John Qualen
Acting
- Born:
- 1899-12-06
- Died:
- 1987-09-12
- Place of birth:
- 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.
Known For
Filmography
La Classe américaine
Frasier, the Sensuous Lion
The Streets of San Francisco
Getting Away from It All
The Partridge Family
The Odd Couple
Hail, Hero!
Doc
P.J.
Firecreek
Jericho
The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.
Shane
A Big Hand for the Little Lady
A Patch of Blue
Green Acres
The Sons of Katie Elder
I'll Take Sweden
Those Calloways
Cheyenne Autumn
No Time for Sergeants
7 Faces of Dr. Lao
The Prize
My Favorite Martian
Burke's Law
Donovan's Reef
The Virginian
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
Ben Casey
Hazel
Dr. Kildare
Two Rode Together
Mister Ed
North to Alaska
The Andy Griffith Show
The Barbara Stanwyck Show
Thriller
Elmer Gantry
Tate
Hell Bent for Leather
The Alaskans
The Third Man
Bonanza
Tightrope
Anatomy of a Murder
Revolt in the Big House
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
Lawman
Yancy Derringer
The Donna Reed Show
Bronco
My World Dies Screaming
The Gun Runners
Sea Hunt
The Real McCoys
Maverick
Sugarfoot
The Big Land
Johnny Concho
The Searchers
At Gunpoint
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Cheyenne
Unchained
The Sea Chase
Man on a Bus
The Millionaire
The Other Woman
Climax!
Passion
December Bride
Father Knows Best
The High and the Mighty
Public Defender
I, the Jury
Ambush at Tomahawk Gap
General Electric Theater
Hans Christian Andersen
Dragnet
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
Racket Squad
Goodbye, My Fancy
Belle Le Grand
The Flying Missile
Woman on the Run
The Jackpot
Lux Video Theatre
Buccaneer's Girl
Captain China
The Big Steal
The Philco Television Playhouse
Hollow Triumph
16 Fathoms Deep
My Girl Tisa
Alias a Gentleman
Reaching from Heaven
The Fugitive
High Conquest
Song of Scheherazade
Adventure
Captain Kidd
River Gang
Roughly Speaking
Dark Waters
An American Romance
The Impostor
Swing Shift Maisie
Casablanca
Breakdowns of 1942
Arabian Nights
Tortilla Flat
Larceny, Inc.
Jungle Book
All That Money Can Buy
New Wine
The Shepherd of the Hills
Out of the Fog
Million Dollar Baby
Model Wife
Youth Will Be Served
The Long Voyage Home
Knute Rockne All American
Angels Over Broadway
Babies for Sale
On Their Own
Ski Patrol
Saturday's Children
The Grapes of Wrath
Blondie on a Budget
His Girl Friday
Four Wives
Honeymoon in Bali
Thunder Afloat
Mickey the Kid
Let Us Live
Stand Up and Fight
The Strange Case of Dr. Meade
The Mad Miss Manton
Five of a Kind
The Chaser
Joy of Living
The Bad Man of Brimstone
Nothing Sacred
Fit for a King
She Had to Eat
Angel's Holiday
Fifty Roads to Town
Seventh Heaven
Reunion
The Road to Glory
Girls' Dormitory
Meet Nero Wolfe
The Country Doctor
Wife vs. Secretary
Ring Around the Moon
Man of Iron
Whipsaw
The Three Musketeers
Thunder in the Night
Orchids to You
Silk Hat Kid
Doubting Thomas
The Farmer Takes a Wife
Black Fury
Chasing Yesterday
The Great Hotel Murder
One More Spring
Charlie Chan in Paris
365 Nights in Hollywood
Our Daily Bread
Servants' Entrance
Straight Is the Way
He Was Her Man
Upperworld
Sing and Like It
Hi, Nellie!
Let's Fall in Love
Counsellor at Law
Arrowsmith
Street Scene