1939)
as Davy
My World Dies Screaming (1958)
as Jonah Snell
The Strange Case of Dr. Meade (1938)
as Stoner
Captain China (1950)
as Geech
Getting Away from It All (1972)
as Charlie Erickson
Goodbye, My Fancy (1951)
as Professor Dingley
Revolt in the Big House (1958)
as Doc
Black Fury (1935)
as Mike Shemanski
Unchained (1955)
as Leonard Haskins
The Bad Man of Brimstone (1937)
as Loco
Four Wives (1939)
as Frank
Dark Waters (1944)
as Uncle Norbert
The Great Hotel Murder (1935)
as Ole
The Flying Missile (1950)
as Lars Hansen
Million Dollar Baby (1941)
as Dr. Patterson
Hail, Hero! (1969)
as Billy Hurd
Roughly Speaking (1945)
as Svend Olsen
Honeymoon in Bali (1939)
as Meek Man (uncredited)
365 Nights in Hollywood (1934)
as Prof. Herman Ellenbogen
Belle Le Grand (1951)
as Corky McGee
Sing and Like It (1934)
as Oswald (as John M. Qualen)
One More Spring (1935)
as Auctioneer
The Impostor (1944)
as Monge
Straight Is the Way (1934)
as Mr. Clapman (uncredited)
Man on a Bus (1955)
as Second Prisoner
Angel's Holiday (1937)
as Waldo Everett
Frasier, the Sensuous Lion (1973)
as Old Man on Porch
Thunder in the Night (1935)
as Hotel Porter
New Wine (1941)
as Hasslinger's Clerk
Youth Will Be Served (1940)
as Clem Howie
Swing Shift Maisie (1943)
as Horatio Curley
The Chaser (1938)
as Lars
Fifty Roads to Town (1937)
as Sheriff Dow
Mickey the Kid (1939)
as Mailman
The Other Woman (1954)
as Papasha
Upperworld (1934)
as Janitor
Ski Patrol (1940)
as Gustaf
Alias a Gentleman (1948)
as No End
High Conquest (1947)
as Peter Oberwalder Sr.
River Gang (1945)
as Uncle Bill
On Their Own (1940)
as Peters
Thunder Afloat (1939)
as Milo
Doubting Thomas (1935)
as Von Blitzen
Man of Iron (1935)
as Collins
Orchids to You (1935)
as Smith
Servants' Entrance (1934)
as Detective
Reunion (1936)
as Asa Wyatt
16 Fathoms Deep (1948)
as Capt. Athos
Silk Hat Kid (1935)
as Mr. Fossbender
Saturday's Children (1940)
as First Carpenter (uncredited)
Chasing Yesterday (1935)
as Coccoz