Roscoe Karns
Personal Info
Known for
Acting
Gender
Male
Birthday
1891-09-06
Day of Death
1970-02-06 (78 years old)
Place of Birth
San Bernardino, California, USA
Roscoe Karns
Biography
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
Acting
(1964)
Man's Favorite Sport?
as Major Phipps
(1958)
Onionhead
as 'Windy' Woods
(1948)
Texas, Brooklyn & Heaven
as Officer Carmody
(1948)
Devil's Cargo
as Lt. Hardy
(1948)
The Inside Story
as Eustace Peabody
(1948)
Speed to Spare
as Kangaroo
(1947)
That's My Man
as Toby Gleeton
(1947)
Vigilantes of Boomtown
as Bill Delaney
(1946)
One Way to Love
as Hobie Simmons
(1946)
I Ring Doorbells
as Stubby
(1946)
Avalanche
as Red Kelly
(1944)
The Navy Way
as Frankie Gimble
(1944)
Minstrel Man
as Lasses White
(1944)
Hi, Good Lookin'!
as Archie
(1943)
Stage Door Canteen
as Roscoe Karns
(1943)
Old Acquaintance
as Charlie Archer
(1943)
His Butler's Sister
as Fields
(1943)
Riding High
as Shorty
(1943)
My Son, The Hero
as Big-Time Morgan
(1942)
Woman of the Year
as Phil Whittaker
(1942)
A Tragedy at Midnight
as Cassidy
(1942)
You Can't Escape Forever
as 'Mac' McTurk
(1942)
Yokel Boy
as Al Devers
(1941)
Footsteps in the Dark
as Monahan
(1941)
Road to Happiness
as Charley Grady
(1941)
Black Eyes and Blues
as Alfred Harmon
(1941)
The Gay Vagabond
as Arthur Dixon / Jerry Dixon
(1941)
Petticoat Politics
as Joe Higgins
(1941)
Half Shot at Sunrise
as Henry Warren
(1940)
His Girl Friday
as McCue
(1940)
They Drive by Night
as Irish McGurn
(1940)
Double Alibi
as Jeremiah Jenkins
(1940)
Saturday's Children
as Willie Sands
(1940)
Meet the Missus
as Joe Higgins
(1940)
Ladies Must Live
as Pete Larrabee
(1939)
Dancing Co-Ed
as Joe Drews
(1939)
King of Chinatown
as Rep Harrigan
(1939)
That's Right – You're Wrong
as Mal Stamp
(1939)
Everything's on Ice
as Felix Miller
(1938)
You and Me
as Cuffy
(1938)
Dangerous to Know
as Duncan
(1938)
Thanks for the Memory
as George Kent
(1938)
Scandal Street
as Austin Brown
(1938)
Tip-Off Girls
as Tom Benson aka Tommy Logan
(1937)
Night of Mystery
as Sergeant Heath
(1937)
On Such a Night
as Joe Flynn
(1937)
Murder Goes to College
as Sim Perkins
(1937)
Partners in Crime
as Sim Perkins
(1937)
Clarence
as Clarence Smith
(1936)
Cain and Mabel
as Reilly
(1936)
Border Flight
as Calico Smith
(1936)
Woman Trap
as Mopsy
(1936)
Three Married Men
as Peter Cary
(1935)
Wings in the Dark
as Nick Williams
(1935)
Front Page Woman
as Toots O'Grady
(1935)
Red Hot Tires
as Bud Keene
(1935)
The Woman in Red
as Man in court room (uncredited)
(1935)
Two-Fisted
as Chick Moran
(1935)
Four Hours to Kill!
as Johnson
(1935)
Alibi Ike
as Carey
(1934)
It Happened One Night
as Oscar Shapeley
(1934)
Twentieth Century
as Owen O'Malley
(1934)
Come On, Marines!
as Spud McGurke
(1934)
I Sell Anything
as Monk
(1934)
Shoot the Works
as Sailor Burke
(1933)
Alice in Wonderland
as Tweedledee
(1933)
Today We Live
as McGinnis
(1933)
A Lady's Profession
as Tony
(1933)
The Women in His Life
as Aloysius Lester
(1933)
One Sunday Afternoon
as Snappy Downer
(1933)
Gambling Ship
as Blooey
(1933)
Grand Slam
as Contest Radio Announcer
(1932)
If I Had a Million
as Private O'Brien
(1932)
Lawyer Man
as Merritt - Reporter (uncredited)
(1932)
Night After Night
as Leo
(1932)
One Way Passage
as S.S. Maloa Bartender (uncredited)
(1932)
They Call It Sin
as Brad - Rehearsal Director (uncredited)
(1932)
Under-Cover Man
as Dannie
(1932)
Week-End Marriage
as Jim Davis
(1932)
The Crooked Circle
as Harry Carter
(1932)
Two Against the World
as Segall, reporter
(1932)
Play Girl
as Gambler (uncredited)
(1932)
The Roadhouse Murder
as Dale
(1932)
Stowaway
as Insp. Redding
(1931)
Dirigible
as Sock McGuire
(1931)
Laughing Sinners
as Fred Geer
(1931)
Many a Slip
as Stan Price
(1931)
Ladies of the Big House
as Frank - Twenty Questions player (uncredited)
(1931)
Pleasure
as Arnie
(1931)
Left Over Ladies
as 'Scoop'
(1930)
Safety in Numbers
as Bertram Shapiro
(1930)
Little Accident
as Gilbert
(1930)
The Gorilla
as Simmons
(1930)
Troopers Three
as Bugs
(1930)
The Costello Case
as Blair
(1930)
Man Trouble
as Scott
(1929)
The Flying Fleet
as Shipwrecked Radio Operator (uncredited)
(1929)
New York Nights
as Johnny Dolan
(1929)
This Thing Called Love
as Harry Bertrand
(1929)
Copy
as City Editor John Mack
(1928)
Beggars of Life
as Lame Hoppy
(1928)
Win That Girl
as Johnny Norton II
(1928)
Moran of the Marines
as Swatty
(1928)
The Trail of '98
as Man on Ship (uncredited)
(1928)
The Vanishing Pioneer
as Ray Hearn
(1928)
The Shopworn Angel
as Dance Director
(1928)
Beau Sabreur
as Buddy
(1928)
The Desert Bride
as Pvt. Terry
(1928)
Something Always Happens
as George
(1928)
Jazz Mad
as Sol Levy
(1928)
Warming Up
as Hippo
(1927)
Wings
as Lieutenant Cameron
(1927)
The Jazz Singer
as Agent (uncredited)
(1927)
Ten Modern Commandments
as Benny Burnaway
(1926)
You'd Be Surprised
as Party Guest (uncredited)
(1924)
The Midnight Express
as Switch Hogan
(1923)
The Ten Commandments
as The Boy in the Rain (uncredited)
(1923)
Other Men's Daughters
as Hubert
(1922)
(1922)
Her Own Money
as Jerry Woodward
(1920)
The Life of the Party
as Sam Perkins
(1920)
The Family Honor
as Dal Tucker
(1919)
Poor Relations
as Henry
(1915)
(1915)
A Western Governor's Humanity
as The Sheriff
(1915)
From Champion to Tramp
as The Girl's Father
(1915)